May 20, 2018 – Day Five – Rothenburg ob der Tauber, third day

May 20, 2018 – Day Five – Rothenburg ob der Tauber, third day

Mass is at 10:30 and Marilyn would like to go, so I set my alarm so I’ll have time to stretch before breakfast.  Eating first is a really bad idea!!  The lady in charge of the breakfast area notices that we are much earlier today!!  Made me glad we were!  More of all the goodies on offer;  but this time I ad in some strawberry yogurt with musli mixed in.  It’s all very tasty, including the fresh, homemade breads.

Back in our room we try to decide the best route to St. Mary’s Church.  The lady downstairs suggested walking, but Master Google says that’s half an hour – not gonna happen!  We think we’ve got it figured out and leave in plenty of time for the “four minute drive”.  Don’t even ask.  We weren’t all that late, all things considered!  They were only singing the third hymn out of the twelve!  I’m used to not understanding the Latin;  but now that they’ve changed to the national language, it’s weird to not have it be in English!  Actually, it became kind of like white noise and I was able to meditate during the longest speaking parts (the homily, I guess).  Also, because it’s a special Sunday, there was an extra amount of incense (smudging?) which would have made some of my SLUU family crazy!

The church is a lovely little thing, small and sparsely decorated, except for the glorious altar piece and the magnificent organ!!  After service we talk with a lady who tells us the their church is closed right now for a bit of reconstruction, so they are meeting here for the duration.  The site is quite beautiful, in a forested area, beside the Tauber River.

It’s just starting to sprinkle when we get back to the car and driving back really does only take a few minutes.  It’s amazing what a difference it makes when you know where you’re going!

By the time we’re ready for the last of the festival the rain has quit and we don’t even bring foul-weather gear.  There are no horsemen today singing for beer, so the walk is a bit quicker.  Still it’s not the ten or fifteen minutes everyone here seems to think it is.  But we’ve found that whenever someone gives us a walking time anywhere we’ve traveled, we have to double it!

Back in Old Town we do some last minute shopping and catch the end of the Shepherds’ Dance.  A bit more sightseeing and it’s time to find a vantage point for the largest parade of the festival.  At first we claim seats on the steps of the Imperial Hall;  but eventually we realize that with everyone lined up along the route, we won’t be able to see anything but heads and spearheads!  The steps are high;  but not that high!  Instead, we find a spot that isn’t five-people deep and hope for the best.  If I hold my camera above my head and swivel my screen down, I have a pretty good shot.  And when two darling little Japanese girls (maybe three and four years old) wiggle through, I get a slightly better view, too!

Our new favorite bakery!

The Old Town is much more crowded today!

The end of the Shepherds' Dance

And away they go!

Teddy blows bubbles from a second-story window in his shop.

I'm hoping I'll be able to see when the parade begins!

In the mean time, isn't this adorable in a window across the street?

Watch him raise his tankard!

I guess he's saving the city, every hour on the hour!

Pretty much everyone we’ve seen during the festival is in the parade!  And lots and lots of the largest and most awe-inspiring horses ever!  We feel sorry for them, though, because there is quite a rise where we’re standing and after they stop in front of us, they have to gain enough momentum to climb the slippery cobblestone slope.  There is quite a bit of slipping and many of us ladies gasp each time!

The blacksmith's portable forge

And, as always, the police bring up the rear!

When the parade has passed us by, we go into the closest restaurant for an early dinner.  It is fresh asparagus season and each place we’ve been has had a special page filled with asparagus offerings, so we figure we’d better try one!  We each order the cream of asparagus soup (spargelcremesuppe) and then split an entrée of  Franconian braised beef with dumplings and red cabbage.  I order a dark wheat beer called Gutmann Hefeweizen dunkel, but when it comes it looks awfully light and doesn’t have much flavor.  I think that between the man who took our order and the second man who thought we was our waiter, something got lost in translation.  No matter, it was cold and plentiful and quite all right.  I think if you don’t specify an amount, they assume you want the half liter.  That’s okay!!

When we sat down we thought we’d split the entrée and be able to get dessert.  Who are we kidding?  I can’t even eat the second half of my dumpling!

A slow march home and along the way we see the stork again!  Why is she only up and around when the light is so terrible??

Many of the small trees are planted in cans!

There she is!  Can you see her?

And there’s a stop at the little bakery we found this morning.  They were giving away samples and their clever marketing ploy worked!  We’ve come back to get full servings to take home for dinner later on!

We’re hoping to get all caught up on photos and blogs and still have an early night.  But first there’s a trip downstairs to the lounge area where we learn how to use the coffee/cappuccino machine and take our hard-earned beverages back up to our room.  All the comforts of home!  Actually, I don’t have a cappuccino machine at home!! 

With luck I’ll be able to post this and get to bed well before midnight!  A new record!  And we don’t have to leave here tomorrow at O Dark Thirty, so we can sleep in!!  It’s the little things that make life worth while!  (And under that heading, I figured out which part of the menu has draft beers and which are in bottles!)

AND - Here's your bonus for sticking it out this long!  Catch-up photos since my phone is now cooperating! And the first one is especially for those of you who complain about not having photos of me!

Here we are with adorable Andreas, who brought us English menus and perfect beverages!

Here's the spaetzle with cheese and garlic from the other night.

Cream of asparagus soup - with white asparagus!!

Part of the beautiful breakfast buffet in Rothenburg ob der Tauber.

a sample breakfast - look at how orange the scrambled eggs are!  The yolks are that fabulous color!

Tonight's dessert - mine is in front and is filled with poppy seed paste!