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Bicycle Tour Adventure #39: Germany, Austria (Österreich), Italy, Day 11


Today we visit Rothenburg, Germany;
Drive through Austria, and
Meet Ray and Letizia in Lana, Italy
(In an area better known as South Tyrol)


Enroute to Rothenburg, Germany: Friday Morning
German Equal Access Toilets. House with a closed off real well.
Above Left: German Equal Access Toilets.

Above Right: House with a closed off real well.



Rothenburg ob der Tauber, Germany: Morning
East Gate of the city fortress of Rothenburg. East Gate of the city fortress of Rothenburg.
Above: East Gate of the city fortress of Rothenburg.
Rothenburg ob der Tauber, in English, means 'Red fortress above the Tauber [river]'. It is well known for its City Fortress which began its existence in 950 but the castle and walls came around the mid 1100's. It has survived in part by being out of the way of most military traffic, losing major battles (the winners pillaged and moved on), the owning King willed the castle to church management, and it suffered great population loss during the Black Plague. It became a tourist attraction in the 1800's and has kept this status.
Gate for motored vehicles. Gate for pedestrians.
Above Left: Gate for motored vehicles.

Above Right: Gate for pedestrians.

Fortress Wall looking north. Fortress Wall looking south.
Above: Fortress Wall looking north and south respectively.

East-West City Street. The guard tower climb.
Above Left: East-West City Street, except for motor vehicles, looking like it did 500 years ago.

Above Right: The guard tower climb.

Terry climbs up to the guard stations. Terry climbs up to the guard stations.
Above: Terry climbs up to the guard stations.

Observation and weapons portal. Charging Trap.
Above Left: Observation and weapons portal.

Above Right: Charging Trap.

Coats of Arms. City and wall view from upstairs.
Above Left: Coats of Arms: The [local] Ansbach District has the twin Red Castle Keeps and presumably, the Rothburg Family and/or Bavarian Area uses the Black Eagle. This location is [just barely] in the Federal State of Bavaria.

Above Right: City and wall view from upstairs.

City from upstairs. City from upstairs.
Above: City view from upstairs.

Arrow Port. House view.
Above Left: Arrow Port.

Above Right: House view.

Guard's Roofed Walkway. Roofing detail.
Above Left: Guard's Roofed Walkway.

Above Right: Roofing detail: tile hanging on slats.

Interior City Dwellings. Guard Tower.
Above Left: Interior City Dwellings.

Above Right: Guard Tower (all towers were closed to civilian access). All walled areas with a wall direction change had a Tower and a straight wall had a tower about every 200 Meters/Yards.

Key Hole Arrow Portal. Another section of guard covered walkway.
Above Left: Key Hole Arrow Portal.

Above Right: Another section of guard covered walkway.

View of the interior city. View of the interior city.
Above: Views of the interior city.

Roof Tiling Operation. Roof Tiling Operation.
Above Left: Roof Tiling Operation.

Above Right: Roof 'Tiler' Relay; the guy at the top is tossing a tile to the guy in the middle who will in turn hand it to the Tile Placement person. They missed or dropped about every tenth tile when we were watching. i.e., there is a minimum of 10% breakage factor (hmm).

Middle Turret with a [closed] Tower. Observation and defensive ports.
Above Left: Middle Turret with a [closed] Tower.

Above Right: Observation and defensive ports.

Close up of old barn's hay bale door opening. anything built against the fortress wall was horse related.
Above Left: Close up of old barn's hay bale door opening.

Above Right: Some structures were built against the fortress, in every case, anything built against the fortress wall was horse related (coach storage, horse stall, feed storage, or Ferrier related).

all fortress wall areas on the ground had multiple observation points. Covered bridge over a castle feeder creek.
Above Left: Back on the ground, all fortress wall areas on the ground had multiple observation points and at least one trap area with upward observation by arrow-men.

Above Right: Covered bridge over a castle feeder creek. This may be the creek and water 'weir' system [low wall dam] where the initial fortification/defense started.

This corner building is a solid stone. Looking back at the corner tower.
Above Left: This corner building is a solid stone [round] barn that is big enough to hold six or seven horses plus feed and tack; it was probably for a fast reaction force on horseback or a rapid response and pursuit force.

Above Right: Looking back at the corner tower, creek, covered bridge and solid stone barn.

Pedestrian Trap. Covered and protected entrance/exit for coach passengers.
Above Left: Pedestrian Trap.

Above Right: Covered and protected entrance/exit for coach passengers.

We are off the wall and 'Walking in the City'
gate from the interior city to the royal courtyard. The outside of the royal gate.
Above Left: This may have been the gate from the interior city to the royal courtyard.

Above Right: The outside of the royal gate.

Rothenburg City views. Rothenburg City views.
Above: Rothenburg City views.

Map of the Castle and City. Milchkaffee und Schokolade.
Above Left: Map of the Castle and City - We are leaving the area in the bottom left corner of the map and heading to the town center.

Above Right: We drop into a café for Milchkaffee und Schokolade.

Hogwarts. Slytherin.
Above: Hogwarts and Slytherin.

Watch tower, town clock and state crest. A flowery view up a street.
Above Left: Watch tower, town clock and state crest.

Above Right: A flowery view up a street.

City street view. Barn doors against the Fortress Wall.
Above Left: City street view.

Above Right: Barn doors (now for vehicle parking) against the Fortress Wall.

Actual Grapes growing in a well groomed trellis. An old symbol with a new logo.
Above Left: Actual Grapes growing in a well groomed trellis.

Above Right: An old symbol with a new logo.

Except for the vehicles, this could be 13th Century Germany. Except for the vehicles, this could be 13th Century Germany.
Above: Except for the vehicles, this could be 13th Century Germany.

Check out the roof window. East Gate Entrance/Exit of Rothenburg ob der Tauber.
Above Left: Check out the roof window.

Above Right: We are back to the East Gate Entrance/Exit of Rothenburg ob der Tauber.



Enroute to Lana, Italy by way of Austria (Österreich)
We're in Germany, moving along. We're in Germany, almost at a traffic stand still.
Above: We're in Germany, moving along, toward Austria.

Above Right: We're in Germany, almost at a traffic stand still.

We're in Austria, we stop at the very first gas station. Facing southeast from the Austrian gas station.
Above Left: We're in Austria. We stop at the very first gas station to buy the cheapest gas in Europe (I got a heads up from my friend Ray). Also, we buy a permit to drive in Austria - It's a road use tax (again, a heads up from Ray). This is a picture of the gas station (facing nord).

Above Right: Picture facing southeast.   We are headed for South Tyrol, Italy




About Austria and Tyrol

Austria (German: Österreich) is a German speaking country. The very word Österreich has similar root derivations and meanings. Back in the Medieval (circa 950 CE), Ostarrîchi meant "Eastern borderlands". In more recent German meaning 'ost' or 'oster' means East or Eastern and 'reich' means Realm. But it has been put forth that in the Celtic language (circa 500 BCE) that the country was called Norig and 'No' or 'Nor' meant "east" or "eastern", whereas 'Rig' is related to the modern German Reich, meaning "realm". [Wikipedia]



Austria (Today) is composed of the states of: 1, Burgenland; 2, Carinthia (Kärnten); 3, Lower Austria (Niederösterreich); 4, Upper Austria (Oberösterreich); 5, Salzburg; 6, Styria (Steiermark);
7, Tyrol (Tirol); 8, Vorarlberg; and 9, Vienna (Wien). [Wikipedia]

Tyrol (Tirol, Before WWI) was composed of Nord Tyrol (the realm that is still an Austrian State, #7 above), South Tyrol (or Südtirol, what the nation of Italy calls Alto Adige; literally 'Alto' means High but its use means Upper Adige River area), and Tyrol-Trentino (what the nation of Italy calls Trentino). [Wikipedia]



The Big Point: All of these areas are mostly German Speaking and these areas are culturally mostly Austrian in heritage and traditions.



More Later: It gets really interesting! See About South Tyrol for followup.


We've Entered South Tyrol, Italy
South Tyrol, Italy. South Tyrol, Italy.
Above: The area is beautiful but there only a few places where one can safely pull over in a motor vehicle in order to take a picture.



We've made it to Lana, Italy (South Tyrol)
We are warmly greeted by Ray and Letizia in their Lana, Italy, home.
Above: We are warmly greeted by Ray and Letizia in their Lana, Italy, home.

Letizia and Ray offer a light late evening snack.
Above: Letizia and Ray offer a light late evening snack - yum. We talk and drink late into the night.



We check into a Pension at a German Apple Farm in Vilpian, Italy (South Tyrol)
Bed at the Vilpian Apple Farm Pension. Shower at Vilpian Apple Farm Pension.
Above: Bed and Shower at Vilpian Apple Farm Pension (Vilpiano). More pictures tomorrow. Gut Nacht.


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