This was our last full day on the tour, and for most the last full day in Europe. Before we got on the road to Rothenburg, we made an unscheduled stop at another of Ludwig’s castles, Linderhof. This is the castle he actually lived in most, and it has beautiful grounds. We didn’t take a tour, but enjoyed the grounds briefly.
Our destination for the day was Rothenburg, what Rick Steves calls “Europe’s cutest medieval city.” It is a beautiful, delightful city, which we had visited two years ago. But well worth another visit.
Karen took to short city tour, and Dick took the longer one. The highlights of the tours were the wall (which Dick’s group walked part of) and St Jacob’s Church, a fine gothic cathedral. The highlight of the church (besides the beautiful new organ) is the wood altar carved by Tilman Riemenschneider. It is an incredible masterpiece of wood carving. The left panel depicts Palm Sunday, the center The Last Supper, and the right Christ in the Garden of Gethsemane. It is fascinatingly clever that Judas can be removed from the Last Supper picture, more clearly revealing St John, asleep.
We had pouring rain during part of the tour. By the time the tour ended, the sun was out and shining beautifully. So at the end of the tour, Dick and a few others of our group, climbed to the top of the Rathaus tower for wonderful views of the city and countryside. We were the last people the man at the bottom let go up before closing. It is well worth the trip up about 275 steps to the top.
After our final dinner as a group at the hotel, we saw the Town Hall clock strike ten, and then joined a small group for a late night drink at Hell. (It’s the name of the tavern and means “bright” in German.) We finally settled in to our room, probably the best we had on the tour, on the top floor of a [modified] medieval house. It was fun looking out over the tiled roof tops of the town.
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