Traversing the Romantic Road (well part of)

Town Square - Rothenburg-ob-de-Tauber
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The first night in the tent went as uncomfortably as we had imagined. However spirits were buoyed as soon as we opened the zipper to see that a bright sunny day had bloomed. A quick boil up breakfast of frankfurters soon had running in with a local who couldn’t fathom why I would leave bread on the ground for the birds to mop up. "Pick it up, this is littering", cried the overly anal German. Confused and angered I gestured to the others that its time that we get on the road. The bread remained to biodegrade or be eaten by birds.

Jimmy and Emma hugging
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Emma had her first stint in a left hand drive and set about it like the consummate professional easily careering through the winding Odenwald otherwise known as the Neckar Valley. The going was slow but some crafty navigation soon had us at our first port of call, a quaint town midway along the romantic road called Rothenburg ob de Tauber.

It was as if a  fairytale town had been placed especially for us contained by middle age city walls on a perched hilltop overlooking the plains of southern Germany. The aldstadt had beautifully preserved wooden German buildings and visually was outstanding. After circling the ramparts and exploring the winding lanes we headed toward Bamberg stopping to have our first official camp shop. Successfully we negotiated the German supermarket and found our campground on the banks of the Rhine-Danube canal to enjoy spaghetti bolognaise. Unfortunately we also had to endure sadistically watching a trout hemorrhage to its death close behind and swatting the  horrid mozzies away from what was otherwise an idyllic setting.

Our campsite for the night
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We spent the evening exploring Bamberg. Claiming to be the most Bavarian of all Bavarian towns, its architecture amazing with coloured frescoes and artistic houses adorning the edge of the Main river. The cathedral sat high upon a knoll overlooking the town and is single handedly the highlight of what is a small sightseeing circuit. Stopping off the nightcap coffee we soaked up some German café culture whilst Jimmy continued to amaze Emma and I with his ability to eat piling down some more spaghetti, this time in the form of ice cream spaghetti! Fatefully whilst in Bavaria we didn't take in the famed brewhouses in the area possibly due to Emma's rapidly deteriotating condition. Instead we headed back to camp and fended off the mosquitoes and othe mutated fish to enjoy our night of solace next to the canal.