How to start this post?

I guess I will just start it with a snapshot of today’s biggest event.  I broke up with my French lover. And I did it by telling him he was a bad lover. *Sigh* Probably not one of my finest moments, but I was being honest. However, my honesty in that moment was more to hurt than give sufficient reason for my disappointment in the relationship. I feel sad by the whole episode…regardless of the fact that the romance was doomed from the start (he was 10 years my junior).  It is always hard to say good-bye.

Ah, Romance! I find that it is all around me…in the sites I see, the places I visit, the couples I witness and the city I live in, but capturing it for myself is a bit elusive.  Perhaps that is the reason I have been a bit obsessed with it as of late, and one of the reasons why I chose to follow the “Romantic Road” in Bavaria.  I want to be around romance! Even if it is in name only.  Surrounding myself by something I want so much should bring me closer to it, right?!  I am not sure if it works like that…and the events of the last 6 hours have definitely proved that I have never been further from romance :)…but thank goodness I am an optimist!

My first stop on the “Romantic Road” was Rothenberg!

A beautiful walled, preserved medieval city. It was an “Imperial Free City” (ruled by the Roman emperor only…not a local prince, etc. They had a lot more independence cuz the Roman emperor really didn’t care about them and communication wasn’t so good back then…no iphone 4Gs so I hear).

What Ms. GPS!? You want me to go through that!?

I couldn’t believe that I had to maneuver my Ford Fiesta through this little hole into the city! It was only when I had a back log of 3 or 4 cars behind me that I tentatively decided to breach the wall. After all, my hotel was on the other side, and I was a bit tired of driving and I was definitely tired of the German voices on the radio (I wish German was a prettier language)!!

A view of Rothenberg from the only public accessible watchtower in the city.

It was a steep hike up, but well worth the 1Euro50 I was asked to hand over by a very lonely looking man at the top of the tower.  Apparently he and I shared the same luck on this Romantic Road.

Rothenberg’s city wall! 

 This part of town was all destroyed in 1945 when Allied forces bombed Rothenberg in an attempt to devastate and demoralize the enemy.  Luckily the clouds were heavy that day, otherwise this beautiful, historic city would have been completely destroyed (much like Nuremburg).

It should have been re-bombed the following day, but thanks to an American General and a German Nazi, further carnage was not done on the city.  Much international help and resources was used to rebuild it, and today it is an incredible…and incredibly romantic…city to visit in Bavaria.

Scenes from Rothenberg.

Every corner was beautiful.

A Bavarian treat!

“Snowballs” are their name.  Basically they are deep fried, linguine style strings of semi sweet dough shaped in a ball that are covered in some sort of topping.  I tried the original with powdered sugar. It was a good snack, but not sure I would write home about it (but apparently I will blog about it!). 

The “Night Watchmen” of Rothenberg.

He does a lovely tour every night for 7 euro…I learned much about the history of the town.

Did you know that night watchman was the 3rd lowest occupation in town during medievil times?  2nd was grave digger and lowest was executioner…no surprise there.  All lovely, romantic thoughts :).  And to further squelch romantic tendencies, there is a torture museum in town. 

This is the wonderful Federweiss, mentioned in my last post that gave me the energy to charm the Italian couple and the Greek and German man at my “community” table.

We need to do more community tables back home :).

Ah! The reason for my 700 km trip into Bavaria!!

Schloss Neuschwanstein near Fussen!

This Disneyland-fantasy castle built by King Lugwig II was absolutely the highlight of this beautiful region.  My romantic side had chosen the destination based solely on the name of the route….little did I know it is one of the MOST popular places in Germany to visit and the most photographed castle in the world.

A closer view of Ludwig’s masterpiece.

…and my favorite view!

This is a picture from one of the castle’s balconies.

No pictures were allowed inside…so this was the best I could do.

Old town in Fussen.

Just some of the charm and romance of the beautiful town.

This is my autobahn work horse!

A half of tank cost around 46 euro….it was like a little nightmare each time I filled up at 1Euro60 for a liter.

80% of fuel cost in Germany is tax.

The last night of my Bavarian “romantic” tour was in a little town called Wurzberg.

I was told this bridge is in the new movie, Three Muskateers…however, the movie makers made it look like it was in Paris.

As a treat my last night in Germany, I ordered just a glass of their local white.

Little did I know they would fill it to the lip of the glass….I am pretty sure that in Germany one drinks to get drunk :).  And that last night I did.

Don’t worry, I didn’t drink alone.  A nice German man introduced himself to me shortly after I took the above picture.  He preceded to show me some of the important places in Wurzberg (including having a closed garden opened for just us), bought me a few more glasses of local wine and took me to a pub for pizza.  Romantic? Perhaps.  However, being told, “I love you” within a few hours of meeting someone is a bit much even for this diehard.  Further, I made the mistake of giving him my French phone number (really, when will I learn!)…so I have had the distinct pleasure of fielding his ongoing texts and 8am phone calls, all professing his love and how much he misses me.  Wow! Who knew Germans could be so romantic! AND this is a man I didn’t even kiss (he was a smoker…gross!)!  I guess I WAS looking for romance…but isn’t it amazing how sometimes when we are granted what we wish, we find we didn’t want or need it all along?

Now I am back in Paris.  Germany and the Romantic Road are but a wonderful memory.  Errant texts not withstanding :).

As a closing note, I just got home from dinner at a local French restaurant in the 7th that my roommate and I seem to frequent all the time called Oudino’s.  Because it was weighing heavy on my heart, I shared my story of lost love and romance with the owner and another local at the small bar over saumon tartare.  I received a bit of a scolding from the older, sophisticated French woman who wore round black rimmed eye glasses and carried a Prada bag.  She told me that I need to apologize to my jeune ex-lover…and tell him instead that our differences were that he was “too young”.  In her words, I could have devastated him so much he may not ever have another lover.  Seriously doubtful. She also lambasted me a bit for my “American ways” when it comes to dating and  how ridiculous it is that Americans need a “plan” (the French DON”T date and they don’t “plan”, they just hang out…but it is still unclear to me how they ever figure out if two people are exclusive. And perhaps they don’t given the commonality of outside lovers in a relationship). I told her I can only be who I am and a lot of that has to do with where I come from…I am not French.

However, I am still a romantic….and although I didn’t find the romance I may have been looking for on the “Romantic Road” and devastated any type of romance with my former French friend, I think I will find it.  But perhaps I shouldn’t look so hard.