Rothenberg – another Walled city
We walked part of The Great Wall in China; we walked right around the Wall surrounding the city of Xi’an and now we have experienced the European counterpart – the walled city of Rothenberg.
Rach had found us a very pleasant Van Park in Rothenberg, and we discovered to our pleasant surprise that it was only 5 minutes walk away from the walled city.
The weather was too threatening for us to start repairs to the van, so we took a walk into the Old Town before starting off on our next leg.
What a formidable sight, is this Walled City. Had I been an invader, I think I would have taken one look at the moat, the massive walls, the solid port-cullissed (?)gateway, the hundreds of arrow slits in the walls, and I would have said”let’s go home lads – this nut will be too tough to crack”
The defences were massive and the architecture impressive. Goodness knows how long these sorts of castles took to build, but one would have thought that the person who designed and commissioned the structure would have been long dead before it was completed. They must have had a real sense of continuity, and a confidence that their ancestors would still be in control to continue the Project.
Inside the wall, (entered through massive gateways)
a thriving township was built (and no doubt re-built over the ages.) Today a most picturesque town exists,
climbing gracefully up the side of a gentle hill. Old buildings they may be, but they all house people and businesses.
Several of the buildings are home to bakeries and all produce a variations on the town’s specialty: a thing called a Schneeball (‘Snowball’ ) These are a cricket-ball-sized ball of twisted pastry strips, deep-fried and then enhanced with a variety of dips, drizzles and flavourings. They were not cheap, but we had to try such an interesting piece of German culture!
The Square was towards the high end of the town, a feature of most European towns that I really like. This one was on a slope being placed on the side of the hill.
As usual, cafes spilled over onto the sidewalks in a profusion of tables and chairs, lending a casual, relaxed air to the township. Very pleasant!
Tags: Food, Oddities, Transport, Travel, Tag Index
kiwijoe
May 29th, 2009 at 3:45 am
Europe certainly has a history that we miss out on in NZ. Thanks for sharing your thoughts on the journey. You certainly ain’t an old codger but an adventuesome retiree.
The pace will be easier with Linda I’m sure. Safe travelling