We stayed at the Hotel Hornburg as it was the top rated place on Trip Advisor. We've been using Trip Advisor a lot on picking accommodations...we used them on all of our stays on the Germany trip and it has treated us well.
We got the family room on the top floor which had a nice sitting room and a separate bedroom. Addie had her own little toddler bed and Harry got a pack 'n play. The owners were absolutely fab and helped us out so much. There breakfast was great as well. I had my first soft boiled egg and the gentleman had drawn a smiley face on the outside of the shell. One thing about our room though that I thought was super unique were these double windows. The both opened inwards...it must be for keeping it warmer in the winter???
We headed up to the city center Monday morning and it was beautiful. The Councillor's Tavern is now where the Tourist Office is at but it used to be an exclusive tavern for just the town council members. Starting at 11AM each day the bells chime and little people come out the side windows like a giant cuckoo clock. The legend goes back to 1631 when Catholic troops attacked and occupied Protestant Rothenburg. The Catholic general threatened to destroy the city and in a whim he offered to spare the city if a Councilor could drink 3 1/4 liters of wine in one draught. One of the former mayors of the city managed to do this and saved the city....now that is dedication to your town. The building also has a dial showing the day of the month and a sun dial at the top.
The Town Hall was pretty cool. There are all these little windows in the roof and the windows on the front tower all spiral downwards.
We walked all over town and on the opposite end we found the Castle Gardens. In the gardens we ran into a couple who was from New Mexico and in Europe to visit family but they were taking a river cruise through various countries. Their next stop was Transylvania in Romania...way cool.
Beyond the gardens were some beautiful views of the Tauber Valley. Cute little villages and farmsteads scattered throughout the country side.
We ate lunch a great place that had traditional Franciscian dishes (that was the region were were in). Addie in traditional fashion again ate only French fries...now I'm not that bad of a mother to only let my children eat French fries. We did bring along apple sauce, bananas, raisins, and animal crackers for her to eat as well.
While Kevin paid for dinner, the kids and I sat out by the Town Hall. As we sat an older gentleman who was pushing is mother in a wheel chair and so I had the kids wave at them. They came closer and then the gentleman came to sit by me and Harrison and started talking to us. I told him that I only spoke English and then he got out a little song book and was looking for an English song...he found "My Bonny Lies Over the Ocean". He proceeded to look for other songs in Spanish, Russian, French and German. Then he started to do this little cuckoo song and made a little noise like the cuckoo bird with his hands. Addison immediately tried to copy him and in watching the two of them playing back in forth, I saw myself with my grandpa. He would do funny little things like that with us and sing fun little songs. It was a really special moment.
We found the Medieval Crime Museum which might have been really cool to go through but I didn't feel like freaking Addison out. She did have lots of fun posing in the stockades.
We found our way up into part of the city wall that we could walk on. As we walked by a little opening I peered in and saw this enclosure boarded up with a bench and two openings in the seat. I found the medieval toilets that were built into the wall.
The openings let the stuff just fall down the outside of the wall...crazy stuff!!! Obviously it is not still in use otherwise I wouldn't have taken this picture.
One thing I had to try were these crazy looking balls that were displayed in many shops called Schneeballs. We actually found a place with a video showing how to make them. Essentially they are strips of pastry that they collect up in a ball and put in a metal holder which gets dipped in a deep fryer. They they coat the balls with whatever. I got a chocolate one and could only eat about half of it. Kevin thought it was a waste of money, but I was trying to experience local cuisine since they were local speciality.
I had to check out the Kathe Wohlfahrt shop because it is the Christmas shops of all Christmas shops. I absolutely love Christmas and Kevin took the kids for a walk so I could get a bit of time to look around. I of course was way overwhelmed so I didn't end up getting anything.
We love Germany so much that we thought it was only right to have a really nice souvenier to remember it by so we were on the hunt for the perfect cuckoo clock. We looked in many shops but this place had the nicest lady and found that my husband had very expensive taste. We had a really tough time picking one out because they were all amazing but we did find the best one for us and our budget, but of course in all the bustle of things I forgot to take a picture of it. We did figure out that we could get it cheaper if we had it shipped back to my parents in the US (it got us out of paying the VAT tax - 19% off that way!!!). 
Of course no trip to Rothenburg can be had without a picture in front of the Plonlein and Siebers Towers. We set the timer up on this one instead of trusting strangers to capture this moment for us.
I had to include this picture because it is the oddest looking vehicle I have ever seen. I especially love the monkey head on the globe on top of the cab.
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