What do you do when you have less than 24 hours with one of your favorite friends from the US? Throw on some hiking shoes and go for a wander in the woods! It was super cloudy so we didn’t get to show off many amazing views, but we didn’t let that stop us from having a good time. Thanks for exploring our little corner of Germany, Aileen!

Kaycee doesn’t mind the fog
The sun came out while we ate our lunch at Fuchstanz – or maybe we were above the cloud line. I love hills….. ugh

We sent one friend off on the rest of her European trip, washed the guest bedding, and welcomed Ashley at the start of her week in Europe!

We went into Frankfurt for dinner and did a little shopping.
And of course we had to go on a hike – this time to Rettershof.

The next weekend one of Lily’s besties was celebrating her birthday so she stayed with her friends with Jay, Ty and I went to Rothenburg ob der Tauber for our first Christmas market of the season. This town was perfectly perfect. Close your eyes and picture a little German fairytale village, surrounded by a medieval stone wall. That is Rothenburg.

Everywhere you looked were crooked old half-timbered homes – the stories those walls could tell.
If you recall from prior posts, the Käthe Wohlfahrt shops are my favorite store in Germany. Rothenburg had 3 shops PLUS an outdoor market stall. Smokers and nutcrackers and Christmas decor galore!!
Which is taller? The gorgeous Christmas tree or my stocking cap?
We ate dinner at Zur Höll, a tavern that dates back to around 900 AD. 900!!!!!!
This is a horrible picture, but the cast iron kabob skewer was cool. And you can get a little bit of a feel for what the inside of the tiny pub was like. People must have been a lot shorter back then.
This was our cute little hotel – Romantik Hotel Markusturm. The interior was modernized but kept the old world charm. Great location – perfect for exploring the markets and village streets.

If you can’t get in the Christmas spirit in Germany, there is no hope for you. Gluhwein, twinkling lights, carousels, marker stalls, and did I mention Gluhwein? :).