Germany2013 - Rothenburg ob der Tauber

  Rothenburg ob der Tauber is a medieval city that is mostly still intact including the 3km of old city walls.  We arrived around 6pm and found our hotel after just a little confusion.  Someone immediately came out to greet us and took us inside to get comfortable and have a "welcome drink", and in some ways it really was a welcome drink - if you know what I mean. The hotel dates from the 11th-12th centuries and is absolutely wonderful.  Our room has huge exposed wooden beams and windows the look out into the cobblestone street leading to the market plaza.  Our friends also have a lovely room that looks out onto the hotel's garden terrace. 
  We had a bite to eat at a little cafe, I ordered sauerbraten to see what it was like.  The braised beef was quite good but the knodl was not really something I enjoyed.  It's kind of a potato dumpling, which sounded promising but had a really weird texture.  Maybe it was a bad knodl - who knows? 
  After dinner we caught The Night Watchman's tour.  Every night at 8pm, a man dressed up as the town's night watchman (circa 1700) gives a theatrical walking tour describing the city's history.  The guy is seriously hilarious.  It was raining fairly steadily but the group of about 35-40 people stuck it out for the full hour because it was really fun.