Two things happened on the way to Rothenberg ob der Tauber (Rothenburg on the Tauber River). First, we stopped in Memmingen, and very old, medieval city in Southern Germany. Second, we made it to Rothenburg.

I have been to Memmingen once before. An old friend of mine from when I visited and lived in Germany (the 1970s), Susi, lived in Memmingen back in 2005 when I spent time in Europe. I visited Susi for a day and fell in love with the town. When I saw that it was between Zurich and Rothenberg, I knew we had to stop.

It was about 11:30 AM when we pulled into Memmingen, some time between coffee drinking time and beer drinking time.

After our beverage, we walked the old medieval streets, shopped a bit, and then found our car before the Polizei did. Using our trusty GPS, we got back on the road, driving on the Autobahn for a while, and taking back roads when possible. We arrived in Rothenburg in the early afternoon, in time to check into a lovely hotel near an entrance to the old walled city. We wandered around for a while, listened to a classical concert rehearsal in the main city square while enjoying a great glass of local wine, shopped some more, and then ate too much.

Rothenburg is one of the most beautiful small towns in Europe. It’s been said Walt Disney used the town as a backdrop for Pinocchio. The following morning, Linda and I again wandered the streets looking for a good sweet roll and coffee. In Germany, on Sundays, most places are closed, and it took a while to find a small bakery.

After breakfast, we wandered more. We shopped more. We had one more beer. And then we had to leave for our next destination, the small town of Sindelfingen, near Stuttgart.

Here are some photographs from and around Rothenburg.