Part 1: A Christmas store on crack, and other tales from Bayern

I departed Erfurt super fruh Wednesday morning for a couple solo days in the big southern Bundesland of Bayern/Bavariaaa. I wanted to break in my Eurail pass with some stops along the so-called Romantic Road, the imaginarily drawn route that connects all of Germany's fairytale towns, starting in Bremen with my beloved Stadtmuskianten and ending with the castle in Fussen. I chose Rothenburg ob der Tauber for my first sightseeing mission after reading good things.

This is my attempt to recreate the most famous image of Rothenburg, just like the one featured in my Rough Guide:

Later in Berlin we met a lad at a metro stop who claimed Erfurt was frighteningly perfect, but apparently he's never been to Rothenburg. The minuscule town is enclosed by a medieval wall, and what lies within could be Disneyland. With just enough snow falling on my nose and eyelashes and a Christmas market serving crepes and gluh wein, it was the perfect place to get in the Christmas spirit. Others thought so too - it was packed!

Rothenburg is known for its year-round Christmas stores...one of which I can only describe as being on crack. The entire store was a larger-than-life Christmas village: I would have thought I was at the North Pole had it not been for the expensive price tags on everything. My walk around Rothenburg also enlightened me to the fact that weenie dogs should not walk around in the snow (it looked pathetic), and that even those who live in a fairytale like their sausage. And for the first time in Germany I found myself unable to understand anything in some stores...no signs in German or English, just Japanese, to cater to the large contingent who visit. Interessant.

The next day I continued with the fairytale theme and hit up one of the main sights on my "Must See in Germany" list: Schloss Neuschwanstein. That's the darn big castle that supposedly is the model for Cinderella's. Anyone notice a Disney theme running through?

I trained it to Fussen, a smaller town at the foot of the Bavarian Alps, and from there made it to the Schloss. It was definitely an imposing and beautiful sight from down below, and a tour allowed me to see the its opulent insides and hear about it's builder, the very wacky King Ludwig. I almost felt like Cinderella, but I don't think the glass slipper would have fit over my very cold and swollen toes that day. Gotta get warmer socks.

The next day I headed to Munich to meet Chrissy and her friend from Texas. I would be fibbing if I said we went there for any other reason but the Hofbrauhaus, so there it is. Don't judge meh! I've been to Munich before as a legitimate sightseer (not counting Oktoberfest), and had such fond memories of fun from the Hofbrauhaus that I'd been itching to return. So after seeing the beautiful Rathaus and Christmas market, to the famous beer hall we went. As hoped, we had some delicious Bayerish food and too-big beers, grooved to Polka music, and met some interesting cats.