The Most Charming Town in Germany

Bon lundi!

If you’re looking for a wonderfully preserved medieval town in Germany, look no further. Rothenburg ob der Tauber is that town, oozing with charm out of each historic building. 

The town owes its preservation to long years of poverty which prevented it from updating its buildings to more fashionable, modern styles over the years. But the tides have finally turned and now tourism generates much income.

View from Castle Garden

Join me this week as I show you my favorite destination in Germany thus-far!

European Adventures in Pictures

We started by looking at our best canvas-worthy photos of Paris and then expanded the scope to all of France. Now it is time to conclude with our best pictures from our European travels of 2013.

There was much to discover on our travels in Europe. The first trip of the year outside of France was to Iceland, a country completely off my radar to visit. Now I can't help hoping to spend more time there enjoying its spectacular natural beauty.  

The summer brought an amazing trip to Sevilla which once again proved just how wrong I was about Spain. I once had no interest in seeing Spain at all. Then I got acquainted with tapas (oh, the tapas) and the warmth of the country. Now I keep trying to scheme ways to return. 

In August I joined my fellow Parisians in a mass exodus out the city. I found myself in Ireland on the most relaxing trip of the year, drinking lots of tea with dear friends in a house overlooking the Dingle peninsula. 

Fall brought a trip to Bruges with good friends who, not coincidentally, were very knowledgeable about Belgium beers. I was afraid that I overly romanticized Bruges from my first trip there in May 2012 but found that I love the city all the more. 

I closed out the year on a Christmas trip making my way through Germany to be in Seefeld, Austria over Christmas. All I can say is I'm already planning to be there next year for Christmas.

Here's the year in review: 

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Stuttgart's Mercedes-Benz Museum

A weekend trip to Stuttgart, Germany to visit its Christmas markets introduced me to my favorite attraction of the city: the Mercedes-Benz museum.

Before I highly recommend this museum, I should start off by saying that cars have never particularly interested me. I can appreciate sleek designs and smooth rides, but sometimes the details get lost on me. Case in point, back in high school one of my friend's fathers often gave me a ride to school. One Friday I found myself looking at the analog clock in the middle of the dashboard that was surely a digital clock the week prior, so I decided to comment on the decision to change clocks. My friend and his dad had a good chuckle and they told me it was a brand new car I had been riding in all week. That either classifies me as not observant or not a "car person" - let's go with the latter option.

Back to Stuttgart, outside of the old section of town there are two museums dedicated to car brands: Porsche and Mercedes-Benz. I decided to visit the Mercedes-Benz museum after reading that even people who were not particularly interested in cars would enjoy the site.

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A-Z of Christmas Markets

Last year I had the joy of experiencing a Christmas tradition throughout Europe: the Christmas market. It started with one in Paris on the Champs-Elysées, certainly the most touristy one I visited. Then I embarked on a trip with my husband to Strasbourg, France; Vienna, Austria; Prague, Czech Republic; and four German cities: Berlin, Nürnberg, Dresden, and Leipzig. Here is my A-Z list to illustrate what I found and why I love Christmas markets!

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