Holiday 2019, Sept 12, Rothenburg ob der Tauber - Weerberg - Maxenhagerhof, Day 8

 Today was a travel day!  The plan was to end the day in Weerberg Austria so we had a good full day ahead of us as it was 560 km south. 

After a full breakfast, we cleaned the cupboards and stripped the beds. (Liesbeth had so kindly found enough bedding for us to haul everywhere we went 💓 - it doesn't come with all the rentals), we were packed in the van and on our way, waving good bye to Kircheim Germany and heading south to Rothenburg ob de Tauber, a town in Bavaria. It is known for its old city center, the best preserved walled town out there! In the middle ages it was the second largest city in Germany. Now it is called Germany's Fairy Tale dream town. Rothenburg ob der Tauber was located about half way our drive to Austria, so it was the perfect place to have a rest, picnic lunch out of the back of the van, and a walk-about.  

Rothenburg has appeared in many movies, and is the inspiration for the 1940s Pinocchio. Of course we had to find the quaint yellow house and be one of the many tourists that posed and took pictures with it. 

Of course there was a lot of capitalizing on the medieval theme.  The kids were thrilled when we went inside the Armory and had marvelous time looking at all the weapons and clothing.  All of the kids walked out with some sort of souvenir and proudly walked down the streets showing off their swords and chain mail.  It made for some good laughs for other tourists, and (especially) Rowan was oblivious to the grins of passers-by while he lunged and pranced to imaginary knights.   

💙 Taking kids on holidays really is so much fun.  Never a dull moment, and we love watching their facial expressions of joy and amazement at all the sights and experiences. 

Walking around the outside of the walls we came across this amazing playground with a medieval theme. It was a wonderful place to sit for a bit before driving again on the crazy autobahns.  What a fantastic stop.  Such great weather and so much to see and experience. 

A couple hours later we made it to the Austrian border! The landscape changed into the Alps. It was pretty neat how things changed slowly but surely into slower driving, higher altitude and just a totally different look. We were happy to have made it to Weerberg before it got dark.  

We stayed at a stunning farm called Maxnhagerhof which was a beautiful former dairy now converted into horse lodging for locals and tourist accommodations.  It was truly stunning.  After driving slowly and precariously up the side of the valley, turning back and forth on all the hairpin curves we had made it! The sun was casting shadows and a slightly misty look on the manicured lawns and fields and the houses were bursting with flowers and gardens.  It felt like we had stepped into another sort of fairy tale.  The kind from the Sound of Music, where the "hills come alive".  The Austrian Alps really were like stepping into another world. 

...stay tuned...