Rothenburg ob der Tauber

Our last day with the our visitors saw us making the 2-hour drive south to Rothenburg, Germany's most well-preserved walled town and tourist mecca.

The Ploenlein, or 'little place,' one of the town's best "postcard shots."

A good bit of time was spent trying to shoo the kids out of the ubiquitous souvenir shops.

Posing along the wall

The male side of our group wanted to go to the Criminal Museum. Imagine our surprise, when, in the entrance way of the museum, we saw 2 Child Catcher wagons. The Vulgarian village scenes from Chitty Chitty Bang Bang were filmed here, and surely the terrifying image of the child catcher luring Jeremy and Jemima into his wagon has been seared into your memory. Could one of these wagons be the one used in the film? We're assuming yes. Compare and contrast for yourself.


"There are children here somewhere...I can smell them!"

Iron Maidens look like a medieval torture device, but the first one was not invented until the late 1700s. This Iron Maiden was used for punishment and people, usually women, would be locked in it for hours.

Other Iron Maidens, though, were not so harmless. They had small openings so that a torturer could interrogate their victim while piercing the body with sharp objects, eventually leading to the poor soul's death hours later from blood loss or asphyxiation.

Viewing thumb-screws and other torture devices.


View from the tower of the Rathaus (Town Hall) where you can see the town wall. Watch the end of Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory to see another aerial view of Rothenburg.

James showing off his personalized sword.

An ice cream cone was the perfect ending to a perfect day.