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Rain today, but that has not stopped your intrepid travellers from venturing out to explore the city. As many tour groups arrive by mid morning,we decided to climb the tower at the Town Hall as soon as it opened. It is 200ft above the main building’s roof and just a little steeeeep.

This is just the beginning of the stairs to get to the top of the Town Hall. As you wind around, the stairs change from concrete to wood, across the ceiling floor, more stairs, narrower stairs, narrower still stairs spiralling around the tower until a vertical climb up 3 flights with narrow inlets for people to wait for others to descend. Was it worth this effort for you? You decide

  From here ,we went into the town square, past St James Church to the walls surrounding the city.

          Through the gate we went ,travelling down to stairs that lead up onto the wall .From here you walk, looking down across the farmland below,or to the buildings that have grown up beyond the walls

 

Can you see the face with the stain coming down? This is where boiling tar was poured down on hapless marauders. The doors on either side are narrow so only one person could enter at a time into this first gate.

The castle was destroyed by an earthquake and not rebuilt. A chapel  and garden were built on the site and offer beautiful views out to the lower valley and sides of the town within the walls.

 

This is inside the Chapel in the Castle garden. There are faded murals on the upper walls. It serves now as a memorial to the 50 men, women and children who took refuge here ,when a period of anti Semitic fever was experienced in the town ,and the families were killed.

  

Looking through the openings in the walls

 Is it a giant banana?

This house has its eyes on you!

Or is it making sure you don’t steal the banana bike.

 Some of the city sights.

Wherever you walk in the city, you come either to parts of the walls or to the heart of the city,the city square. Here is the Town hall,and a building,formerly a tavern where town officials met, with a memorial clock built into its upper wall. Legend has it , the people of the city were all to be killed by an attacking Baron. The mayor of the town negotiated a deal where ,if he could drink enormous goblets of wine ,the town would be saved. On the hour, windows on either side of the clock ,in the former tavern, open. On one side is the Baron, on the other ,Der Meistertrunk, Master Draught who raises his tankard, drinks and the lowers it ready for the refill.

   The Town hall.

Tomorrow we head for Zurich on the 8.06am train……four trains tomorrow so Weiner Schnitzel, apple donuts ( like apple fritters) and  coffee and bed!  Auf Wiedersehen Rothenburg.😢