Wuerzburg and Rottenberg

Saturday, April 19

Took the train from Vienna to Wuerzburg. It was two steps... a somewhat crowded train 3 and a half hours from Vienna to Munich, and a less crowded train for another 3 hours from Munich to Wuertzburg. It was all very pleasant, and we caught little glimpses of Salzburg and Munich as we passed through.

Our hotel in Wuertzburg is another very modern affair with a young and lively staff and clientele. It was a 15 minute walk from the train station, and not very near anything, but there is a tram stop fairly nearby with a direct tram to the main sights.

We were settled in by late afternoon, so caught the tram down to the alte mainbrücke, the town's famous 16th C bridge over the Main River. Maybe it was the easter weekend, or maybe it is always the case, but the bridge was jammed with festive folk, locals and tourists, most of whom were imbibing the local wine.




We settled in to the festively hectic Alte Mainmüle restaurant just alongside, for a well deserved beer and a shared roast pork and dumpling plate and shared salad. We ate inside, but here are some views from and of the restaurant.




Easter Sunday, April 20

What a great, but exhausting, day today. Wuerzburg was really only meant to be a pause in our trip between Vienna and Amsterdam, but has turned out to be a highlight of our trip, with so much to see.
Took the tram down to the bridge again, and strolled leisurely across with great views of the river and of the Marienburg fortress, which beckoned us on the hillside. Bill's knees and Pat's shins are starting to object to stairs and hills, but up we went anyway. The fortress itself stems from the 15th C, upon ruins for centuries of previous settlement. We didn't choose to go in, but enjoyed the panoramic views from the ramparts.






Getting wiser, we chose a bus to get us down the back side, and back over the river to the famous Residence palace, built by the Counts of Schonborn in the 18th C. Again, we chose not to go in, but rather to enjoy the magnificent gardens, in full bloom, and then the biergarten on the way out.





A couple of blocks toward the river was the Dom Cathedral. It was originally built in the 11th and 12th C, with addition over the centuries. Badly damaged in WW 2, the reconstruction has resulted is a remarkably bright interior, with some wonderful modern sculpture and fixtures, particularly in the crypt. 








While touring the cathedral, we noticed signs saying there would be choral and organ music at 5 pm, so we stalled around for that. It turned out to be a full Easter vespers service, complete with peeling bells, pointy hatted Bishops and various underlings, incense smoke puffing around, but also some nice organ music and choral chanting. Probably two dozen various underlings and alter boys messing around with smoke, grabbing the Bishop's hat and staff and poking them back at him now and then. He didn't seem to mind! Interestingly, one of the alter boys wasn't... a boy that is. One young female was swinging the incense from time to time, and nobody seemed to notice, because they treated her just like the guys. What's becoming of the Catholic Church these days? 
Having done our penitence, we had to walk back to the bridge and sample the local specialty!


Monday, April 21: Rothenberg ob der Tauber

On arriving in Wuerzburg we clued in that we were only a 75 minute train ride to Rothenberg, which is one of the most authentic Renaissance towns in all of Europe, and we had a couple of extra days credit on our Eurail pass. So Rothenberg became the excursion on the final day of our actual tourism.

We'd been to Rothenberg twice before over the decades, so we knew more or less what to expect. It still delights as we discovered parts we hadn't seen before.




Storks have become our symbol of safe travels ever since first seeing them in north Poland on our epic 2010 camping journey. We still have a carved wooden stork purchased in Bialystok on the dashboard of our current Westfalia camper.
















This may be our last post. Tomorrow we hop the train back to Uithoorn for another couple nights with Michelle and Nyah, and then fly home on Thursday April 24.



















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