Happy birthday (Würzburg and Rothenburg, Germany)

When we travel on our own, dear reader, we build in rest days to catch up on the mundane, washing, planning excursions, emails, blog posts and so on. While we have been afforded some down time, it has not been to the extent we would like and one medieval town is beginning to morph into another. Fear of missing out keeps us moving forward but maintaining the blog is somewhat taxing. Yes, yes, first world problems, but then all of my problems are just that.

I prefer sailing

We sailed into Würzburg at first light on a very special day. Happy birthday to you, happy birthday to you, happy birthday to you - no, not you, dear reader, Jayne. Today is August 19, the most special day of the year. Although this was to be kept secret from the rest of the passengers under pain of death ... or worse.

Würzburg's burg

The buses were waiting for us at 9:15am to transport us to Rothenburg, an hour's journey through the countryside. Our guide, Caroline, a local resident, was originally from Ireland. She explained the difference between 'burg' and 'berg' something that we had discussed that very morning. 'Burg' means castle and 'berg' means hill, so while there are towns that have a castle on the hill, the castle is given prominence.

Rothenberg wall

Rothenburg was another medieval town but with its perimeter wall intact. The cobblestoned streets were less challenging to walk on than Bamberg even though they were wet from the morning rain. The weather may have impacted on the photo opportunities but that was all. A little bedraggled, we still managed to climb the fully intact town wall to the parapet and walk a section of the perimeter.

Wet cobblestones

On the walk into the heart of the town, we stopped at a house where we were introduced to the specially designed Rothenberg wine bottles, flat like a Mateus bottle. These bottles were apparently modelled on the shape of a goat's scrotum, with the aim of being able to carry the bottle of wine, tucked neatly into your bag, alongside your bible. Personally, I'd take two bottles.

The offending bottles. They must have big goats.

The main church, St James', has twin spires that are not symmetrical. While this is not unusual in medieval towns because of later additions to buildings, this was not the case here. The builder instructed his apprentice to complete one spire and he would do the other. Now my dear reader, there can be only one outcome from two possibilities. Either the apprentice does a half-arsed job and messes it up, or, the student outperforms the master. In Rothenburg, it was the latter, The builder was so despairing that the townspeople preferred the apprentice's tower that he climbed his own spire and jumped to his death. Sadly, his faithful dog followed suit and is now commemorated high on one wall of the inferior steeple.

The builder's spire

The apprentice's spire

The poor dog immortalised as a gargoyle

We also visited the Christmas shop. It was akin to IKEA, one way traffic only, but wandered up stairs, meandered down stairs and led you into dead-end nooks. We found some snow domes but they didn't seem to have a lot snow action. Climate change has even impacted on the snow dome industry. I was beginning to get that Hansel and Gretel feeling when I espied the exit sign. Purchases made, illegal photograph taken unwittingly, we emerged into the daylight to find the rain had dissipated. Good news.

There is a Medieval Crime and Justice Museum that requires around four hours to do justice (what a pun) to the exhibits. It is something I would like to see even though I know I will find it disturbing. We didn't have time to go in but snapped a couple of photos from the outside.

A nice contraption for dunking people in the river

Our time was up and all the APT people commenced moving back towards the bus. Picture cows moving to the dairy in the afternoon.

Back at Würzburg, we had a quick lunch, dropped the pack and walked into the old town along the river. Agriculture is the main deal in this area, particularly grapes for wine production. Never have I seen vines planted up and down a mountain side. In Australia, it is customary to tier the rows of vines to stop soil erosion. A decent Australian thunderstorm could remove half a vineyard.

The old town is quite picturesque. Also quite crowded and in parts, dangerous with the trams ruling the main street. There was, of course, a cathedral and numerous churches. We found a Pandora store and purchased a memento of Germany to add to Jayne's bracelet. Following that it was up onto the Old Main Bridge where locals and tourists all hang out together to drink. There are no chairs or tables and you have to queue to get your wine, but it is in a glass.

The main street of Würzburg

The walk back to the ship was unremarkable and it was into the lounge to finish this blog and celebrate Jayne's birthday with a bottle of Moët. Cheers.

The Old Main Bridge

Of course, no-one was to know it was Jayne's birthday. Until dinner when the staff appeared with a special cake with happy birthday written on it. They then gathered around our table and sang happy birthday. I was receiving looks from Jayne that would have killed a lesser man. My protestations of innocence were ignored until one of the women having dinner with us revealed her birthday was last week and she received the same treatment. Phew. Off the hook.

After dinner there was a round of trivia in the lounge. We had assembled a strong team which was split into three because there were too many of us. Our troika of teams finished first, second and third. It was quite a fun night, despite some contentious questions.

After another big day, it was time to retire and, awaiting us on the bed in the cabin, was some towel art and a card wishing Jayne a happy birthday. The title? Let's go with The Beatles version.

Until tomorrow.