by Bradley

          Katherine found this castle, Burg Eltz, when she did research for our trip, Tim and Stephanie had never been and I don't think they had heard about it either. Since it was a new experience for all of us it made it that much more fun.

          The really unique part of this castle is that it is actually located in a valley; every other castle we've seen is on a hill for obvious defense reasons. We were told that it is located where it is because it protected a valuable trade route along the water. To me, it looked like a tiny creek running along side it but I imagine that it was probably a much larger river back when the castle was built. I still prefer Tim's explanation of why it's in a valley "It was probably some prince who was just confused."

by Katherine

          The seventh day marked our favorite day of the entire trip: good food, good company, and amazing castles! Neuschwanstein may be the most famous of the German castles, but to me, it's too touristy, the tour is incredibly limited, and it's too new to have a lot of history behind it, and beyond the picturesque outside, it's really not that cool looking. When I was doing research for our trip, the coolest castles were the ones in ruins. They looked really fun to explore and it's not about the decor, it's about the ruinous architecture. And so that's why we went to St. Goar, or Rheinfels Castle.

by Bradley

Key Words
Reasonably Priced, Good Atmosphere

Would we go back?
Yes, they have drink specials and it's a solid Irish Pub

          After the travel to Frankfurt and the bad dinner, we decided to spend the rest of our evening at an Irish Pub! We all love the feel of Irish pubs so Katherine researched it a bunch and we got a hotel right near this one. Odwyer's is supposed to be one of the best in Frankfurt and it did not disappoint in atmosphere.

        Tim and Stephanie saw a shot that was called "stfu" and had to get it. It had hot sauce in it; it turned out to be terrible but they said they had to try it and were glad they did! Most of the night we drank Guinnesses, I had some too but Katherine doesn't drink beer so I had some of the cocktails with her.

by Bradley

Key Words
Reasonably Priced, Large Variety, English Friendly

Would We Go Back?
Definitely not! I wouldn't recommend anyone ever go here.

          For dinner in the city we decided to stop off for some Thai food at Main Thai. We expected big bold Thai flavor but it definitely was not! For starters, I noticed their Thai iced tea, one of my favorite drinks when I have Thai...everyone else seemed to like it but it was awful; there was no coconut milk! It was okay if you wanted a watered down, extra sweet drink but I wasn't a fan, and it tasted nothing like what I was used to.

by Katherine

          Our plan for our sixth day in Germany did not go according to schedule. We were gonna get up in time to go see a castle and then wind down in Frankfurt for the night...but due to an incredibly late start (from drinking so much and staying up late on dip night), we only made it to Frankfurt. But it was nice not walking around for a day; my feet needed it! 

          We planned Frankfurt and the castles in the Rhineland fairly last minute because the Partnach Gorge, our original plan, was temporarily closed due to melting ice. We had opted for a bit nicer hotels for Spain and Munich, so our goal in Frankfurt, and a day later for Stuttgart, was to get something cheap but decent and conveniently located.

by Katherine

          After dip night in Germany, we were both eager to try making the tzatziki. I've been on a hunt for good tzatziki for some time now. Too many Americans put dill in it and other things that just weren't what I remember from the tzatziki of Greece. But Tim and Stephanie's was pretty damn good! They got their idea from a restaurant in Greece which told them the secret is simply garlic!! Maybe we put in a bit too much garlic, but it makes it super noms!

Tzatziki

Thanks to Tim & Stephanie!

Makes: about 2.5 cups                   Prep Time: 10 min + Overnight in Fridge                      

1/2             Cucumber
2                  8 oz. Containers of Greek Yogurt
3-4              Cloves of Garlic, minced
                     Salt, pepper to taste

by Bradley

          My brother had told me about doing a dip night and it sounded so good that I requested that he do one while we visited him! The last time he had made queso also but for this dip night we had salsa, guacamole, hummus, and tzatziki - all homemade. Many of the veggies and the peppers for the salsa were grilled, guacamole is always amazing, the hummus was topped with a delicious olive oil from a trip to Italy, and the tzatziki was the best I've had with such a simple recipe that my brother's wife, Stephanie, got from a restaurant in Greece.

          We had a variety of veggies and fresh toasted pita for dipping and Katherine and I made a cocktail based off the one we had in Mexico. It has champagne, lime sorbet, tequila and lemon/lime soda. Everything was so good and it was a great combination of so many countries, Germany, Mexico, Greece and Italy!

by Katherine

     
       Would We Come Back? 
   Go to Backerei Striffler instead. 


          After we couldn't get quark balls at the really good bakery, we spent a good portion of the rest our visit searching for quark balls to take home. We went in every bakery that we passed. Many were starting to close, many just didn't have quark balls, and time was running out. We must have tried close to 10 bakeries. We literally had one chance left; I had remembered a bakery (Bäckerei Hachtel) right after we had entered the wall and hoped that it would be open and have some. Thank goodness, last time's a charm! We brought back 8 or 10 quark balls to heat in the oven. I snuck one on the train ride back to Ansbach; it definitely wasn't as good as the ones from earlier. But they were sooo much better heated up! The crisp came back and the insides were softer. Still no Neuschwanstein, but a pretty decent alternative when that's all you can get.

by Bradley

          This was the third and last time that we had gelato in Rothenburg, yea we are gelato crazy but it's sooo good! We decided to stop here because they had a few of the less common gelato flavors.

          I went for the mocha while Katherine got peach. I do have to say that they were excellent flavors, taste just like what they claim, and were super creamy but I didn't like the staff. We were paying customers and the store was completely empty but they insisted, after we already bought gelato, that gelato was only to go. Even though there were plenty of seats they wouldn't let us stay and, therefore, I would not give these people business again!

by Katherine

Key Words
 Large Variety, Good Pastries
                 
Would We Come Back? 
Yes, pastries are better than most and the quark balls are the best we've found outside of Neuschwanstein.

          We actually stopped in here a couple of times because it's probably the best bakery in Rothenburg. First time, I noticed quark balls!!! But I had to limit myself so we only got a couple. Turns out it was pretty good. It wasn't fresh out of the oven (or probably frier) or as perfectly sweetened, but for having sat at room temperature, it was the closest we would come to matching the quark balls from Neuschwanstein.