Wow, does it feel good to say ‘overnight trip’! With Germany’s new virus case count hovering comfortably in the low hundreds (out of 83 million people here) per day, we decided it would be safe enough to risk a night away and see how things are being handled. We were delighted to see that Germans everywhere seem to be continuing to take the virus seriously, and to create specific and easy-to-follow steps for people to keep themselves and others safe. I think most people here agree that by giving up a few small freedoms, we can potentially all gain a lot – getting the economy rolling again without sacrificing the vulnerable. We’ll take it!

Rothenburg is an awesome little medieval town and worth a stop on any Germany itinerary. It is fully walled in as of the 13th century (you can walk along the top of the wall for most of the perimeter!), and the town is easily explored on foot, with tons of cute stops and shops and sights on every corner. Our first stop, though, was lunch at a biergarten on the Tauber River. I continue to love how much Germans think of family when designing biergartens – this one was on a stream and included a sandbox and tree swing – and by some stroke of luck, mini horses!

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Inside the town, we visited the Medieval Crime & Torture Museum (not for the faint of heart – two of our crew had to bail early) as well as the famous Christmas Store, where you can experience the wonder of the holiday any time of year. Beware that the Christmas spirit is more hidden in the many staff posted throughout the store – they may look like gentle German fraulines, but I am convinced they double as bar bouncers in the evenings. Don’t even think about touching anything you aren’t committed to buying!!

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One of the coolest things about Rothenburg – besides the amazing medieval town walls – is checking out the signposts that indicate what’s for sale inside each shop. It may have been the beautiful day, or maybe the lack of any other stimulation throughout our 10-week quarantine, but I was obsessed with them:

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The town walls really were amazing. We had fun taking both an evening and a morning stroll:

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One cool surprise was that when we visited the St. Jakob Church, we saw that it’s a stop on the Camino de Santiago (spiritual walking journey across many European countries). Even St. Jakob wears his mask!

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I can’t help posting about the simple but delicious meals we continue to enjoy out – by some stroke of luck, we found tables in between a German and Italian restaurant, which meant everyone got their favorite – Flammküchen for Matt and me, pizza and pasta for the kids:

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I also have to include some of the amazing views that seem to be around every corner. We were so incredibly lucky to be here during ‘opening weekend’ after the virus shutdowns – I think normally this place would have been a lot more packed!

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Some of the ways we witnessed great virus protocol & hygiene for those who are interested:

• Everyone wears a mask when inside a store, restroom, museum, or hotel. It’s required. People who do not wear them, or who wear them below their chins, are reminded to put them on before entering. Most places have hand sanitizer up front and ask that you use it as you walk in.
• At each restaurant, and at church when we start going again, we sign in at a desk up front stating our names, where we live, phone number, and email address, so we can be contacted if someone is later found to have had the virus at the restaurant (or church). The information is destroyed after 2 weeks.
• You can take your mask off once you’re seated in a restaurant or in your hotel room, but you wear it if you go anywhere – to the restroom, to walk in or out, etc. Servers wear masks at all times.
• We only ate inside once – at our hotel breakfast – because what I read tells me that being outside is a pretty good way to avoid risk of exposure (others to us, or us to others). The hotel breakfast, typically a full buffet, was mostly the same, but the buffet items were pre-portioned into individual dishes that were wrapped over with plastic. You could still choose what to eat or not (we mostly chose it all 🙂 ).
• It seems like most people just want to do their part and move on with life as much as possible.

This trip was a bit of a ‘test run’ to see how travel in COVID times can work, and while we’d much rather stick with our original plans to return to the US, entertain friends & family over here, and visit other destinations we’d planned for this spring & summer, it seems like traveling around Germany is still an option, at least. Hopefully we don’t bore you with stories of castles & beer!!