Rothenburg Germany is a fantastic town,I was blown away by the history of it all,a walled medievil city over 1000 years old.
We found an excellent hotel in the old town called the Schranne,for 30 euro we got a nice room each and breakfast.
After unpacking we hit the town and walk the old cobblestone streets exploring all the historical sites like the Franciscan church built in 1285 and the town hall built in 1250.I recomend paying the 1euro fee to climb up to the top of the tower in the town hall,the veiws of the city are fantastic.
At 8pm we met the Night Watchman for a lantern lit tour of the city, This was one of the best tours Ive been on,not only was the guide informative he was also funny and had a real love for the history of the town,definatly worth the 8 euros.
After the tour the Lads and I ended up at hell.When a local from Rothenburg tells you to go to hell its a very good recomondation.
Hell or the devils inn is the oldest building in Rothenburg,its a quiet little bar/cafe/pub. Jon and I dont drink so we had coffee and Lee had a beer(beer is cheaper than coffee in Germany,crazy Germans)I was hungry and it was getting late and didnt want a big feed so i ordered the soup of the day,which to my surprise happened to be Grape soup,It took a bit of getting used to,but it was very tasty.The waiter later explained it was a reduction of Veer Juice,white wine and cream,i liked it and ate it all but would have pushed it aside for a spoonful of jon's apple strudel and icecream.
That night after much persistance from me Jon and Lee taught me two games,circles and waaaaa. I was later to regret learning those games.
After a hearty German breakfast we jumped in the Merc and headed south to Neuschwanstein Castle,were we joined the tourist crowds and bought our ticket for a tour of Mad King Ludwigs castle.It's a very impressive castle,very Gothic in style but never judge a book by its cover... The castle is only 160years old and i would have to say the worst tour ive ever been on,ever.The "english speaking guide" was bearly understandable,there were about fifty people in our group(some with winging,crying kids)and we were quickly led from one room to another and before we knew it the tour was over and we were told to follow the signs out of the castle.Not impressed at all.
We got out of the castle at 3pm and with no plans hit the autobarn south and drove down to Austria thru the alps.The scenery and country side of Austria was beautiful,but unfortunatly that all went out the window as we drove into Innsbruck. Innsbruck or what I saw of it was very dirty and very industrialised,and it seemed to be living on the past glory of holding a winter olympics there.
After driving around and around looking for a hotel we said stuff it and got on the Brenner Pass and drove to Italy.
We made it to a small little village called Gossensass and found the Hotel Erna,where we got a room each and breakfast for 40 euro.
That night we had dinner at the local restaurant(which was owned by the hotel owners brother...small town) Not much happens in a small Italian ski resort town during off season,we realised this when we stepped out of the restaurant and the town was empty,not a soul to be seen,we wandered around till we found the only place open a small cafe,Lee had a beer,jon and I coffees,then back to the hotel were we stayed up late talking crap.
The next morning we drove back thru Austria then thru switzerland to lake Constance where we had lunch and a look around then a ferry ride across the lake to Freidrichshaffen to catch our flight home.
It was a great three days