Day 34

This day was a very very very long one. It might even be second for the whole trip! (London was the first because I didn't sleep for 30+ hours) We started the morning in Rothenburg at 7:00am. We left our hotel bright and early and hit the town. But I guess earlier in the morning a nice layer of fog rolled in. So it was hard to get any decent pictures. We had close to 2 hours in the town, but it was still very cold. We walked around for a bit to try and warm up and saw part of the city walls. We decided to walk along them like we did in Nordlingen. But unlike Nordlingen, these walls didn't go all of the way around the city. There was damage to some parts and they never completed the reconstruction. So after a few minutes of walking, the walls ended and we headed back into the city. It was still pretty cold and we were getting a little hungry. We found a nice cafe that offered food an warmth, so we popped in for a bit. I know I shouldn't have, but it looked so good. I had a nice piece of cake with strawberries on top. At least there was fruit! And then Adam and I ordered a Schneeball to split. It's popular in Rothenburg, so we had to try it. It was really good. Kind of bready and sweet. After our little break, we walked back outside only to see more fog. We continued walking around the city and taking pictures when possible. But after another 45 minutes, the cold was getting to us, so we called it, and walked over to the train station. Our next destination was Wurzburg. We got off the train in Wurzburg and were immediately pulled aside by the police. They started speaking to us in German, so I was a little nervous. But they just needed to see our passports. We were then asked if we had any drugs or weapons on us. Of course not! And then we were released. That's the second time this trip that this has happened. I wonder if there's some kind of racial profiling going on... We left the station only to discover that it was even colder in Wurzburg than it was in Rothenburg! How could this be? So we figured now was as good of a time as any to grab some lunch. And what should be right outside the train station? You guessed it. Chinese food. And it was a buffet. So we went inside and I had my fill of friend rice, egg rolls and tempura. They even had a little fruit section so I ate a bunch of pineapple and melons. When dessert time came I was intrigued to see baked bananas and honey. I had to try it. And I think I found my new favorite dessert. It was amazing. And I will be making it when I get back home. We left the restaurant feeling very full and slightly warmer. The sun was even peeking out while we were walking down the streets. Our next stop was the Wurzburg Residence, which is the palace that the royal family once lived in. The outside was beautiful but the inside was amazing. There were so many different rooms with different color themes. The walls were all different colors and sculptures were everywhere. This might have been my favorite palace to date. Sadly, we couldn't take pictures of the inside. But I will just tell you this, if I had to pick someplace to live, this one might be it. After the palace, we went around the back to the gardens. They weren't as magnificent as Schonnbrunn, but they were still nice. We spent a few minutes there but then realized that we would have to pick up the pace if we wanted to see the fortress. We walked all of the way across town, stopping in the Hauptmarkt and along a few major streets to take pictures. We crossed a bridge lined with statues of famous saints and popes. And then we saw the fortress in the distance. But the walkway was not as close as we had thought and we were running out of time. There was no way we could make it to the fortress and back to the station in time. So we had to say no this time and instead we settled for some nice pictures of the fortress from across the river. We started heading back towards the train station and realized that we were cutting it too close. We happened to see a tram coming to a stop right in front of us. It it just happened to be going to the train station. But we had no way of buying a ticket. So we took our chances and hopped on, hoping that it would go unnoticed. And it did, thankfully. We made it to the station just in time to catch our next train! We were off to Nuremberg. We were on an ICE train so it was a quick little ride to the city. Our first stop was Zeppelinfield, or the Nazi Party Rally Grounds. We took a quick train over there and saw the place where Hitler addressed so many of his followers. What used to be the Rally Grounds is now a sports arena though. So you can't really tell anymore. However, the seating area is still there and looks the same, minus a few pillars that were destroyed after the war. It was really cool being there, but also a little weird too. During WWII, Nuremberg was one of the main headquarters for Hitler and the Nazis. We left the grounds and headed back into the city. We stopped by St. Lorenz Church which was massive! The outside structures were very impressive as well. The front of the church had such detailed sculptures that I was amazed someone could do it by hand. We continued walking into the heart of the city and came to one of the markets. There were so many odds and ends being sold! It was really neat. We left the market and saw St. Batholomew's Cathedral. There was some nice music coming from it so we went inside. It must have been practice for the local orchestra because there was an entire band inside. We sat down and listened to a few songs to relax. It was great to head that kind of music again. It really made me miss high school and all of the fun times I had in band. We left the church and started heading up to the castle. It was already closed, but the exterior provided some great views of the city. We spent some time up there exploring before finally going back into the city. We walked along a really cool street with differently colored houses. It was really nice. And by now the weather had started to shape up so we were feeling good. We walked back through the main part of the city and towards the train station. I felt like we saw the city well enough and I really enjoyed it. We made out train and started heading back towards Munich. We arrived at the Hauptbahnhof and started speed walking to our hostel. We had 1 hour to walk 2 miles and repack our bags. Hopefully that was enough. We made it to the hostel and did a quick switch of clothes, making sure to pack a little bit warmer this time around. Then we made a quick stop at McDonald's before heading back to the station. Everything went off without a hitch. And now we were on our way to Fussen. We arrived in Fussen about 2 hours later, very tired and just wanting to do to bed. But we had a nice walk to the hostel. We finally arrived and I was ready to pass out. After getting all of my clothes laid out and brushing my teeth, I finally went to bed at 12:15. It was a very very long day.