July12

July 12th (sunny and overcast)
We knew that Rothenburg was high on the tourist trap chart so we made sure we had parked and were walking about before the many tour buses arrived. The place is not very big so when it is hit by at least 20 tour buses, you notice immediately. Upon entering the old part of the town, we noticed a staircase to the upper reaches of the wall where a perimeter elevated walkway existed. This was intact from the medieval days and circumnavigated the old section of Rotheburg. It was like slowly drifting over the red-tiled post and beam buildings in a hot air balloon and it didn’t cost a penny. After touring the wall and the old town, plus a spectacular vista from atop the town hall, we both agreed that Rothenburg has its own charm, however, we enjoyed Dinkelsbuhl much more.
After having our own lunch in the parking lot, we returned to visit more areas of the old town and then drove the 6 kms to Bettenfeld to surprise Georg’s aunt Mina. She was very gracious and we spent a couple of hours catching up the 20 years of time since we have seen each other. We made a phone call to Georg’s cousin, Bubbi, in Nurnberg and arranged to see him on the 23rd after we visit his other cousins, Alfred and Anneliese in Mecklar. Through Mina, we heard that Georg’s mom was visiting Calgary, which explains why our email communications have abruptly halted.
As our plans to visit Nurnberg had changed, we decided to stay one more night in Rothenburg and head to Mecklar in the morning. We did, however, go for a long walk from the campground to the old town of Rothenburg for one last look. Played our usual crib, had a lovely conversation with a couple from Montreal and crashed around 10 pm, which is late for us.