Cologne, the Romantic Road from Wurzburg and Dinkelsbohl, Germany

Andrew and I left our home in the Netherlands by car to visit Germany and Austria. About six years ago we put together a puzzle of the Schloss Neuschwanstein and dreamt of going one day.

We dropped off the pets at the Dierentehuis Kennemerland in Zandvoort on Friday morning. It took over an hour to get the paperwork done just to leave them there. That was fine-they are very thorough there!  We felt safe leaving Sammy and Socrates there. They looked very sad when we left though......Neither one of them had ever been in a kennel before. In California we were lucky to have our friend Kristen, who is a petsitter, take care of them in the home.

We came back by the house after dropping off the pets and picked up our suitcases, locked up and hit the road!

We had pre-planned where we would be staying for most of the trip so we didn't have to worry about finding a place to stay on the road.  Our first stop was Cologne (Koln), Germany.  When Andrew is driving quite often I end up taking a nap for at least 30 minutes. This trip was no different.....when I woke up, I realized we were in Germany because the first sign I saw was:

(which means "Exit")

We had reservations at the    in Cologne, which was within walking distance of the Aldstadt (Old City) area.  After checking in, we walked downtown to have a look around and get some dinner.

We had dinner at the Cafe Richard which is on the other side of the plaza from the Dom. This was our view!

The Dom plaza are of Cologne was beautiful. Unfortunately, the city had been bombed during WW2 and there wasn't much of the old city left...it had all be rebuilt. We stayed at the Marriott in Cologne, which, as always, was a very comfortable stay.

The next morning we set out for the "Romantic Road" which starts in Wurzburg, Germany!

We stopped in Wurzburg and walked around town. It's a pretty little town and we really enjoyed looking around. We ended up buying Franken Silvaner Kabinett (a white) and Franken Domina Qualitatswein (and a red) while we were there. We had been told that these wines are made in the area and aren't available anywhere else. We were able to have a little taste before purchasing and found them to be delicious!

We stopped and had lunch at the Mainmuhle Restaurant...this was our view!

After lunch, we continued down the road to our next stop-Rothenburg ob de tauber, Germany, which we had planned to be just a "look/see" because we had read that it's very touristy, but worth seeing (they were right!). There was a historical festival going on, which was quite fun to see!

There is still a standing wall around the city:

Our next stop....Dinkelsbuhl, Germany, where we spent the night at the Hezelhof Hotel. This was the view from our upstairs window!

The next morning there was a parade and festival taking place in Dinkelsbuhl. What fun!!!

There were townspeople there making all kinds of homemade items that they had for sale. We bought a nice little homemade basket that I'll be able to use for bread.

Inside the church in Dinkelsbohl:

 Sculptors:

 Blacksmith:

Smoked salmon:

 Beating wheat:

We spent a few hours enjoying Dinkelsbohl, then headed south on the Romantic Road.