February 17
Written February 17+
Dear Friends and Families,
Our neighborhood has a fair number of tourist attractions, but none are as popular as Rothenburg ob der Tauber. Now, I know people react negatively when they hear "touristy village" and with reason: Crowds, kitsch, and over-priced meals and accommodation. Rothenburg generally has them all, but despite that, Marianne and I occasionally like to visit, just to escape the no-crowd, no-kitsch life in Pommersfelden.
On Valentine's Day, we read a CNN article about the "25 most romantic hotels in the world" and noted that the only German entry was from good old Rothenburg, the Hotel Herrnschlösschen. This was intriguing enough to splurge on an overnight a few days later, a belated Valentine's Day.
On the 90 minute drive over, we went through our list of features that make a hotel "best", since we don't have a special subcategory "romantic". There are the basics: parking, wifi, and clean. Actually, I suppose the most basic of all is a friendly set of folks to interact with, not too casual and not too formal, friendly but business-like. Then there is the room: enough space for a desk, some reading chairs, good lighting for these and for reading in bed. Ah, a good bed, one with nice linens and just the right amount of squish. Valued bathroom qualities include both a shower and tub, spotless cleanliness, cushy towels, maybe even bathrobes. Finally, our best European hotels always have good restaurants.
So, how did Herrnschlösschen do? Parking first. We stopped in front, took out our bags, and gave the keys to the owner, Frau Wörle. Pretty easy. Then, over a glass of sparkling wine, she introduced us to the hotel, more than just registration. The "schlösschen" (little palace) is in the heart of the oldest part of Rothenburg and even the new parts of the building are 400 or 500-years old. Within this old framework, the Wörle family created a modern eight-room hotel and restaurant.
So, how did it rate on our scale: the Hotel Herrnschlösschen may indeed be the best hotel we have ever used! People, facilities, food, convenience, service were all "tip top", as we say in German. Some pictures:
  
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Other than a nice hotel stay, what can one do on a cold and gray winter
Sunday in Rothenburg: not much. The weather was just too
damp to enjoy walking much beyond reaching a good "konditor"
(confectioner) for an afternoon cake and coffee. It is interesting that
I don't think America even has such places. Their loss.While Marianne recovered from the strain of cake and coffee, I tried a sunset stroll to take pictures, at least it would have been sunset if there had been a sun in the first place. After an hour, I was frozen and ready for a nice dinner at the Herrnschlösschen. The dinner was worth the wait and was truly excellent, like all else at the schlösschen.
   
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 Back home at the Little Palace. |
Monday
morning breakfast was not the normal, and normally just fine, German
breakfast buffet. Instead, Herr Wörle provided a menu so we could
focus on just what we
wanted. When I chose Bavarian "weisswurst", or white sausage, he
made sure I followed tradition: weisswurst comes as a "second
breakfast", normally at about 10 am, and it is always accompanied by a
wheat beer ("weissbier"). This delayed our day a few minutes, but
it was the best morning beer I have ever had.After that, Marianne tried her hand at shopping and I went on another cloudy-day photo excursion. I wandered into corners of Rothenburg I had missed on many earlier trips and I noticed there were even more places to see and photograph, but I would save them for warmer weather.
The view from "castle park", a promentory where the original fortress stood a thousand years ago.
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Town views: Castle park. Restaurant Hell (really). Old bridge over the Tauber. Best hostel in Rotheburg.     
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On left, a linden tree planted in 1587. Other pictures all from one of the old town entrances.     |
retch it takes, for another stay at the Hotel Herrnschlösschen.Regards,
John and Marianne