A Lot of Burgs: Milten, Freuden, Rothen, and Wurtberg

It has been busy enough, that I have not had time to  write. I like writing, so you can imagine how busy it has become. Off the boat, on to the bus, off the bus, on to the boat, off, on, off, on.....

Yesterday, we were on the Main river, and pulled into Freudenburg about 9:30 in the morning. We took a bus to the nearby town of Miltenburg (I don't think this is where "uncle Milty" was from). It was a charming town, and we had an individual guide who had a great sense of humor.

She told a story of a threatened invasion by the allies during WWII, and how the large bridge was lined with dynamite. Well, the invasion didn't come, but before they could take the explosives down, a potato truck was driving over the bridge, and the dynamite exploded. "We were in mashed potatoes for a month."

You can see from the photos of the houses how neat and clean the town was. There was a special observer that I found on the second floor of a house. I took his picture, and I didn't have to ask permission! He's down below this paragraph.  Once we toured the town, and had a couple of local brews, we were on to the boat that evening where we had a delightful talk by a local glass blower. He was a real comedian, but he seemed to have a thankful sense of the United States involvement in getting the communists out of Germany and the removal of the Berlin wall. I guess it provided tremendous opportuity for making a decent living which couldn't be accomplished in East Germany.

The next morning(observer to the left), we were on the bus and took a tour of the Wurzburg's Townhouse. It was the house for the Bishops, and it was built in the early 1700s. It is a palace, and I'll bet the pledges to the church were heavy during those times. Talk about tithing? Gold leaf, beautiful plaster ornaments on the walls. No pictures allowed inside, so you'll have to imagine it. You can see the entrance courtyard to the right.

Final trip for the day was to Rothenburg. It was about 1 hour's drive, but it was worth it. This town has stayed the same for about 200 years, because the town leaders decided to keep everything inside the walls unchanged. What a marketing idea! Only with special permission can you change the paint, or the structures, because it will ruin the looks of the past. You can see this in the house I have photographed. It's one of the oldest, and it is leaning. I was leaning too after a couple of local beers.

During the 30 years war, around 1631, the Catholic general arrived at the outskirts of Rothenburg ready to attack. The mayor offered a large bucket of wine as a peace offering. The General refused to drink it, but bargained that if anyone could drink it in three minutes he would not attack the town. The mayor did it and saved the town. Now, in the town square there is a large clock, and on some of the hours, "the mayor" comes out of a window, and raises his glass as if to drink the wine.

I want to show you some of the "other" beautiful things we are seeing during this trip. They are the kind of things we don't take the time to notice when we are surrounded by all the "shoulds and oughts" of our everyday life. Enjoy.