Weekend Journey

Early-ish on Saturday morning we headed for Rothenburg ob der Tauber, a small Medieval walled city in Germany with the wall still intact. (Most of the old walls were partially or completely demolished as the need for the walls diminished and the space was needed for expansion.)


Due to the need to sleep-in slightly, we got a bit of a later start than planned and arrived at Rothenburg past 3 pm. We headed immediately for the Medieval Crime Museum. Although I prefer to think of it as the Museum of Medieval Torture as that is what it appears Criminal Justice entailed at that time.


The following appears to either be a history of Medieval torture or an instruction manual. Between the style of print and the Old German, I wasn't certain which!


After the museum we wandered about the town and climbed up the wall to walk along it. Most of the wall is open for visitors, although a sign does inform you that the city is not responsible for death or injury! My sister, Kara, greatly enjoyed her medieval experience...


We next headed for Heidelberg, the site of the oldest university in Germany. As we arrived later in the day, we found dinner down in the Alt Stadt and then had a brief meander before turning in for the night. The next morning gave us another bright and sunny day, perfect for viewing the city.


We headed straight to Heidelberger Schloss (Heidelberg Castle).


Overlooking the city, a castle was first built on this site around 1200. It was rebuilt, expanded and or improved by successive rulers over the next 400 years or so. The castle was abandoned after the French sacked it in 1693, including loading the four towers with gunpowder and exploding them. (Those rascally French!)

The castle also has a museum on the history of the Apothecary, which was quite interesting and astoundingly free of visitors, especially given the number of people touring the grounds already before 10 am on a Sunday morning!


As we needed to (sorta) pass by anyway, we decided to head to Strasbourg, France...


And a lunch of famous Alsatian Flamekuchen.


And finally, since we were passing directly by it anyway, we decided to stop off at Augusta Raurica in Basel.


And so ended our full, but short, weekend!


Next up? Cairo!