River Cruising Water Cooler

[notamermaid]

A day trip to Rothenburg part 4

 

There is so much to see in Rothenburg and as I had not done any research before I went, there was much to surprise me. We descended the town wall at Klingentor and there through the gate was already my highlight of the day. You get to a small square with the fortified church Sankt Wolfgang, the casemates and the old horse baths fed by water from here.

 

The horse baths:

 

The square with the Klingentor:

 

It was so quiet. We did not go into the church and museum, just wandered around. I loved it.

 

notamermaid

 

[notamermaid]

A day trip to Rothenburg part 5

 

From the Klingentor we quite literally just wandered through the streets, taking in the different building styles, their ages and what might be available for indoors sightseeing. So much to choose from, also as regards price range in hotels and restaurants. For a small late lunch we in the end settled on a café in the market square. Yes, the coffee was a bit pricey, reflecting the nature of this being a tourist spot, but it was good, the service friendly and fast and everything we ate was tasty. This is the market square with the town hall:

 

Talking of food. There is a speciality sweet pastry which we did not try this time, but it looks like this (a bakery with an online shop!): https://www.original-rothenburger-schneeballen.de/

 

Not much time for shopping with so much to look at, but I did browse through an antiques shop and bought a little something. There are plenty of souvenir shops of course and my next visit will have to include a good look around the Christmas museum and the Christmas shop.

 

And now I proudly present my photo of one of the most photographed timber frame buildings in Europe (I reckon). Yes, I just had to because everybody takes one . Do not leave the town without. The Plönlein:

 

My tip: check out that Chocolaterie shop on the left, the shop window was adorned with stuff that I would have liked to buy and eat but there just was not enough time (and it was a bit too hot for chocolate to stay in good condition). By the way, the Lindt shop in Rothenburg has closed down.

 

Here is another one of the many half-timbered houses:

 

Particularly fascinating architecturally I find the bastion at one end of the town, an advancement in military strategy and extension to the older town wall defenses.

 

Then it was time to head back to the car, past the church and along the town wall again.

 

Notice something in the photos? Something that is not there, I mean. Crowds. Herds of tourists. For a place that is so popular it was quiet, really quiet. Yes, a few people overtook us with a smile and at a distance on the town wall walk. And I waited one minute for a couple of photographers to finish at the Plönlein. And a reasonably distanced group of canon admirers walked through the bastion. But that was it. No Asian group tours, no obvious river cruise tourists. Very pleasant. But in my heart I know it was wrong for it to be this way. This place would not be in such good shape if it was not for foreign tourists and I got the feeling they were glad to have people back to admire the town. The effort that has been put into the restoration and upkeep of the old buildings is enormous. The day we were there we saw a town full of friendly service, sunshine and no rush. I hope you find this too when you go. I highly recommend the place.

 

We will be back.

 

notamermaid

 

Edited September 1, 2021 by notamermaid

[Ritabob]

You did not miss anything by not having a schneeballen.   I find it quite dry with very little flavour.  Save your money for the chocolate shop. 

RB 

[Second seating]

2 hours ago, notamermaid said:

A day trip to Rothenburg part 5

 

From the Klingentor we quite literally just wandered through the streets, taking in the different building styles, their ages and what might be available for indoors sightseeing. So much to choose from, also as regards price range in hotels and restaurants. For a small late lunch we in the end settled on a café in the market square. Yes, the coffee was a bit pricey, reflecting the nature of this being a tourist spot, but it was good, the service friendly and fast and everything we ate was tasty. This is the market square with the town hall:

 

Talking of food. There is a speciality sweet pastry which we did not try this time, but it looks like this (a bakery with an online shop!): https://www.original-rothenburger-schneeballen.de/

 

Not much time for shopping with so much to look at, but I did browse through an antiques shop and bought a little something. There are plenty of souvenir shops of course and my next visit will have to include a good look around the Christmas museum and the Christmas shop.

 

And now I proudly present my photo of one of the most photographed timber frame buildings in Europe (I reckon). Yes, I just had to because everybody takes one . Do not leave the town without. The Plönlein:

 

My tip: check out that Chocolaterie shop on the left, the shop window was adorned with stuff that I would have liked to buy and eat but there just was not enough time (and it was a bit too hot for chocolate to stay in good condition). By the way, the Lindt shop in Rothenburg has closed down.

 

Here is another one of the many half-timbered houses:

 

Particularly fascinating architecturally I find the bastion at one end of the town, an advancement in military strategy and extension to the older town wall defenses.

 

Then it was time to head back to the car, past the church and along the town wall again.

 

Notice something in the photos? Something that is not there, I mean. Crowds. Herds of tourists. For a place that is so popular it was quiet, really quiet. Yes, a few people overtook us with a smile and at a distance on the town wall walk. And I waited one minute for a couple of photographers to finish at the Plönlein. And a reasonably distanced group of canon admirers walked through the bastion. But that was it. No Asian group tours, no obvious river cruise tourists. Very pleasant. But in my heart I know it was wrong for it to be this way. This place would not be in such good shape if it was not for foreign tourists and I got the feeling they were glad to have people back to admire the town. The effort that has been put into the restoration and upkeep of the old buildings is enormous. The day we were there we saw a town full of friendly service, sunshine and no rush. I hope you find this too when you go. I highly recommend the place.

 

We will be back.

 

notamermaid

 

The second picture is the Romantik Hotel Markstrum where we spent two nights own our own before we took the train for a Christmas Market cruise starting in Nuremberg and ending in Vienna.

Second seating

[jpalbny]

1 hour ago, Ritabob said:

You did not miss anything by not having a schneeballen.   I find it quite dry with very little flavour.  Save your money for the chocolate shop. 

RB 

 

I was going to say the same thing. So I'll agree with your eloquent description instead of repeating it.

 

I could swear that I took a picture of the thing before I ate it. But I can't find the picture now.

[Second seating]

 

Schneeballen in Rothenburg!

[rcaruso]

3 hours ago, Ritabob said:

You did not miss anything by not having a schneeballen.   I find it quite dry with very little flavour.  Save your money for the chocolate shop. 

RB 

And after you get one back to the cruise ship almost rancid.  Not a fan of pie dough in a ball, even with chocolate or powdered sugar.  But like all things, you must try once!

[sharkster77]

We tried schneeballen in Heidelberg just to say we had.  The descriptions given by others are right on.  It reminded my wife of what they would do with leftover dough when her mother baked apple pies when she was a kid.  They would make shapes with the dough and bake them.  Making the shapes was way more fun than eating the results!

[sharkster77]

My lovely wife is smiling because she hasn't bitten into it yet.............

[notamermaid]

Okay, chocolate next time it is. Or a daring bite just to say "I have done it." Sounds like the perfect bakery object for a before and after photo...

 

13 hours ago, sharkster77 said:

leftover dough

I wonder if that is the origin of the Schneeballen recipe.

 

13 hours ago, sharkster77 said:

They would make shapes with the dough and bake them. 

That reminds me of something I have created with leftovers. I will come back to that.

 

notamermaid

 

[notamermaid]

@Canal archive It is September and you have a great trip to Scotland planned for this month. I hope it is not too early to say: safe travels and have lots of fun.

 

notamermaid

 

[Host Jazzbeau]

Very stressful 24 hours, leading up to our Covid test appointments at 2 pm today.  [Self-inflicted stress, but what can you do?]  Anyway, good news!:  we both got negative results from Azova and were able to upload them to Delta and we are certified FlyReady for Wednesday.  Off to London, then more tests for our charter flight to Mallorca and 15 night cruise to Malta.  Woo hoo!

[JerseyGem]

14 hours ago, Host Jazzbeau said:

..........:  we both got negative results from Azova and were able to upload them ........

we are considering the Azova PCR test for our cruise to Bermuda.   Did you purchase it locally or order on-line?  The Bermuda website says it's available through Costco.  Of course, not the one we normally go to, but we can make a trip to the one mentioned on-line.   We need a test that can guarantee results fairly quickly since Bermuda has a very tight schedule for testing and reporting.  Thanks (and enjoy your trip!) Lynn

[Host Jazzbeau]

2 hours ago, JerseyGem said:

we are considering the Azova PCR test for our cruise to Bermuda.   Did you purchase it locally or order on-line?  The Bermuda website says it's available through Costco.  Of course, not the one we normally go to, but we can make a trip to the one mentioned on-line.   We need a test that can guarantee results fairly quickly since Bermuda has a very tight schedule for testing and reporting.  Thanks (and enjoy your trip!) Lynn

I bought the kits from this link from the Delta website:

https://www.azova.com/testing/ellume/delta/

 

[jpalbny]

We are currently aboard a Ponant ship, 7 days round trip from Nice, around Corsica. Having a great time. More details here if anyone wants to follow. 

 

 

It was a bit stressful to travel at this time but so far all is well. This is our first time out of the US since January 2020. Very happy for the opportunity. 

 

[Canal archive]

Notamermaid hello from Bonny Scotland the weather is fine the indigenous peoples still friendly and the whisky absolutely excellent. Red Squirrels, Osprey and the occasional Royal and last weekend the Tour of the U.K. past the end of the drive. Still looking forward to our next river cruise as the River Dee is extremely low this year.

[notamermaid]

Good to hear the Scots are not chasing the English with drawn claymores yet and that there are still red squirrels running up and down trees. Would like to see an osprey some day, have to make do with the occasional falcon and magpies around here.

 

Is it possible to sail the river Dee in a largish vessel or is it just small self-drive ones? Not really familiar with the hills and lochs. Really need to get beyond Edinburgh...

 

notamermaid

 

[acwmom]

9 hours ago, jpalbny said:

We are currently aboard a Ponant ship, 7 days round trip from Nice, around Corsica. Having a great time. More details here if anyone wants to follow. 

 

 

It was a bit stressful to travel at this time but so far all is well. This is our first time out of the US since January 2020. Very happy for the opportunity. 

 

Looks like a great trip. So good to see you two traveling again!

Robin

[notamermaid]

On 9/2/2021 at 5:57 PM, notamermaid said:

 

That reminds me of something I have created with leftovers. I will come back to that.

 

notamermaid

 

Left over dough, what to do with it? I encountered this problem when I cut out shapes and had puff pastry bits from in between the rounds. The pastry was shop-bought and not handmade so it did not feel a waste of my precious time spent baking, but it was a considerable amount that would go unused. So, here is my kitchen concoction with puff pastry. Buy a roll of readymade puff pastry, carefully unroll it according to the packet instructions and start cutting shapes or whatever your recipe may involve. This was my bacon-filled finger food with round shapes: 

 

If you then have leftover dough like I did with the rounds, gather the bits together untidily but not in a large ball, be careful not to press too hard otherwise they will not puff and stay soft in the middle. Start baking according to instructions on the packet, then after a couple of minutes into baking, brush a tiny bit of water on and sprinkle with soft sugar (small granules). When you have "messed it up" (sorry, cannot resist that one) properly, it should look like this:

 

Voilà, you have officially baked "Kay's Puff Mess"! 

 

It is edible 😀.

 

notamermaid

 

[Daisi]

You guys talking about the leftover dough.  We grew up with Pet du Seur, leftover piecrust with cinnamon sugar in it.  One of our favourite treats every time Mom made a pie.

 

Maybe because we spoke Eng & French at home, it wasn't until I got out in the working world and found out what the translation was, we just never bothered translating it at home.🙂

 

 

[Roz]

59 minutes ago, Daisi said:

You guys talking about the leftover dough.  We grew up with Pet du Seur, leftover piecrust with cinnamon sugar in it.  One of our favourite treats every time Mom made a pie.

 

My Italian mother and grandmother would make this too.  I liked it more than the pie!   Don't know if it's a European thing, or something they picked up from their German neighbors.

[notamermaid]

That name is certainly a bit more "inventive" than our Schweinsöhrchen, which are not dried pigs' ears, but sweet slightly flaky bakery stuff half dipped in chocolate (there is a boring version without chocolate occasionally at shops).

 

Cinnamon whirls we have, they are called Zimtschnecken.

 

notamermaid

 

[notamermaid]

@TheKingD Remember "my friend from Charlotte"? You kindly asked after his welfare last year and I said earlier this year that he would be over for a visit. He managed to come across in August and visit dear people in the Rhineland and we were able to meet briefly. He is in good spirits, although I suspect a constant tiny longing for Europe shall remain as an "undercurrent" in his life.

 

Right, more food! It is the season for Weinbergpfirsiche. They are small peaches, mostly grown along the Moselle and I have written about them a couple of times in the Moselle thread. I do not see them that often in greengrocers, but found some nice specimen the other day. This the roter Weinbergpfirsich, next to a standard European (big) peach:

It has a skin that feels a bit like felt or a bit furry and its flesh looks like this:

 

It is not such a common tree and fruit, but there is a local producer on the Moselle that surprisingly only grows this fruit. They are called Pitsch & Söhne in Kail, between Eltz Castle and Cochem. Should you happen to be in the area... They also have a shop:https://weinbergpfirsich.com/shop/

 

Right, I am off to have a peach.

 

notamermaid

 

[Lois R]

Looks delicious......😃 I love peaches!

[Canal archive]

They look really yummy!