Day 9: Rothenburg ob der Tauber

Rothenburg ob der Tauber... another name I cannot pronounce and trying only succeeded in making Felix laugh hysterically. It's a town that has preserved it's Medieval architecture. It's a big tourist trap, but it was a lot of fun or at least I had fun. Felix complained a lot about the Japanese tourists. =)






We spent a little time exploring the town to see what there was to do. One of our first stops was the Medieval Crime and Punishment Museum. Most of the tools of torture were hideously gross, but several funny ones caught my eye. I took a picture of for my brother's benefit. The caption for the Flute of Shame reads:

"This was used for shaming bad musicians. The neck of the musician was forded through the upper round hole and the fingers were placed under the iron which shows the many finger holes. This gave the impression that the musician was playing the flute." 

Now when I read this I pictured my 6'4'' brother wearing this all scrunched up because he is so tall, and then laughed so hard that I cried.

My second favorite reads:

"The delinquent was to sit behind it, while his hands were pinched under the irons, and his feet were forced through the holes in the wood. Every passerby was allowed to tickle the bottom of the sinners feet. Sometimes, salt was rubbed into the soles of the feet and goats licked it off."

They sure were inventive in the Middle Ages...

For lunch we had Schneeballs (Snowball in German). Not exactly the most nutritious but pretty delicious. I'm sure my Aunt Colleen could have found something healthy in them.  They are a specialty in Rothenburg and are hard to describe. It's kind of like a fried dough thing covered in sugar or icing. There is no good way eat them. I just ended up eating mine like an apple. There were children everywhere with powdered sugar on their faces from these things. =)

There is a beautiful cathedral in Rothenburg ob der Tauber called Jakobskirche or the Church of St. James. I was always hoping when I went in one of these beautiful cathedrals that I could find a concert to attend because I remember my brother talking about that when he was studying abroad in Prague, but unfortunately they all seemed to start later in the summer.

May 29, 2010