Traveling – Rotenberg, Germany

In 1996, we made our families first trip to Europe.  I had a nine-week sabbatical and we used the entire time touring European cities, towns, and villages.  Along the way, we took a bus ride from Munich along the Romantic Road, a collection of restored medieval German towns.  We ended our bus ride in the town of Rotenberg.

Rotenberg is a very picturesque little town in which everything including the large stonewall surrounding the town has been restored.  We spent two nights in a bed and breakfast in the center of Rotenberg.  We used Rick Steves material that provides information on where to stay on a budget and what to see.  Rick does mention that after the tour groups leave for the day in their large busses, that the town just about shuts down.  He was not kidding!  We really had trouble finding a place to eat at night.

One night on the way home from a restaurant, we were terrorized by small Germany cars careening at high speeds through the narrow dark streets of Rotenberg.  People were hanging out the car windows, yelling, and blowing the car horns.  It was very unnerving, and several times we barely had time to duck into a narrow doorway to avoid being run down.  We found out later that Germany had won the world-cup soccer game that night and people were just out celebrating.

One of the experiences that Rick Steves said it is best to skip was the schneeballs.  A schneeball is a mass of thin strips of dough that are pressing into a ball and then deep-fried.  They are served covered with powdered sugar or dipped in chocolate.  We just had to try eating one - we should have skipped it.  The schneeball was very stale and just didn’t taste that good.  It is definitely an experience to skip.

We did visit other sites in the town: we walked around the old stonewalls, climbed the bell tower, visited the Crime and Punishment Museum, and stopped into Käthe Wohlfahrt’s Christmas shop.  The Käthe Wohlfahrt store is a wonderland of Christmas products available all year round.  Can you say tourist center.  After looking around, we did find one product to purchase; chocolate covered gummy bears.  We really enjoyed eating those while we walked around the town.

Sometimes we are warned not to eat something and we do anyway, we may not like the result, but at least we have a strong memory about the experience and a great story to tell.

Adventures In Food: Author: Kerry Howell