When Charles and I were making our way over to Garmisch, passing through Tyrol, Austria on a winding mountain road, we looked up to see these epic castle ruins hovering on a cliff and the closer we looked, we saw tiny little dots moving across a lonnnnggg catenary shaped footbridge suspended over the road connecting more castle ruins. So, of course we had to go back and check it out for ourselves. Highline 179 is the longest Tibet-style footbridge in the world and connects various ruins including the medieval Ehreneberg Castle ruins and Fort Claudia, both of which are incredible. We walked up to the ruins through a beautiful forest and it was easy to spend an entire afternoon here exploring the connected ruins and checking out the museum.
From there, we made the rest of our drive to the cutest little town of Dinkelsbühl. A historic town in Bavaria and perfect place to stop for a night as we made our way to Rothenburg ob der Tauber. Surrounded by 10th century walls, this town had very little destruction throughout the 30 Year War or World War II, so it’s a great representation of what towns used to be like. We stayed at the Hotel Deutscheshaus right in the center of town and it was lovely. A charming older building with modern amenities, fantastic customer service and one of the best restaurants we ate at on our entire trip. They even had an amazing breakfast spread awaiting us at our own private table when we woke up the next day! We did the walking tour around town per recommendation from our hotel, we saw the church and the beautifully colored homes lining the cobblestone streets. We ate schneeball – a German pasty, had lunch in the middle of town and soaked in the 75 degree weather!
The next day we continued our drive to Rothenburg ob der Tauber where we stayed at the majestic and incredible Wildbad Hotel. The Wildbad is an old spa hotel that has been slightly updated. It feels like a luxurious castle when you pull up. Rooms are spacious, include their own private restrooms and free breakfast in the beautiful dining hall. I think the most amazing part are the stunning gardens and grounds surrounding the hotel! Parking is easy and free for guests and it’s just a short (albeit steep) walk to town!
We had heard really mixed reviews about Rothenburg ob der Tauber and didn’t know exactly what to expect. Many people said it was a horrible tourist trap, but I actually found it to be really charming and wonderful. It’s a decent sized little town, still surrounded by the Tower Trail which are the pathways along the walls of the city above the rooftops, which was used to defend the town. It’s really well preserved and hosted tons of different things to do including the Medieval Crime Museum, the Night Watchman’s Tour, the Käthe Wohlfahrt Christmas Museum, tons of shopping and small little restaurants. Our favorite place we ate while we were there was an Italian restaurant called Restaurant Michelangelo– they make all of their pasts fresh daily and the service, atmosphere and flavor was top notch. Had we been staying longer, we would have been back! We ate tons of Flammkuchen – basically a very thin crusted pizza – walked the city walls and saw the most iconic spot in the town – Plönlein! Translated into English this means “small square at a fountain” and this little alleyway and particularly the yellow house in the middle, has been depicted in Disney’s Pinocchio, video games and music videos!
Unfortunately, during our time here, I came down with tonsillitis and ended up in the hospital one night. I’d been experiencing some throat pain for a few days, but finally one night I woke up and couldn’t swallow and knew it was time to take action. After we finally figured out how to get inside the hospital at 1:30am, because all the doors were locked, we were helped by some very kind nurses and doctors who did their best to translate into English and get me some help. There was lots of Google translate and pointing involved! They took my blood, tested it to find that I had tonsillitis and then proceeded to give me an IV of pain killers, antibiotics and fluids and sent us on our way about 4:30am with a 7 day prescription in hand a whole lot of peace of mind. Thanks to that IV, we were back to our sightseeing adventures the next day! The Marien Apotheke in the main square, pictured below, is iconic and lovely, definitely one of the most talked about buildings in this little town. Of course I had to document it as a reminder of the time I went to the German hospital! I have to say, I truly appreciated their efficient approach and was so thankful to be back to our traveling fun with almost no delay. Craziest part? All-in-all it ended up costing me about 50 Euro.
