HB to CMS in RODT

Monday, April 9, was my 45th birthday, and I’m grateful to both Italy and Germany for making this day a national holiday (Easter Monday). You see, I usually teach on Mondays, and the fact that it was a holiday is the only way that I was able to spend this day with my family. Happy Easter Monday!

Chip and I woke up early and decided to take a stroll through the same park in which we had gotten so scared the night before. It’s amazing how benign things can look in the daylight! Even that face didn’t look nearly as menacing! Flowers were in bloom everywhere; it was a perfect spring morning.

We all met in the hotel lobby for breakfast, where Jake proceeded to stand up to give a toast. He said, “Today is April 9, and on this day, 46 years ago, Carolyn Seefer was born.” I said, “Jake, I love the toast, but did you have to give me an extra year?” We all laughed! (By the way, he did this all on his own. That’s how great a kid he is!)

At this point I was ready to climb a tower to prove I could still do it, at my age and all. And the only one who was willing to do this with me was Jake. So off we went to climb the Town Hall Tower, which was once manned by sentries who warned the town of advancing enemies. (By the way, did you know that “town hall” in German is rathaus? I just love that!) There were no enemies to be seen today, only stunning views of the town.

After our climb we met Chip, Doug, and Paul for a walk around the city walls. Every few hundred yards, you’ll find stairways that lead up to the top of the wall, such as this one the boys are all climbing (I just love this picture!). It’s so wonderful to look down over the town from the wall, imagining what it must have been like in medieval days. And I just fell in love with the architecture—these wonderful houses with their pitched roofs and pastel colors. Just delightful! It almost looks like a fairy tale!

Once we made it back down to ground level, we headed back toward the town center. Along the way, we passed a store owned by a Seifert, presumably one who had managed to stay out of student prison!

Paul went back to the hotel for a rest, but we had one destination in mind: the Mittelalterliches Kriminalmuseum (the Medieval Crime Museum), which is housed in a 1395 building. This is not one of those tacky torture museums that seem to be located in every town in Italy (at least that’s what we kept telling ourselves!); rather, this is a well-respected museum that covers 1000 years of European legal history (now can Chip write this trip off?). Yes it had its share of torture devices, but it also covered the legal system, court proceedings , seals, and legal symbolisms covering seven centuries. Parts of it were really fascinating, but other parts make you realize what brutal creatures we humans are. The torture devices, masks of shame, chastity belts, and execution machines really give one pause. And, ironically, hanging right there on the wall, alongside all of this, were bronze reliefs depicting Justice.

Dare I say that we were ready for lunch after touring the Medieval Crime Museum? Well, we were, so we went down the street to a little restaurant we had discovered during our ghost walk the night before, the Mittelalterliche Trinkstube Zur Höll (or something like that; these German names are really quite a mouthful, aren’t they?). It was so great to sit out in the sun enjoying our lunch, complemented by German beer and wine, which is served in cute little bottles.

Next on the agenda was a tour of the Historiengewölbe (the Historic Vaults), a museum dedicated to the hard times that Rothenburg endured during the Thirty Years’ War. The most interesting part of this museum was descending down to the dungeons. We were all feeling a bit silly at this point, hamming it up with the wax dummies and in the cells! Upon exiting the museum, we discovered a man selling fresh hot apple cider, which Jake enjoyed thoroughly.

Jake and I then visited, appropriately enough, St. Jacob’s Church, a Lutheran church dating back to 1311; however, it wasn’t consecrated until 1485. This church is most famous for its Heilig Blut Altar (Holy Blood Altar). It’s so named because high on the altar, in a glass orb at the center of a cross is an important relic, a drop of Christ’s blood. This relic has made the church a place of pilgrimage throughout time, particularly during the Middle Ages.

After viewing this beautiful church and its relic, we went over to the Reichs Küchenmeilter Hotel, where we met Chip and Doug on their outdoor patio. Time for happy hour! We then returned to the hotel to pick up Paul for dinner. Unfortunately, he had come down with a cold and was unable to join us.

We returned to the Mittelalterliche Trinkstube Zur Höll for our last dinner in Rothenburg, my last dinner in Germany, and my birthday dinner, all in one. We sat at a table located in a wine cellar, lit only by candles. The old plank table seemed too large for the four of us, that is until the meal arrived. Talk about plentiful servings! Even Doug was inspired to eat a rib or two. (And those who know Doug well know how rare this is!)

And even though I was sad that I had to leave the next day to return to Florence, I can’t think of a better send-off dinner!

Thanks, Paul, for sharing Germany with all of us, and for letting me come along for a few days of the “Three-Generations-of-Seefer-Men Road Trip Across Germany.” This was truly the trip of a lifetime.

Oh, and by the way, here’s how I got home the next day:

1. Chip and Doug drove me to Würzburg (1 hour)
2. Took a train to Frankfurt (1 hour)
3. Took a bus to Hahn Airport, where Ryan Air really flies out of (1 ½ hours)
4. Took a plane to Pisa, the closest Ryan Air gets to Florence (1 ½ hours)
5. Took a train to Florence (1 hour)
6. Took a cab home (15 minutes)

Those Amazing Race contestants have nothing on me!