Guten tag!
We would have made a post earlier, but after the last couple of days we were exhausted. On the 6th we spent the whole afternoon riding our rented bikes around the countryside north of Amsterdam. The ride was beautiful, taking up past an old windmill, through a few small Dutch villages, and past some great views of a Dutch harbor. We even found a “pannenkoekenhuis” where we stopped for lunch. Some of their pancakes—made thin, almost like a crepe—had toppings we wouldn’t see in the US. Jordan’s had beef, cheese, corn, and onion on it. Although Melissa’s wasn’t as unusual (apples, whipped cream, and cinnamon ice cream) it was just as delicious. The ride itself was about 25km long, so by the end we were feeling sore. In the second half of our ride, when we were along the water and raised up on a levee, we rode against strong wind nearly the whole time. This was the toughest part of the whole ride, although the view was worth it. At the end of the trip, we were racing time to get our bikes to the rental before they closed, and luckily we arrived no more than a minute before they closed the door to customers.
The following day, the 7th, was mainly a travel day. We were on trains until around 6, so there is not much to report other than that we got kicked out of our seats twice before we learned how to tell which seats are reserved for a leg of the trip. Not all trains have these reservations.
Our room in Rothenburg had a balcony with an amazing view of the fortress walls as well as some of the towers that line it. Yesterday we spent our morning strolling along the top of these walls, and walked along about half of the perimeter of the walled city. Later we had a walking historical tour with a local guide. Although he spoke English pretty well, he tended to use noises, gestures, and exaggerated facial expressions to close the rest of the language barrier. Being inside the medieval city walls was nice, but with the sound of tour busses and cell phones ringing, it was hard to imagine this place in its heyday. Even though we could somewhat see how people lived in this time period, it still seemed so far gone. Melissa also had to try the local treat, which in Rothenburg is a wadded ball of fried dough, usually covered in either sugar or chocolate.
We also, in our time at Rothenburg, had our best meal yet. The restaurants here tend to serve just about every meal with either potatoes or sauerkraut. One restaurant literally had potatoes with every food item on the menu. We’ve added German potato soup to a list of recipes we need to find when we get back home. Jordan enjoyed the legendary Bevarian beer, but could not order the large beer, as it was 3 liters. Legend holds that the town was saved in medieval times when its mayor impressed an opposing army’s general by chugging a 3.25 liter beer. In this town that is famous for coo-coo clocks, the town center has a clock tower where, on the stroke of every hour, a figure of that mayor pops out and raises his mug.
Right now, as we write, we are on a train headed for Fussen, home of the Neuswanstein castle as well as one other.
~Jordan and Melissa
(We didn't calculate steps for the day of our bike ride)
Miles walked (Rothenburg): 9.96
Steps taken: 21095
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