DJmotortouring – Page 11 – EUROPE BY ROAD (and other travel blogs)

Anzio (Lazio), Italy September 2023 (Tour 8)

We drove to Anzio by way of Orvieto in Umbria.

Anzio is a fascinating medium sized town of some 50,000 inhabitants on the Tyrrhenian Sea, about 30 miles south of Rome. In the Summer, it is very popular with Roman holidaymakers (some 40% of houses in Anzio are second homes to people from Rome) but, outside of those months it is usually quiet. The town, with it’s sandy beaches and a pretty little harbour (a departure point for a ferry and hydroplane service to the nearby Pontine Islands, although Formia is the primary port in this regard) was very quiet as we arrived.

We had the dogs with us and were therefore unable to make the trip to the Pontine Islands but that is an archipelago we will most certainly visit in the future. Only 2 of the 6 islands are occupied all year round (the islands of Ponza and Ventotene) but Palmarola and Zannone are inhabited during the summer months and all six islands have stories to tell; even the deserted Santo Stefano (a penal colony until 1965) and Gavi (now a wildlife refuge).

Anzio is steeped in ancient and modern history (with a fair bit in between although the place fell into decline during the Middle Ages). At the time of the Roman Empire, the combined towns of Anzio and Nettuno were known as Antium and was the birthplace of two Julio-Claudian Emperors (Caligula who reigned 37-41 AD and Nero who reigned 54-68 AD). During his reign, Nero developed an enormous, magnificently decorated palace in Antium (the Villa Imperiale di Nerone or Nero’s Villa). Covered in a precious white marble it stretched 800 metres along the beach and 300 metres inland. No doubt with the palace in mind, a subsequent emperor, Hadrian, described Antium as one of the prettiest places in the Empire. There’s not a great deal remaining of the villa but it’s footprint is largely intact.

*Artist’s impression of the Villa Imperiale di Nerone, built on Anzio’s beaches*.

*Nero’s bronze statue on the Anzio beachfront (Claudio Valenti 2010)*

Anzio’s beaches once again became a centre of attention in January 1944 when during WW2, “Operation Shingle” saw troops from the USA, Great Britain and Canada invade them with a view to compromising the German 10th Army and liberating Rome. After a promising start (i.e. a 7 mile beachhead established and an open road to Rome for the loss of just 13 Allied dead) the invasion stalled and developed into one of the more savage battles of the war (more than 43,000 Allied casualties) with Lieutenant General Mark W Clark and his subordinate Major General John P Lucas combining to totally screw the operation up. Lucas (described by Winston Churchill as a ‘Stranded Whale’) was relieved of his command and sent back to the USA after sitting on the beach for 8 days and doing nothing while the Germans rushed their 14th Army south to support their 10th Army. Clark too should have been returned to the USA for tolerating Lucas’ inertia and then deliberately ignoring the orders of his own Commanding Officer (General Sir Harold Alexander) as he sought to retrieve the situation. Lucas’ replacement, Major General Lucian Truscott of the US 3rd Division wrote that “had Clark held loyally to General Alexander’s insructions… and not changed the direction of my attack… the strategic objectives of Anzio would have been accomplished in full”. The US military historian Carlo D’Este was more critical saying that Clark’s actions in disregarding Alexander was “as militarily stupid as it was insubordinate”. Clark kept his post. No surprises there since he was a close personal friend of Dwight Eisenhower, the Supreme Commander of Allied Forces.

Except for a few words about the war cemeteries I perhaps need to draw a line under the Battle of Anzio. It will suffice to say there is a great deal in the town and it’s immediate surroundings to remind any visitor of Imperial Rome and the Anzio landings of 1944.

There are three war cemeteries in the area immediately surrounding Anzio; two British & Commonwealth cemeteries (‘Anzio War Cemetery’ and ‘Beach Head War Cemetery’) and the USA cemetery at Nettuno (now known as ‘The Sicily-Rome American Cemetery’ after US cemeteries in Salerno and Sicily were closed).

I took the time to visit the well maintained Anzio War Cemetery and during my walk back to a beach car park where I’d left Vanya with Nala and Beanie, I passed the charming 17th century Villa Adele, a significant part of which is now a museum, the Museo dello Sbarco di Anzio. Initially,the museum’s focus was directed towards the area’s archaeological finds but, perhaps unsurprisingly, four rooms have since been dedicated to the Battle for Anzio; a room each for the USA, Britain & the Commonwealth, Germany and of course Italy. A small part of the museum is centred around a Lieutenant Eric Fletcher Waters, a British officer who landed at Anzio and lost his life in the ensuing battle. His son, Roger Waters, grew up to be a co-founder, bass player and principal lyricist of Pink Floyd and; one of Pink Floyd’s singles, “When the Tigers Broke Free” (originally entitled “Anzio, 1944”) tells the story of his fathers death at Anzio.

Close to Anzio War Cemetery is the Basilica di Santa Teresa. That’s Saint Teresa de Lisieux (the Saint I wrote about in my blog on Alencon earlier this year – Tour 7) and not to be confused with Saint Teresa of Avila or Saint Teresa of Calcutta or any one of the other Saint Teresas’s). The Basilica, which was built between 1926 and 1939, is very imposing from the outside (especially having regard to it’s huge belltower) and it is supposedly very impressive on the inside too but a wedding ceremony was underway as I arrived and I wasn’t inclined to hang around.

One church I was able to access is the Chiesa dei Santi Pio e Antonio on Anzio’s main square, the Piazza Pia. Having been consecrated in 1885, this neo classical style church is a little older than the Basilica di Santi Teresa and, if not so imposing, is far prettier.

Back at the Van, Vanya and I planned our next move and we determined to drive north along the coast and seek out a good seafood restaurant. This whole area is justifiably famous for it’s fresh fish. We found the perfect place some 16 miles away on a wide sandy beach in Torvaianica. The food, the setting and the mood were truly great. From Vanya’s perspective however that all seemed to fade into nothing against the new drink she discovered at the restaurant – a Prosecco & Lemon Sorbet. Honestly, she was in seventh heaven. I don’t think we’ve heard the last of that drink…

Bolsena (Lazio), Italy September 2023 (Tour 8)

Wow! Bolsena really impressed me, notwithstanding the overcast weather. It is probably crowded with tourists during the summer but during mid September the place was quite empty (and yet all facilities were still open). We timed our visit well.

Bolsena is a small town of less than 5,000 people located on the northeast shore of Lake Bolsena which, with a depth of 500 feet and a diameter of 7.5 miles, is the largest volcanic lake in Europe. The crystal clear waters of the lake teem with fish but is so clean it is safe to drink. There are a couple of small islands towards the centre of the lake, L’Isola Bisentina and L’Isola Martana, but the inclement weather precluded any boat trip on our part. They are privately owned islands but boat trips are still possible at least during the summer months.

Many of the villages around Lake Bolsena, particularly Marta on the south side of the lake, are fishing villages where pike, perch, eel, various species of bass and catfish are caught. Bolsena also supports a number of fishing boats but in summer the town’s main source of income is from tourism and that is reflected by the number of boats in the harbour offering lake tours.

Bolsena is very much a town of two halves. Down by the waterside is the more stylish, modern half of the town with it’s many hotels, restaurants, holiday homes and lakeside leisure activities while behind that area, clinging to the surrounding hillside, is the attractive old medieval town.

These old town streets, filled with dark stone houses reminiscent of a medieval fishing village, are as interesting and full of character as any in Italy and walking them it is easy to believe you have slipped back in time.

At the very top of the town is the 13th century Castle Rocca Balsena. By the 15th century this imposing castle (it towers over Bolsena) was in an advanced state of decay but the Monaldeschi family committed to it’s restoration and as a consequence the finished product was renamed the Castello Rocca Monaldeschi. The castle currently houses the Territorial Museum of Lake Bolsena and while I wasn’t too impressed with the museum contents (there doesn’t seem to be any real focus to the contents – they are as diverse as Etruscan pottery, medieval paintings and fish from the lake), it is well worth the 5 Euro entrance fee for the views from the battlements alone.

Having explored the castle and checked out the museum I was keen to visit the local church, the Basilica of Santa Cristina but it was closed. It is said that the church was the scene of a miracle in 1263 when a Bohemian priest, in doubt about the doctrine of transubstantiation (i.e. the conversion of the eucharistic bread and wine into the substance of the body and blood of Christ) was convinced of it’s truth by the miraculous appearance of drops of blood on the Host he was consecrating at a mass in the crypt of the church. The marvel is commemorated in the Vatican by Raphael’s fresco “The Miracle at Bolsena’ and the Pope, Urban IV, subsequently built Orvieto Cathedral where a blood stained altar cloth from the Basilica of Santa Cristina is stored.

While exploring the old town I found a small restaurant-bar where we would take dinner later that evening and I spent what was left of the afternoon in that bar sampling the local white wine (a Lazio ‘Vermentino’) until it was time to collect Vanya.

Despite not being able to walk at all well (her hip was playing up) Vanya was as entranced with Bolsena as I was and the meal was great. Oh, and Vanya loved the Vermentino although, upon the recommendation of the waiter, we switched from the Lazio Vermentino to one from Tuscany. It proved to be better.

A little bit more about the Vermentino because I don’t doubt that we’ll be taking a fair few bottles back to the UK. It’s a hardy yet thin skinned white wine grape which thrives in warmer climates because of it’s tendency to ripen quite late in the growing season. It is believed the grape originated in Piedmont but, because it is easy to grow and resistant to drought and disease, it is now found all around the world (particularly Provence in France where it is known as Rolle) and across a broad swathe of Italy (Piedmont, Tuscany, Umbria, Lazio and Sardinia). We’ve since tried quite a few and so far I favour those from Bolgheri in Tuscany with some from Sardinia coming a close second.

And then it was back to the Van, passing all kinds of critters on the way, one of which (down by the lake) frightened the life out of Vanya. She didn’t half scream. Lol.

We’d have stayed longer in Bolsena except the facilities at the campsite we were using (Camping Internazionale Il Lago) are so badly in need of modernising. We love the location (in terms of it’s proximity to the lake and the town centre) but we wanted a decent shower block.

Anzio next…

Santa Lucia (Tuscany), Italy September 2023 (Tour 8)

This will probably be my shortest post ever.

We were heading south to Pitigliano. Not sure how but I got it all wrong and we ended up missing Pitigliano and stopping at Santa Lucia where there really is nothing except a Campsite -cum-Lorry Stop. Having said that, the campsite owners were very welcoming and operated a decent bar-restaurant which made the overnight stay fine but the next morning we retraced our steps looking for Pitigliano and I again got it wrong. Disaster.

*The only building in Santa Lucia other than those that made up the campsite complex*

I have enjoyed and been impressed by a fair few hilltop towns and villages in Tuscany (Montalcino, Montepulciano, San Quirico d’Orca and Volterra, to name but a few) and, from what I have heard, Pitigliano may well prove to be among the best of them but, it will have to wait. We gave up on the place and headed for Bolsena in Lazio Region.

*Pitigliano. Not my photo because I failed to find the place. Next time!!*

We paused at the McArthur Glen Designer Outlet near Berberino di Mugello and drove through part of Orvieto in Umbria Region but at best this was a travel day…

… and then we arrived at Bolsena in Lazio and everything changed for the better…

Asolo (Veneto), Italy September 2023 (Tour 8)

Arrived in Italy and made our way to Bolso del Grappa through Vidor and Valdobbiadene. We were booked into Camping Santa Felicita together with friends Craig and Julie who were visiting Italy in their own van. We fancied a return to the Prosecco Hills and, in particular, the pretty little town of Asolo which is a relaxing little place in the foothills of the Dolomites and fully deserving of it’s “I Borghi più belli d’Italia” status. We used the Santa Felicia campsite as a base when last in the area and there’s nothing wrong with the place.

It was pleasant meeting up with Craig and Julie and for the most part we really enjoyed that first evening at the campsite notwithstanding the incredible storm which struck as we were eating in the restaurant adjacent to the camp site. It wasn’t so much the thunder and lightning which made the storm so memorable but the torrential rain. It was deluge which for a short while at least matched any of the monsoons I have witnessed in Africa and the Far East.

It was later, after the storm had subsided and we returned to the Vans, that we learned the full cost of that evening. The awning on Craig’s vehicle had been half torn from the side of his van. It was totally ruined. If that wasn’t bad enough, the next day both Julie and I, despite eating different dishes at the nearby restaurant, were both very sick. I’ll not say any more about that but I very much doubt we’ll be eating in that restaurant again.

*Great start to the evening at the restaurant*…

Next morning we all made our way in the Van to Asolo. We parked in the large municipal car park, the Parcheggio Coperto ‘Cipressina’ (free parking except at weekends and bank holidays) and strolled up towards the town centre using Via Forestuzzo and Via Robert Browning.

When last in Asolo I intended walking to the 12th century castle ruins (La Rocca) which tower over the town but Vanya and I so much enjoyed sitting in the sun drinking chilled Prosecco that we left it too late. Together with Craig, I was determined to put that right this time. We enjoyed a glass of Prosecco with Vanya and Julie at one of the bars on the picturesque Piazza Garibaldi (once known as the Piazza Maggiore) and then, leaving the ladies to enjoy a second glass, we set off on the short steep walk up to the castle.

We made it (after a bit of to-ing and fro-ing) but ‘Sod’s law’, La Rocca was closed! There was a sign at it’s entrance advising it is open to the public only at weekends and bank holidays. We could have done with that sign at the bottom of the hill. No matter, the exercise will have done us good and we could still enjoy the views over the surrounding countryside.

*The view south from the entrance* *to the La Rocca*

Upon our return from the castle, there was plenty of time for a wander around the town…

*View from Castle Caterina Cornaro*, *not to be confused with La Rocca*

*The Zen Fountain (on Via Robert Browning)*

… and this time, unlike before, I was able to access the church, the Duomo di Santa Maria Assunta.

The Santa Maria Assunta does not rank amongst the most beautiful of Catholic churches and neither, I think, does it have a great deal of history (it’s all relative) but it does have a very good copy of Titian’s ‘Assumption of the Virgin’ the original of which we saw in a church in Venice many years ago. This copy is by Lorenzo Lotto but, to be honest, I know almost nothing about him.

The following day was spent driving around the Prosecco Hills, pausing briefly at Vadobbiadene and Vidor for a drink but that meal of a couple of days ago was still hurting and I was in no mood for either eating or drinking. Shame because this is a beautiful part of Italy with some great and very unique local produce. I’m talking drinks and food.

The Veneto Region is most famous for it’s Prosecco. I went into some detail about this fine sparkling white wine in a previous blog so; I’ll not risk repeating myself now except to say that Prosecco is made predominantly with the local Glera grape and Asolo Prosecco was granted DOCG status back in 2009. I don’t think I have ever mentioned that Asolo Prosecco was the first Prosecco to include an ‘Extra Brut’ category? I find that category too dry but Vanya adores it.

Other drinks which simply have to be mentioned when talking about the Veneto Region are Grappa (originated in Bassano de Grappa in the Vicenza Province of Veneto), Amarone (my favourite Italian red wine produced in Verona Province) and Aperol (this bright orange liqueur was created in Padua in 1919 and is used to make the Aperol Spritz – one part soda, two parts Aperol and 3 parts Prosecco).

So far as food is concerned, the Veneto Region favours polenta and rice over pasta (and I can relate with that). This is true across all of the Veneto Region and most especially across the province of Treviso (of which Asolo is a part). One very famous Italian dessert which originated in Treviso is Tiramisu, first created by chef Roberto Linguanotto in the 1960’s.

Anyway, enough about food and drink – I’m off for a beer.

Feistritz im Rosental (Carinthia), Austria September 2023 (Tour 8)

On our way to Italy after a great but all too short weekend in Enzesfeld, we paused for the night at the small town of Feistritz im Rosental in the Carinthian Region of Austria. Immediately upon arrival however I spent the afternoon walking the even smaller town (read ‘hamlet’ given it’s size) of Suetschach.

Surrounded by some beautiful hills Suetschach is a pretty little place (full of unusual metal art works and an amazing church). I have since read that Feistritz used to be part of Suetschach but it merged in 1973 with neighbouring Weizelsdorf and as a consequence later received market town status in it’s own right (1996). Suetschach is now considered a remote suburb of Feistritz.

The Parish Church in Suetschach was locked and I was unable to get beyond the front porch but what I could see from there was enough for me to want to go back for a proper look. There’s also an interesting chapel in the church grounds commemorating the area’s fallen in the two World Wars. What sets this particular chapel apart from others I have seen in Germany and Austria is that alongside the name of each person who fell is a photograph of the individual. I’ve never seen that before. It brings it all home.

Then, with the evening coming on and the hamlet’s sole pub closed for a late summer break, it was back to the campsite at Feistritz (Naturcamping Juritz) which even by Austrian / German standards proved to be first class. The facilities are all 5 star but it is the excellent restaurant which sets this campsite apart. Vanya wasn’t eating but I enjoyed a really good scampi dish and a fine Chardonnay. It was a shame we couldn’t stay longer but we’d arranged to meet some other friends in Italy and had to leave early the next morning.

The food in the Restaurant Juritz was seriously tasty; the wines were good and; the service was most attentive. There was a beautiful sunset which could have made for some great photo opportunities at the nearby lake lake but I wasn’t about to let such a good repast go to waste.

There also looked to be a wide range of hill walking opportunities in the area. Now that too is worth revisiting this campsite for but next stop Asolo in Italy.

Enzesfeld (Lower Austria), Austria September 2023 (Tour 8)

It is always a pleasure returning to Enzesfeld to see longstanding friends the Familie Gedik. It is enough to enjoy the company of such friends but an added bonus to any visit is that we are invariably introduced by them to new and fascinating parts of Austria.

During this all too brief stay in Enzesfeld we revisited Baden bei Wien (and experienced for a second time in two years the annual international photography event, the Festival la Gacilly – Baden) and visited, for the first time, a heurige renowned as much for food as wine in the small town of Lichtenworth.

Baden bei Weimar has featured in a number of my earlier blogs under the heading of Baden or Enzesfeld. Vanya and I visited the town last year, Tour 6, and enjoyed part of the 2022 Festival La Gacilly-Baden (the largest open air photo exhibition in Europe) and Gerhard and I were keen to see the 2023 Festival.

La Gacilly, a small town in Bretagne France (which incidentally is home to the large cosmetic firm Yves Rocher) has held an annual photography festival since 2004 but a few years ago the town agreed to change it’s format and collaborate with Baden to produce the ‘Festival La Gacilly-Baden’. The revised Festival, now in it’s 6th year, serves to showcase through contemporary photography, the beauty of nature and the need for it’s protection from deliberate or negligent human actions. Each exhibition is shown one year in La Gacilly and the next in Baden (with a little regional variation thrown in). This year’s festival in Baden amounted to a 7km long gallery around the town of 1,500+ large format photographs with a double focus (forgive the pun) towards the “Orient” and “Ecocide”. In truth it would have been more apt to use “Persia” as opposed to “Orient”since most of the artwork on display was submitted by photographers from Iran, Afghanistan and Pakistan (although there was some really thought provoking work created by a Kinshasa art collective).

Posters advertising this year’s Festivals in Austria (Orient) and France (Nature as Heritage). The French exhibition, featuring work by photographer’s from Brazil, Ivory Coast, Italy and the USA, will move to Austria next year and who knows what the theme for 2024 will be in La Gacilly.

Much of this year’s festival in Baden was displayed in the town’s Doblehoff Park and the adjoining Rosarium and that’s where Gerhard and I spent most of our time. The Park and Rosarium with it’s 900 different varieties of roses are worth a visit in their own right on a warm summer’s day but with the added incentive of photos by some of the world’s best photographers… the event was almost surreal.

And the photographs… inspiring or what? I was particularly impressed by some of the art coming out of Kinshasa. I know Sarah Ndele created ‘Plastic Suit’ and it may well be that she did ‘Cigarette Butt’. Unfortunately, I misplaced what few notes I thought to make at the time and I’m writing this blog over a month after leaving Austria. I recall there were a series of photos by an artists collective in Kinshas which makes costumes from the city’s waste so as to draw attention to environmental pollution. They were striking.

*Sarah Ndele’s ‘Plastic Suit’* (Kinshasa)

Loved this photo by Shah Marai (Afghanistan)…

… and this by Ebrahim Noro. There were so many amazing photos.

And so to Lichtenworth, a small rather unexceptional town down near Wiener Neustadt, but it has a fine heurige serving good food (albeit very slowly) and even better wine although I was driving and had to limit myself to half a small mug of young wine – and we were there for almost 3 hours!

It’s Italy next but we’ll stop off in Carinthia on the way.

Melk (Lower Austria), Austria September 2023 (Tour 8)

The next day we crossed the border into Austria. We purchased a Vignette* online to travel the motorways and drove directly to Melk. We’d visited Melk in 2018, a stop on a river cruise from Budapest to Passau, but we had only a few hours there. This time we parked up for the night at Emmersdorf on the left bank of the River Donau (the Danube) with a view to my walking over the nearby bridge to Melk for a better look at both the town and Melk Abbey.

*A photo I took of Melk Abbey in 2018. The Abbey dominates the whole town.*

There’s been a Benedictine Abbey at Melk since 1089 but the existing yellow coloured Baroque structure was constructed between 1702 and 1736. It was designed and built by the Austrian architect Jakob Prandtauer (who trained initially as a stonemason) but he never saw the finished article. He died in 1726. It’s a stunning building which appears more of a palace than an abbey but it is the oldest monastic school in Austria and is still home to 23 monks.

The abbey has two centrepieces; the church (with it’s many stone and wooden carvings and a breathtakingly beautiful ceiling) and the library complex (which with it’s 100,000+ books provided inspiration for Umberto Eco’s historical novel ‘The Name of the Rose’) but; the admission ticket also permits entrance into the former Imperial guest rooms (which house the Abbey Museum) and the large terrace & gardens and all are worth seeing. The pretty Garden Pavillion was being used as a small cafe – tearoom when we first visited the abbey. It may still be a cafe-tearoom but I didn’t visit it on this occasion. I fancied a pint down in the town.

*The abbey as seen from the herb garden*

Having explored the abbey and it’s gardens for an hour or so, I descended into the old town for a beer or two before commencing the 45 minute walk back across the river to Emmersdorf and the Van. Melk old town isn’t that large but it is worth a couple of hours of anybody’s time; with the elegant Pfarrkirche Maria Himmelfahrt, proving particulary captivating.

*A total contrast to the Abbey Church but so elegant*

A couple of other historical landmarks to be seen in Melk old town are the town square fountain (the Kolomanbrunnen with it’s statue of Saint Koloman) and the Old Post Office (built in 1792 with a series of medallions on it’s facade which are said to be representations of old postmasters).

There are a number of saints named Koloman or Colman and at least three of them came from Ireland. The Saint Koloman featured on the well in the main square of Melk is generally known as Saint Koloman of Stockerau. He was of Irish origin. He was a pilgrim and on his way to the Holy Land when in 1012 he was arrested, tortured and hanged in the town of Stockerau as a foreign spy. It seems he couldn’t speak German and was unable to explain himself. Two years after his death the authorities in Stockerau, possibly out of remorse, moved his relics to Melk Abbey where they remain to this day. The moral of this particular story is that it is perhaps helpful if you can speak a little German in this part of the world.

Before I forget, let me write about “Kasekrainer”. Later that day, while Vanya and I were enjoying a few glasses of Gruner Veltliner at a small kiosk style fast food bar near our campsite in Emmersdorf, I got to talking with a chap who suggested I try the local sausage known as “Kasekrainer”. He told me that these thick, slightly smoked pork sausages, which contain between 10% and 20% Emmental cheese, are served with bread and either a sweet or a spicy mustard AND that the ones sold by the kiosk bar are the best in the area. It seems the sausages were created by a couple of Austrians in the 1960’s and are now Austria’s favourite fast food. I ordered two (one with the sweet sauce and one with the spicy sauce) and, yes, they are delicious. Never again will I pass through Austria without eating Kasekrainer.

As I wrote a few moments ago, “It is helpful if you can speak a little German in this part of the world”.

* By the way, don’t buy Austrian Vignettes on line. They can be purchased at any garage at a considerably lower cost. The one we bought online was for 10 days and would cost about 9 Euros at a garage. Online, the price was literally doubled.

Altdorf and Eging Am See (Lower Bavaria), Germany September 2023 (Tour 8)

It was time to leave Franconia and head for Austria. We were going to visit some good friends who live just to the south of Vienna and we’d promised to arrive within the next two days but; there was still time to see a little more of Germany and/or Austria on the way.

We started towards Eging am See for no other reason than that it is about a 3 hour drive closer to Austria. The route took us through the small market town of Altdorf and we paused there for brunch. Vanya and I thought Altdorf a quiet little town but pleasant enough for a short wander and we enjoyed a tasty brunch before continuing on our way to Eging Am See.

Eging am See proved to be disconcerting. Indeed, if there were to be a really menacing remake of the Stepford Wives I think it would have be set here.

I set off into the town from our camp site and arrived first at what looked like a brand new church (Saint Agidius). The front of the church was boarded up; awaiting a new door, I thought. Other buildings in the immediate area also looked brand new. The town hall, the tourist office, a couple of apartment blocks were all built of the same materials as the church and all were as yet unfurnished and unoccupied. The thing which struck me as most odd was that all of the headstones in the adjoining graveyard (many of them dating back over a hundred years) were also brand new. The WWI and WWII war memorials also looked newly built.

I subsequently discovered that the church and churchyard were being given a total facelift but, I didn’t know this as I made my way through the town park to the lake to check out the large spa facility and gardens and; that’s where things got really weird.

The local park with it’s ‘Garden of Sinne’ (Garden of the Senses) is located between the spa facility (the Sonnen Therme) and Lake Eginger. It contains a number of interesting and very unusual granite rock exhibits which provide different perspectives of the park and the lake. They are part of the spa complex and ordinarily I would have thought this a pleasant place to wander but there was something else. There were no people about. Indeed, I had not seen more than one or two since setting off to the town. Strange or what, given the time of the day and the fine weather?

And then… just as I entered the park, air raid sirens started wailing (from somewhere in the woods I think) and dogs all over the town began barking. Disconcerting? It was wholly unnerving.

There follows some photos I downloaded from the town website of the park and, in particular, of some of the granite exhibits.

It occured to me the next day that the air raid sirens were part of a civil defence exercise. Putin has been threatening to drag Western Europe deeper into his war with the Ukraine and just before we left the UK the British Government trialled an early warning alert using cell phones. Germany are doing much the same but using air raid sirens.

Time to move on into Austria.

Rothenburg ob der Tauber (Middle Franconia), Germany September 2023 (Tour 8)

After a superb day at Forchheim we returned to our campsite near Bamberg to plan the next day or two and enjoy a couple of drinks. I’d previously researched Franconia and it didn’t take me long to persuade Vanya that the little town of Rothenburg ob der Tauber in Middle Franconia should be our next destination.

Sitting on the terrace of the campsite bar, planning our next move.

I booked us into a camp site near Rothenburg – the Tauberromantik; so called because it sits on the ‘Romantic Road’ (a scenic route conceived and marketed by canny travel agents as a ploy to increase tourism in the area between Rothenburg and Fussen) and we set off early the next morning.

Rothenburg ob der Tauber is an extraordinarily pretty place. In terms of population it is only a third of the size of Forchheim but it easily matches the larger town for things to see and do. Anyone visiting the town needs to spend a minimum two days here (and at least one night) just to scratch the surface of the place and we decided to do just that.

Rothenburg resembles a Walt Disney fairytale town and it is easy to see why it was revered as ‘the most German of German towns’ in the 1930’s. Indeed, the Nazis used to bus children into the town from all over Germany so that they could experience this picture perfect town. We made our way towards the town centre through the Klingentor (gate) and stopped at the Guckloch bar for a spot of refreshment (it was a hot day) and to plan our route around the town.

Sitting in the sunshine outside the Guchloch Bar near the Klingentor. There are 4 kilometres of sentry walls to walk from the Klingentor.

Sadly, our plan didn’t materialise. Vanya was in real pain with her hip and after escorting her and the dogs back to the Van I was left to explore the place on my own in the hope that, after resting her hip some more, she would be able to join me for a shorter more focused tour of the town during the evening. Fingers crossed.

Making my way back into the town I again passed through the Klingentor, this time pausing to view the Wolfgangskirche. The Wolfgangskirche is a fortress church near the Klingentor and it originally formed part of the medieval town’s defences. Indeed, the tower gate adjacent to the church (that’s the Torwachterhaus or Sentries’ House) and it’s casements (gun emplacements) are each accessed from inside the church through a door by the altar. It wasn’t until I saw the Wolfgangskirche that I really began to understand what a fortress church is.

I set my mind to walk a section of the castle walls later in the day but to start with I made for the “Plonlein”. A plonlein is a small square with a fountain and there are few of those across Rothenburg but the plonlein I was going to is arguably the town’s most popular landmark and certainly one of the most picturesque. It’s not far from the town’s main square and it features a tall crooked mustard coloured half timbered house which sits on a cobbled square (with the necessary fountain) between two 13th century city gates, the Siebersturm and the Kobolzellarturm. There is little that is historically significant about this particular setting but images of the place are to be found on countless travel blogs (especially those promoting the Romantic Road) and it was the inspiration behind Geppetto’s home in Walt Disney’s 1940 animated film ‘Pinocchio’. It really is the most picturesque spot in a particularly enchanting little town.

*The Plonlein* (with the Siebersturm and the Kobolzellarturm)

After visiting the Plonlein I made for Rothenburg’s lively Marktplatz where the Rathaus (Town Hall), with it’s unusual mix of 13th century Gothic and 16th century Renaissance styles, is located. The Rathaus, together with it’s white tower, is the most imposing building on the Marktplatz but there are other interesting features to be found on the square, most particularly the Georgsbrunnen Fountain (with it’s wonderfully detailed statue of St. George killing a dragon) and numerous half timbered buildings, my favourite being the Ratstrinkstube Clock Tower.

The Rathaus was not open while I was on the Marktplatz or I would have made a point of going up it’s 50 metre high Tower which is towards the back of the building. There’s a nominal charge (with the entrance being through the arches at the front of the town hall and not where you might expect it to be at the foot of the tower) but it supposedly offers some of the best views in Rothenburg.

Which brings me to my favourite building on the Marktplatz, the Ratstrinkstube (sometimes known as the Council Tavern because for a period of time it was only the city fathers who could drink in the bar – the general public were denied entry). Legend has it that in 1631, during the Thirty Years War, the Protestant town of Rothenburg was seized and about to be destroyed by the Catholic forces of a certain Count Tilly until the then mayor (Burgermeister Georg Nusch) persuaded the Count to accept a wager which would see the town spared if the mayor could drink an entire (3.25 litre) jug of wine in one go. That’s almost a gallon of wine. Mayor Nusch finished the wine in one visit and the Count honoured the wager and spared the town. Nowadays, when the clock chimes on the hour (between 10am and 10pm), two doors either side of the clock on the Ratstrinkstube open and the event is to some extent re-enacted by puppets, one of which is Mayor Nusch drinking from a large tankard while the clock chimes.

It is a real joy strolling Rothenburg’s pretty little backstreets, not least because it takes you away from the numerous tour groups that frequent the town during the day. One particularly charming building I stumbled across while walking the backstreets is “Die Gerlachschmiede”, an old forge built in 1469 which was destroyed during a bombing raid in WW2 but faithfully restored to the original specification (and which continued to be worked by a blacksmith until well into the 1960’s).

I could go on for ages writing about the many wonderful places in Rothenburg but it is time to let some photos do the talking; starting with the town’s High Gothic Church of St Jakob’s (Saint James in English). This triple nave church was consecrated in 1485, having taken more than 150 years to build, and it contains some beautifully ornate fixtures and fittings which lend themselves more to a Roman Catholic church than an Evangelical Lutheran church. Of course, St Jakob’s once was a Catholic church.

Outside Saint Jakob’s Church. Saint Jakob’s is a major stop on the Jakobsweg to Santiago de Compostela.

Inside Saint Jakob’s looking towards the central nave (and the Hauptaltar and large stained glass windows) and looking towards the rear of the church at the 1968 organ. There are organs at both ends of the church.

Another view towards the Hauptaltar from under one of the arches at the rear of the church. Just inside the main entrance is an unusual African wood carving of the Nativity…

*The Holy Blood Altarpiece crafted by Tilman Riemenschneider.*

… and at the back of the church is the Holy Blood Altarpiece, a beautifully carved depiction of the Last Supper crafted by Tilman Riemenschneider in 1505. Unusually, Judas Iscariot takes centre stage in this work of art but this figure can be (and is) removed between Good Friday and Easter Monday.

I mentioned previously that Rothenburg boasts 4 kilometres of some of the best preserved medieval walls in Germany. Those stretching along the northern and eastern sides of the town are covered sentry walls and they make for a great 2.5 kilometre walk from the Klingentor, through the Galgentor (Gallows Gate) and Rotertor, all the way to the Spitalbastel.

*A section of the covered sentry walls between Klingentor and Spitalbastel*

There are still 42 towers in the town that can still be seen but not all of them are to be found along the town walls. The fact is, some of the town walls (but not the towers) were dismantled and moved as the town continued to expand through the Middle Ages. Hence there being a fair few isolated towers all across the town.

I confess to not making a note of the names of all the towers I passed through, by or along during my walkabout but; here are some photos anyway…

From Spitalbastel I made my way back to the Van, stopping for a beer and to telephone Vanya on the way. She wasn’t feeling any better and we decided therefore to move on the next morning. That would give the painkillers a little more time to work and, anyway, we would be returning to Rothenburg ob der Tauber some time in the not too distant future.

And next time? On the must do list is, first and foremost, an overnight stay. It is an absolute must to see and photograph the town at night (when all the day trippers have left) and to join the “Night Watchman’s Tour”. I should explain, there’s a guy called Hans Georg Baumgartner who, most nights (full details from the Tourist Office), dresses as a Medieval Night Watchman and in the best Monty Python style guides small parties around the town, all the time regaling them with facts and ribald stories of life as it used to be in Rothenburg ob der Tauber.

It is the above image of the Plomlein (not my photo) that demands Vanya and I stay overnight in Rothenburg

*Hans Georg Baumgartner (aka Night Watchman) strutting his stuff . He’s a TV personality now, having made this character famous throughout Germany.*

Forchheim (Upper Franconia), Germany September 2023 (Tour 8)

Apologies. Once again I have fallen behind with this blog. The fact is that good as they are the campsites we stayed at in Franconia had little 4G or 5G and the local wifi was generally awful. I was, therefore, unable to access my website as often as I would have liked and I simply fell out of the habit of updating the blog. I’ll endeavour to catch up over the next couple of weeks.

Okay, so let me write a little about Forchheim. It is a former royal city, now a town of some 30,000+ people, and the gateway to an area known historically as Franconian Switzerland (although it is nowhere near Switzerland). I love it and for me, it is a must-see place in Germany if ever there is one. It is one of the most picturesque towns in Franconia and has just about everything to make a short stay great:- a rich medieval history (with plenty of cobbled streets and timber framed buildings), several beautiful Baroque style churches (St Martin’s is my favourite), the River Wiesent (with it’s many canals and a “Bachla” too – more about “Bachla” later), plenty of good dining options (for any time of the day – breakfast was something else); some beautiful city parks (one housing no less than 23 traditional beer cellars); the list goes on and on and; so few tourists here (we saw none!). Yes, Forchheim is worth more than a short visit.

It’s perfect for a stroll and Vanya and I started our tour of the town on the Hauptstrasse which is wholly pedestrianised and full of small shops and cafes. We took a late breakfast in the sunshine outside a small cafe (absolutely perfect for people watching) with me going for the healthy option and Vanya going for, wait for it,”Spaghettieis”. I kid you not – spaghetti ice cream for breakfast! I described this dessert in the recent blog on Saarburg and reported then that Vanya was already hooked on the stuff.

While enjoying our food in the sunshine we couldn’t help but notice a small waterway which runs the length of the Hauptstrasse. It’s a “Bachla” and in olden days it served to help keep the town clean inasmuch that residents would simply brush their refuge into the water and watch it being washed away. Quite a few of the more discerning towns in Franconia have them. The downside of the “Bachla” is that visitors to the town can easily forget about them and fall in. Indeed, it happened while we were sitting having our food. I shouldn’t laugh but nobody was hurt.

Another interesting and very unusual feature on the Hauptstrasse is a statue of… an open door. I’m not sure of the significance of this door (which was donated by the local Rotary Club), unless it be a form of welcome to visitors, but; it is covered in carvings which I believe reflects the city’s history.

The city’s rich medieval history is reflected in the many half timbered listed buildings which are everywhere. One of the most striking is the Rathaus (the town hall) which was put together between the 14th and 16th centuries. Another is the 13th century St Katharina’s Hospital and Chapel. The oddest is a small bar, down near where the old synagogue once stood, which ‘lists’ just a little too much .

Just in front of the listing bar is the Synagogue Memorial. The synagogue itself is long gone. It was desecrated and damaged by Nazis on Kristallnacht (the 9th and 10th November 1938) and then blown up the next day. Again, you will find stolpersteine in Forchheim.

For me, the most prominent building in the town is the Catholic Church of Saint Martin. It is as beautiful inside as it is impressive from the outside. Indeed all of the churches I visited in Forchheim can be listed among the prettiest I have seen in Germany – St Martin’s; the previously mentioned Hospital Church of Saint Katharina and; last but not least, the plain looking white Marienkapelle with it’s elaborately gilded high altar.

*The second of three naves in St Martin’s*

The River Wiesent is another very obvious and very pretty feature of the town, whether it be the river itself or the “Bachla” or one of the town’s canals which are fed by the Wiesent. A peculiarity on the river are the many fish boxes scattered along it’s length through the town. At first glance I thought they were small boathouses but no; they are fish boxes in which the town’s fishmongers would keep captured carp alive and fresh until sold.

Forchheim is blessed with breweries. Four breweries currently produce beer in Forchheim but the town’s affinity towards beer doesn’t end with those four breweries. There is the Kellerwald (or ‘cellar forest’ in English). It is a forest come local park on the edge of Forchheim with numerous beer cellars built into the side of a hill. These cellars, the oldest of which dates back to the early 17th century, are where beer was once brewed but they are now used to preserve and serve finished beers at a constant cool temperature. There are no less than 23 bars selling beer from these cellars which makes for possibly the largest beer garden in the world!

*Entrances to some of the cellars – I’m not sure if these ones are still in use.*

Some of the beer cellars operate all year round while others only open during the beer cellar season which runs from April to October. Each cellar offers something unique; whether it be it’s beer, food, entertainment or setting. We stopped at the Hebendanz Keller (which belongs to one of the four breweries operating in the town and number 5 of the 23 on the above list). Hebendanz is an old brewery, founded in 1579, and they offer 6 beers including a rather nice wheat beer. Moreover, they serve that local pork dish “Schaufele” which I wrote about in my previous blog.

*Vanya? Beer? No, it was water in her mug…*

One final comment about Forchheim’s Kellerwald before we move on. Every year, towards the end of July, the town combines to hold the Annafest – A 10 day drinking and music festival which attracts more than 500,000 visitors. I could fancy that.