#12CountriesOfChristmas – Rothenburg ob der Tauber

Find my packing list for a European Christmas Market Tour here!  On the 10th Country of Christmas, David and I arrived in Rothenberg ob der Tauber, Germany - a town I had first heard of through my friend Tiffany, whom we visited in Oxford, and it was one of the most anticipated visits of our Christmas tour. We picked up a winterized SUV outside of Munich, and hit the autobahn en route to Rothenberg ob der Tauber. One of the unexpected delights of the drive to Rothenberg was how inaccurate Google Maps navigation was. It failed to account for the fact that we were driving on the autobahn, Germany’s main motorway system that has no speed limits. We settled into a comfortable 125 mph average speed, while constantly getting passed by much faster (and much cooler) cars on the way! We made it to Rothenberg in no time at all (or around 3 hours), and checked into our bed and breakfast right at the old city gates. The sun had already set at this point, but we were eager to see the evening Christmas Markets and perhaps add a mug or two to our growing Christmas mug collection. Rothenburg was easily the most festive town we visited during our #12CountriesofChristmas tour, and throughout Germany we saw a lot of toys and traditions that inspired American Christmas traditions from Christmas trees to nutcrackers. All around the town, buildings were bedecked in wreaths, tasteful string lighting, and candles from windows above. Below at the street level, local bakeries displayed traditional schneeballen “snowball” desserts and lines of pretzels, while Christmas shop windows housed opulent displays of nutcrackers, pyramid statues, and lovely ornaments. With three stores entirely dedicated to Christmas all year round, you’re sure to feel festive whenever you visit! xx, SF All photos by David and Stacie Flinner for stacieflinner.com