Road trip!

About this time (early November) last year, Kate and I had enough of spending our weekends moving from one place to the other (Heidelberg -> Mannheim -> Heidelberg, etc.) and decided take our first train-trip road trips. We started out modestly, as both locations are within 200 km of Heidelberg, but it was nice to get out nonetheless.

Rothenberg is one of those typical "quaint" (I hate the word) towns that, during the summer especially, are stacked with Japanese, American, and Australian tourists. In the winter months, though, it's just the locals. You just can't get enough of the walled city. It's history is rich and even humorous. For example, when the Swedes came down to reek havoc on the Catholic population of Germany, they sacked this little town. When they confronted the town's mayor, the cut him a deal: drink a barrel of beer in one go or watch the city go down in flames (so goes the legend). The good man took the brew down without a wink. Yes, the town was inspiring indeed.

Speyer is a bit different. It has no wall (anymore), but is home to one of the most impressive Romanesque cathedrals I've seen. The city has its own brewery and its own amusement park...If you visit Speyer, I would advise visiting the latter before the former.

Here are some pics from our excursions: