Rothenberg has by far, been my favorite place that we´ve been on this trip. Amsterdam was gorgeous but not gonna lie, probably won´t stay there again anytime in the near future. It was great as a midpoint between London and Germany since neither of us had any desire to go back to France, but it´s not been my favorite.
When we left Amsterdam it was cold and rainy on our last day, and when we arrived in Rothenberg after traveling all day, it was warm and sunny. It´s been about 80 degrees since we´ve been here and we´ve definitely been loving that. :) This morning we finally got to sleep in because every day we´ve had to either be up for breakfast, catch and early train, or we just hadn´t adjusted to the time zone difference and woke up early. So finally we slept like 12 hours and got up lazily at 9:30. So good. Today we had to take care of some business, so we mailed packages and letters, got the information for our next train to Munich, and made some reservations we needed to make. We also did laundry and let me tell you, that was probably the best 2 hours we´ve wasted on this trip. Clean clothes are priceless! Especially when we´ve been on long, dirty train rides and probably haven´t been smelling so great... :) So now we are clean and very happy.
We´ve also had some of the best food here in Rothenberg that we´ve had this entire trip, which is making us look forward to Italy even more! Rothenberg is famous for these little pastries called "schneeballs" which are the leftover scraps from pies and cookies rolled into little balls and dusted with powdered sugar or drizzled with chocolate. They are like the serious Rothenberg staple apparently, as every shop sells them. I´m pretty sure its just for the tourists, as they aren´t very good... but, now we can say we had the infamous Rothenberg schneeballs. :) We also discovered a new beer that we love called "Radler," which is pilsner and sprite. It´s so good!! It´s really easy to drink quickly, so we have to be careful with that, lol. We also had this coffee drink called icedkaffe, which is iced coffee, vanilla and espresso ice cream. Seriously the best coffee drink I´ve ever had in my life, so I´m hoping they have that in Italy because we got it at an italian cafe. Germany has been good to us so far... :) Tonight we´re taking the nightwatchman´s tour, which is a great tour of the entire city at night, around the walls of Rothenberg led by the famous "nightwatchman." Everyone here says its the must-see attraction of Rothenberg, so we´re doing it. Time for a pretzel and some Radler soon... :)
Seriously though, this trip has been such a blessing. I didn´t realize how great of a time it came at, and it´s really given Lexie and I a chance to just be present over here, learn, be challenged, laugh about dumb things, meet people, and enjoy cultures totally opposite of American culture and be adaptable to that. That means long lunches, greeting people on the street, respecting the houses we stay in, and definitely not rushing everywhere. It´s not all about us over here, as many Americans forget. Simply speaking a little of the language (which thankfully I do over here) has allowed us to maintain positive relationships with the German people we meet.
As I step back and just sort of reflect on life over here, I am humbled by how content people are and how simple they live. It is so interesting to watch life go by in the little towns and villages we come upon, and humbles me at how big this world actually is and how people can be happy without having much except family and love. How being "wealthy" doesn´t consist of big houses, fancy cars and lots of posessions, but on how hard people work on their land and live a balanced life cultivating relationships around them. Americans are so dependent upon convenience and being rushed and trying to live for some sort of big purpose, that we let life slip past us so fast and we totally miss it. People here aren´t on their cell phones constantly, talk to other people around them more, and greet you when you walk down the street. It´s almost like people are a team over here with mutual respect for one another. I am really amazed at the simplicity over here and how God, who loves me so much and has a plan for my life, is the same God who loves them just as much and has a plan for each invidual´s lives, big or small. I´m realizing that maybe God´s purpose for us here isn´t to do something big, but to just simply be, and help and love people the way Jesus did, and take a step back from ourselves and grow that way. Nothing big, nothing substantial in the world´s eyes, but huge in God´s. Needless to say I am very blessed to be here, to be where I´m at in my life and to have the relationships in my life that I do. I want to come home from this with a different perspective than I left with.
Side note: I´ve read the book " The Shack" on this trip, and let me tell you, it´s changed my life. I highly, highly recommend it.
Side note again: I have seen more Americans here in Rothenberg than anywhere else in Europe! That, and Japanese tourists and Japanese tourist buses. So weird.
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