10.31.2016: Happy Halloween from Germany

First of all, there was NO sight of Halloween going on in Germany.  It is definitely and American holiday haha!  It was hard to even remember it was Halloween today, which was fine because we don't really celebrate it anyways.

 

After dinner, we started walking around the square area and followed some other people to what looked like might be a cool spot to hang out.  We stumbled on a street with a ton of shops, restaurants, bars, street vendors, and people!  Seems like the Germans in general like being out at night.  All the city centers are busy and bustling with life from the locals. 

So we actually shopped a bit and bought some gifts/souvenirs for people...and then found us a busy little street vendor selling Gluewine!!  MMMMMM....hot wine!!  Couldn't wait to have some.  It definitely was a one-glass kinda thing.  The experience and ambiance made it incredible.  We were standing in front of a gothic beautiful Christian cathedral, on Halloween, dressed in jackets & scarves, drinking hot wine out of Christmas mugs, with Kris Kringlemarket in the background.  So. Much. Fun.

We heeded the hotel clerks warning and took a taxi back to our hotel! It was a long day of driving, exploring, adventuring....and we were OUT for the night!

 

10.31.2016: The Nuremberg Trials

Our next stop on our road trip thru Germany is Nuremberg.  This is the home of the old Nuremberg trials.  Altho we didn't go to the courthouse where the trials took place, and only had one night in town, we made the best of it! 

 

We checked into our hotel, which we picked because it was within walking distance to the downtown square.  What we (I) didn't read in the reviews was that it was basically in the ghetto, and altho it was nice inside, it was dangerous outside.  When we checked in, the desk clerk told us not to walk outside at night - to take a taxi - and to leave our car in the gated, secured parking lot (with limited spacesso if we moved it, we prob wouldn't get a spot back later).  So, we decided to walk during the day was fine, and it was....just wouldn't have done it at night.  We walked thru a "locals only" area of TONS of Turks. Looked like gang headquarters on most corners. 

Anyways, we made it to the city center and admired the beautiful architecture.  We walked around to where the area of the world famous Kris Kringle Market is held every year.  Being too early in the season, they were just setting up the square.  So, we didn't get to see ALL the magic, but got an idea of what it would look like.  Impressive! And can't wait to come back someday to see the real thing.

We watched the sunset from a 2nd floor bar area that looked over the square, and listened to the church bells ring and the clock dolls come out and dance around.  It was amazing.  We ended up eating dinner (snacks) at the bar there...which was PACKED. 

After dinner we decided we would walk around a bit and see the open shops and market areas.

 

10.31.2016: The Quintessential German Home Town

After Adelshofen, we headed over to Rothenburg ob der Tauber - a picturesque old German touristy kinda town.  The name in German means "Red fortress above the Tauber".  (Tauber River)  The old part of the city is surrounded by a red walled fortress with history oozing from its bricks.  The interior of the city is made up of old medieval homes and buildings, and at the center of the marketplace is St. James Church.  The original city dates back to the year 950. 

Throughout the years, Rothenburg was considered the epitome of the German 'Home Town', representing all that was quintessentially German, and I can see why they took so much pride in this place.  The city was also a significant part of the Nazi era, and was eventually bombed in 1945 which destroyed many of the buildings there.  After surrendering the town to prevent further destruction (against Hilter's orders), the city spared further bombings and was quickly restored after the war ended.

We walked around the town a little bit, had a brautwurst from a roadside shop, and bought some German 'Snowball" cookies.  This is supposedly where the snowball cookie originated and they ship them all over the world from here.  So we bought a few to see how they compare to the ones we make at home (I like ours better!!).  We didn't plan to really eat here, but everywhere we went we decided we needed "just a little snack"!

 The church here is incredible - built with intricate details and beautiful sculptures and statues.  There are a few Christmas shops that we decided to walk around in - and realized after about 3 of them that they are very overwhelming!! Sooooo much stuff - all things Christmas!

We spent a couple hours here then decided we should make our way to our next stop before it got too late.

Read this....about the tower in the next picture!

10.31.2016: More Family History Explorations

This morning, we drove from Frankfurt to Adelshofen which is another town that has links to our Riedman family history.  I found articles that talked about our relatives getting married in the church here, but couldn't find much else information to go off of.  So we toured the town, talking about what they would be doing up in this part of the country, since most of the Riedmans were living down south.  Never know why someone might have moved back then - but most likely jobs or land!  It was a cute little town - not much to it either though.  It was a little bigger than Thaldorf though - at least it is now.

Vince trying to figure out what kind of gas to get...too many options!!