Rothenburg and Zurich in March

We went to Rothenburg ob Tauber for an overnight trip. It really could have been seen in one day but it was nice to take it easy and spend the night out. It took 3 1/2 hours on the train to get there and so it would be quite a day to go there and back in the same day. Rothenburg overlooks the river Tauber, hence the name. It is a medieval town that has not changed. It is surprising to see a town that has not changed all these years and into this technical world. It was amazing. The city was very small and quaint. We walked around the town and went for a hike in the neighboring hills.

We went to the Christmas Museum on Sunday. We went into the store on Saturday after the museum closed. The store is huge! Room after room, nook and cranny, filled with ornaments and decorations. Every little thing you could possibly want and in every color. Your choice of style Christmas tree, all decs here. Then there were the German traditional figurines for Christmas. The museum was interesting. I did not know how long Christmas has been a tradition and the Christmas tree. The tree, originally from Germany, was around before the celebration of Christmas. It started only to be seen in rich homes, but then were seen in everyone's home later on. The rich would even have a Christmas tree per person that lived there. Crazy! It was also cool to see how ornaments changed over the years. Apples became balls, candles became lights, etc. It was very informative and I learned a lot.

The next weekend we went to Zurich, Switzerland to visit some friends of Chris from SLAC who moved to Zurich last year. It was wonderful to visit them and play with their two kids. They live in a small town right outside downtown Zurich. We walked around the town and then went on a boat ride around the lake. It was a beautiful day. A little chilly but gorgeous sun and blue sky. It was a wonderful day. Chris and I separated from Rasmus and Simone as they went back to drop of the kids at home. We walked around the town, saw the university campus and stopped for our routine hot chocolate stop. Then we met up with Rasmus and Simone again for a very delicious dinner. The restaurant had a bar on the top floor, which we went up to see the view. The skyline of Zurich is beautiful with the many steeples and the packed in buildings. The roads are all cobblestone and narrow alleyways. We did not stay for it was very smokey and crowded. Plus it was really late so we headed back home. It was a very full day.

Sunday we went for a hike in the nearby hills. It was a good hike. We got to the top and went up an observatory. They live not too far out of Zurich and it was cool to see the pockets of houses in the countryside. I went back to Munich that night, but Chris stayed till Monday. He had a tour of Rasmus lab and spoke with the researchers there. He is planning on doing a seminar there later as the main scientist was not available to be there on that day. It was a wonderful weekend.