Day 15 - Travel to Rothenburg

Friday was a travel day.  We got out of our apartment and took the Metro to Paris Est for the train.  (Paris Est is the station for the Grande Lignes going east.)  We had to make several connections to get to Rothenburg ob der Tauber with only 20-30 minutes to make each connection.


I took Ruth and Sarah to a Burger joint outside the station to buy lunch for the train.  After taking several minutes to decide what they wanted, we learned that it was too early for lunch.

So, we went back to the station and bought sandwiches and pastries for the trip.  Our train left 10-15 minutes late.

When I purchased our tickets 4 months ago, I decided to upgrade to 1st class.  The seats are wider and there are fewer people on the train.  I didn't realize that we also had lunch served to us:  salmon, vegetables, drink and a pistachio chocolate cake.

Paris Est Station

Bakery at Paris Est Stations

Ruth eating the sandwiches we bought on the train

Renae eating her sandwich on the train

When the train arrived in Karlsruhe, we had a frantic 4 minutes to get from one track to another.  We jumped on the train with all of our luggage in 2nd Class and had to find our car.  I was last and was carrying 2 bags.  Sarah came back to help me.  As we went through the diner car, she accidentally rolled the suitcase over the server's foot!

Salmon lunch served for lunch

Beer served with the meal

Leah and Elizabeth enjoying movies on the train

View of French countryside from the train

From Karlsruhe, we took an ICE (express) train to Frankfurt am Main.  The train was very nice with overhead displays on the next stop, the direction and time.  The Germans take the environment seriously.  There are 4 different trash cans on the train for different types of trash.

Train receptacle for general trash

Train trash receptacle can for packaging

Train trash receptacle for paper

Train trash receptacle for glass

Elizabeth was very impressed with the clean, large, modern restroom on the regional train.

Elizabeth shows of the restroom on the train

Surprisingly, we also saw several farm buildings with solar panels--far more than I've seen in AZ.

From Frahkfurt, we took another ICE train to Würzburg.  From Würzurg, we took a regional train to Steinach.  We had only 12 minutes to switch to the train to Rothenburg.  When we first got on this 2 car train, there was no one else on it.  We put all of our luggage next to the fold down seats.  Then 3 people with bicycles got on, and I had to move our luggage.  There are areas on the train for people to bring their bikes--to encourage train-bike transportation.

After the 14 min. train ride to Rothenburg, we started looking for our hotel based on a map I printed out from Google.  I had been raining and was getting dark.  We dragged our suitcases over cobble stone streets to get finally get to our hotel.

We have 2 triple rooms which have a queen and double bed in each.  Our rooms face a cobble stone street.

We ate dinner in the Cafe (the hotel is an add on to the Cafe).  The prices were very reasonable--about 1/2 of Parisian prices.  I had Jäger Schnitzel and Renae had a goulash soup.  The menu said the service was inclusive so I didn't leave at tip; I think I should have just rounded up to the nearest Euro.

The owner, his wife and son who run the establishment speak some English, but the service is excellent.

Elizabeth in our triple room at Hotel Cafe Uhl

Ruth, Sarah & Leah's room at Cafe Uhl