Romantische Strasse
and Wine Festivals
Good morning everyone. Today we have a surprise for you – Mrs
Travelling Woody is taking quill for this edition. Enjoy!
One of the things we have loved on
this trip is the recommendations from friends and family of places they have
been – many of these have been highlights of our trip. And now as we turn towards Paris and that
small matter of the RWC, we had one last item on the trip list – the Romantische
Strasse, or Romantic Road stretching from Fussen in the south to Würzburg in
the north.
Our first stop was Schloss Neuschwanstein,
on which the iconic castle from Disneyland was modelled. After squeezing Harvey into a spot he didn’t
really fit, we were off up the hill to see the famous landmark. Some poor planning meant we couldn’t get
tickets for the inside, but we figured we had seen so many castles, chateaux
and schloss that we could just enjoy this one from the outside. There was a bridge which everyone crowded
onto to get that perfect shot, but we had been advised there was a better view
across the bridge and a 10 minute walk up the hill. Up we went and they were right. The castle was built by King Ludwig II, a
tragic figure who drowned in mysterious circumstances shortly after the castle
was completed, with it being opened to the public the following summer to help
pay off his vast debts. After our castle visit we meandered down to the village
for a quick stop by the lake before we were off again in Harvey to Fussen for
the night.
Fussen was a pretty town with cobbled
streets and a great Irish pub but not much else to report, however we did
arrive quite late and leave early the next morning. From there we headed to Landsberg am Lech,
which was set prettily on the river Lech.
It has two claims to fame, one being that it was where Johnny Cash was stationed
as a radio operator with the US air force in 1951, bought his first guitar,
started his first band and perfected his playing skills. The second claim to fame is that it was the
town where one of the German language’s best selling books was written. Unfortunately that book was the infamous Mein
Kampf by one Adolf Hitler, written while he was in jail in the town. It was a really hot day and we were grateful
for icecreams by the river and an excellent beer garden.
Next it was on to Augsburg where after
a wander around the town we were keen to explore Fuggerei. This is a suburb of the town which was
endowed by the wealthy Jakob Fugger the Rich – he created a settlement in 1516 for
those down on their luck but who were still able to work. Rent remains frozen at one Rhenish Guilder
(or €0.88 in today’s money) per year plus prayers for the founder. It was a lovely little community with still
about 200 people living there, the main requirements to receive a room still
exist - to be Catholic, German and prove you are sufficiently poor.
After that we were off to Harburg, where
we parked on the top off a rocky crag right next to the castle. Looming over a bend in the Wörtnitz river the
medieval castle was well preserved and a little like a film set. After a walk down into the gorgeous village
and a huff and puff back up, we ended up having dinner with the neighbouring
motorhomers Stefan and Tina. I think
they fell a little bit in love with Harvey with all his spacious living &
said they wanted to buy him, but it might also have been the red wine.
The next morning we had a quick pretzel
stop in Donauwörth, another picturesque town before it was onward to Dinkelsbühl
for a walk around the inside of the walls.
We weren’t really feeling Dinkelsbuhl so we carried on, ending up in our
favourite town of the Romantic Road – Rothenburg ob der Tauber. Finding a perfect spot for €6.60 a night just
outside the town walls, we wandered in and were contemplating a drink when we
discovered an evening walking tour about to start - the Night Watchman, complete
with cloak, halberd and lantern took us around the city regaling us with
stories from the town’s past. Medieval times really weren’t much fun for most
people. One of the legends tells how the
town council tried to save the place from destruction in 1631 by offering the
invading general a 3 litre pitcher of wine.
He responded by saying if anyone could drink it in one gulp he would spare
the town. Of course one brave man succeeded
and the town is there to this day.
Sadly the town was extensively bombed
during WWII however miraculously it was a foggy day meaning the bombing was
inaccurate and the centre of town remained unscathed. However large swathes of the eastern and
northern suburbs were extensively damaged and a rebuild was required. The town fathers of the early 1950’s devised
a radical idea, in fact what these days would be referred to as crowd funding –
they invited people from around the world to contribute, and in return, they
could have their name on a brick built into the town walls. So the rebuild was financed this way and
today when you walk the walls, you can see the names of those who donated.
The marktplatz or town square was just
gorgeous with half timbered buildings with flowerboxes, an impressive town hall
and an enormous church.
The next morning we split tacks – Dave
to the Torture Museum and Anita to the Christmas Museum, we sometimes have different
views on what is interesting! We met
again and headed to the local swimming baths – these have been great throughout
Germany at often under €5, on hot days it has been great to swim, sunbathe, and
then shower without using a drop of Harvey’s water. After heading home we made ourselves a picnic
and ate it in the gardens housed in the old moat of the city, Harvey’s interior
still being close to 30deg. As dusk fell
we set out to walk the town walls, a 2.5km trip circumnavigating the entire
medieval city. Sadly parts were closed
so we only got to do about half of the walk but it really gave a feel for the
old town.
With some reluctance we left Rothenburg
and headed for Würzburg, but not before a stop off at Schloss Weikersheim which
was a gorgeous little palace with the most wonderful gardens. We had to go through on a guided tour in
German, but fortunately the guide was bilingual and kind enough to explain
things to us in English as well. As
mentioned earlier, we’ve seen a lot of castles and palaces however the gardens
here were exceptional, reputedly modelled on those at the Palace of Versailles
and were a riot of colour and scent.
In Würzburg the thing to do was the Residenz,
the 18th century seat of the local bishop princes and home to the
largest fresco in the world (around 600sq/m!)
It is an immense and magnificent structure which also has an amazing rebuild
story. Like Rothenburg (and most other
cities in Germany) it was extensively bombed during 1945 as the allies were
closing in on victory. Take a look in
the photos for a before and after shot, the palace was an absolute mess! Astonishingly a couple of the main halls avoided
direct hits and remained, for the most part, intact. A large section of the tour focussed on the
reconstruction, how they relearned the original techniques for gilding, glasswork,
flooring and the like and how they were, in most cases, able to achieve a
faithful recreation after often tens of thousands of hours per room! Quite extraordinary!
Having finished the Romantic Road we
were undecided exactly where to go – north to Mainz or south to Heidelburg. So after a lot of discussion, indecision and
a number of cups of tea, we decided to do both!
First was Heidelburg which had yet another
lovely market square and castle however the priority was finding a spot at the
Irish pub for the All Blacks vs South Africa.
Having found a table and settled in for the final friendly before the
RWC, it was a pretty grim experience, with plenty of enthusiastic Springbok
supporters and we in the NZ corner very subdued. However the bright spot in all of this was
meeting David and Julie from NZ! Having
grown up in Sunnynook just up the road from Dave, we were all soon reminiscing over
a glass of wine and it ended up being quite a late night. It had been a lovely afternoon when we left to
head into town but about halfway home it poured with rain, no problem, into an
Uber and back to Harvey. Unfortunately
we’d left all the roof vents open so we had a very wet lounge, bathroom and a bed
which needed to be changed before we could sleep.
As we have moved North the focus has
changed slightly, with wine being the tipple of choice rather than beer. This makes Anita happy as she really doesn’t
like beer, despite her caving in and having had a couple of them on her Munich
food tour. We headed to Mainz next and
with supplies running low, were delighted to see there was a market in the
central city. Anita was duly dropped off
with grocery bags in hand, while Dave headed for the stelplatz to park up and cycle
in. Laden with fresh fruit and veges, by the time
Dave arrived we were both ready for bratwurst mit brot for lunch and a glass of
wine at one of the stalls. Independently
we had both discovered there was a wine festival in town that weekend. Looking for a bar leaner to rest against, we
were invited to join some kind folk doing the same thing. Before
long we were making new friends and next minute were invited to join Rainer and
Petra at the festival that evening.
And what a festival it was. People often comment on how Germans have a
lot of rules, but it appears that doesn’t apply when it comes to drinking. The festival was at a large park and gardens,
with over 100 food and wine stalls, and 350,000 people over 6 days. There was no ticketing, minimal security and
all the wine served in glasses (that you paid a deposit for) rather than
plastic. We were there for 4-5 hours and
saw no antisocial behaviour, just lots of families and friends out enjoying
themselves. Ranier and Petra knew their
wine and mentioned that there was a kiwi winemaker in one of the stalls so off
we went to say kia ora and have a delicious glass of NZ style sauvignon blanc! Its always nice to hear a kiwi accent on
this side of the world. Then it was off
to listen to some music, eat roast pork and try a few more wines. It was a lovely night making new friends and just
enjoying the end of our summer in Europe.
It seems summer might be in its
denouement now as the last few days have definitely had an autumnal chill in
the air. We’ve seen a few leaves
starting to turn so are looking forward to the beautiful colours but less so
the cool weather.
We were planning to head to France
fairly soon but had a few days up our sleeve so when new friends Julie and
David mentioned they were heading to Cochem for another wine festival our ears
pricked up. Cochem on the Mosel was one
of our favourite towns last summer and we quickly realised that it wasn’t much
of a detour. So the last couple of days
have been spent back in Neef, just a 7 minute train ride from Cochem, enjoying
the parade, the fireworks, dancing to local bands and of course the wine. Last night we were privileged to join Julie and
David for her birthday dinner on the edge of the river which was a really fun
night out with our new friends.
This latest missive comes to you from the
little town of Traben-Trarbach. Tomorrow
we head to Bernkastel-Kues where guess what we have discovered is happening? Another wine festival where we’ll be catching
up with David and Julie again! Oh well,
someone has to attend it I guess…
Lots of love as always from the
Travelling Winos Woodies
Nothing quite like the Cochem wine festival, remember it fondly
ReplyDeleteSuch a lot of fun!!!
ReplyDelete