​Last weekend Mario and I visited Rothenburg ob der Tauber which is part the Romantic Road. The Romantic Road consists of towns which hold a certain charm and brings a good deal of tourists to southern Germany.  It starts with Wurzburg which I visited back in January and ends with Fussen which is near Neuschwanstein (Disney Castle).
 
Rothenburg ob der Tauber is known for its well preserved medieval town from the Middle Ages with its alley ways, half-timbered houses and a wall surrounding the old town. The coolest part is you can climb up and walk along the wall. There were a few churches and museums  I didn’t get to explore and would definitely like to go back. At night they offer a Night Watchman tour which takes you around the city in the darkness and sharing stories of how people lived in the Middle Ages.
 

​We spend Labor Day exploring Heidelberg. The weather was overcast with a few raindrops but nice and cool otherwise, just like a fall day. We parked near the castle and walked up the hill. We explored the courtyard, pharmacy museum and saw the worldest largest wine barrel. Then we walked to the old bridge where we came across the Heidelberger Liebesstein which is an Odenwalk sandstone which stands on the north side of the old bridge. According to an old tradition, couples close the lock together and throw the key into the river. We walked the center of old town and ate a quick lunch before heading home.

Today we traveled to Bad Urach waterfall which was about a 40 minute drive from the house. It is in the Swabian Alb that runs through Baden-Wurttemberg. It was once home to the most volcanic areas in the world. There is a great deal of interesting geographical formations and great spas. In German Bad means bath or spa. The weather was nice and cool so it was a great day for a hike. As we walked on the trail, we were able to get some great pictures of the run off stream which ran right next to the trail. There was a great number of people and dogs, but Trooper and Sissy did awesome! There were a few moments when Trooper was pulling me up the trail towards to waterfall!

Last week we headed to Ludwigsburg which is about a 25 minute drive from house depending on traffic to see two different things. First we headed to the MHP arena to see the Terracotta Army Exhibit which talked about the famous Emperor Qin's Terracotta Warriors. For those who aren't sure about this it is a collection of terracotta sculptures depicting the armies of Qin Shi Huang, the first Emperor of China. The Terracotta warriors were placed in the emperor's burial chamber to protect him in his afterlife. The warriors were found March 29, 1974. I have always found this discovery interested and was excited to visit the exhibit. Interesting piece of information, the original warriors were painted different colors but over time the color was lost. 

Next, we travel to Ludwigsburg Palace which is one of the largest Baroque building in Europe and explored the gardens. We visited it last fall right after we arrived and the garden were already in winter mood, so we figured we would go back and see it in the summer. We weren't disappointed. We pay our admission and extra for a map and started to explore the area, which was much bigger than I thought. The palace garden grounds hosts a Pumpkin fest from Sept 2- Nov. 6, where everything is focused around pumpkins. There is food, pumpkin races, pumpkin art, pumpkin craving and weighing of pumpkins. It was being set up while we were there, so I got some pictures of the pumpkin art.