Euro Ramble 2004

Saturday - Highwaymen

Mon - Tue - Wed - Thu - Fri - Sat - Sun - Mon

Today we would start our trek back to England, stopping at Rothenburg ob der Tauber 260 miles north on the way.

Rothenburg, is one of the more well known old German towns on an old Medieval trade route now called the Romantic Road, we were looking forward to having a good look around.

Patto and Ian getting ready to go.

30 miles in to the ride, and just before the Austro-German border, trouble struck!

We had stopped at a motorway services for fuel, when we spied these two characters lurking by the exit.

Of course they stopped us...

It turns out Austria runs a Road Vignette scam the same as the Swiss do. They took €65 off each of us for the privilege of driving on Austrian roads (that's £45 / $82) don't bother arguing, both carried very intimidating guns, and the one on the right's English dramatically improved once he'd robbed us all. I was so angry I couldn't speak. %*&/$%*@!! €€€ £££

The rest of the ride to Rothenburg was uneventful, On arriving, we looked on the GPS for the Tourist information, but gave up trying to find it after a short while due to "no vehicle access" signs. Patto suggested going back to a cross roads where there were a gaggle of gashouses.

We struck gold at the first and nicest looking Hotel, the Gasthof Bezold, and got the last two rooms.

The proprietor, Günter, is a keen biker who has ridden his R100R all over the Alps, we received a warm welcome :-) sadly the couple in the picture weren't so lucky, we saw them riding through the town over an hour later, still looking for a place to stay.

After getting refreshed up we headed in to the old town to look at the sights.

Rothenburg is famous for its covered town walls, they seem to keep them open until it's quite dark.

One of the many clock towers

We found a great street restaurant and dined Al fresco, it's really becoming a habit!

After the meal we took a stroll around and came across these, I still don't know exactly what they are, but they look delicious, If you know what they are, do get in touch!

Another find was a super model shop with a model of the Munch Mammoth made by Mini Champs in the window, a true 60s Super Bike before they invented the term. What's that! you've never heard of them? <shock!>

Its 1200cc engine was adopted from an NSU car. Too keep its weight down, a lot of parts were made from magnesium alloy, like the cast rear wheel and rear subframe. Its huge power was legendary in its day, and don't forget, a European bike of 650cc was considered a heavy weigh back then! Here's the link to the modern day Munch Mammoth website.

By now it was getting dusk, and the camera's shutter was getting really slooow...

Rothenburg's evening skyline. Honest, this is not a modified picture, the shutter speed was around 1/2s released by the timer, with the camera balanced on the fencing on top of the city walls.

As usual, we retired to the pub where the next day's plans were discussed. It was to have been a ride up the Rhine Valley to look at the Castles, but Ian asked how far it was to Amsterdam... I popped over the road to check the GPS in our hotel room. It worked out at around 380 miles. Now it was Amsterdam or bust!

Today's route - 257 miles. It also shows where the Highwaymen laid in wait!

Rothenburg really deserves more time to explore than the evening we gave it, it's a beautiful old town, and I recommend it.

Garmin waypoints download of all the towns on the Romantic Road.

Next Day

Mon - Tue - Wed - Thu - Fri - Sat - Sun - Mon

If you wish to contact me, please click Here

Please feel free to sign the guest book if you like what you have read: Guest Book

Thank you