Early Days

Thursday found me driving across the gentle hills to Dinkelsbühl, a walled city similar to Rothenburg. I had been there once or twice before but found I did not remember the city well. I parked near a moat on the other side of which was a tower and the city wall. I crossed a bridge over the protective moat and wandered the cobbled streets, shopping and taking pictures for an hour and a half, before heading back home. Once reaching Rothenburg I drove down in the Tauber valley and took some pictures of the city from below and of a tall, skinny house with windows made of round, thick glass panes.

I located a grocery store in Rothenburg and picked up some basic supplies. My landlady tells me that there is a bigger store near the bahnhof, train station, so I will have to check it out before long.

I am happy to say there is a large-sized clothing store in town and the lady who owns it is friendly, helpful, and speaks some English. Much of her stock is not really my taste, however I did find a black shirt with little sparkles at the neckline for which I paid $100. It is a tad snug so should fit for quite some time and the quality is very good so it won´t lose its shape or wear out. I also located a shop with jeans from sizes teeny tiny to much larger. The lady at this shop was also very helpful and I found a cute pair of jeans with sparkles and metal rivets shaped like flowers for me to shrink into. The price of 35 eruo was significantly cheaper than the 128 euro I found in Italy. When I returned home I held my new jeans up to the old ones and found the waist band the same size, however I cannot fasten the new jeans. It was then I realized that the new jeans are low rise and will fasten about 1 1/2 inches below the old ones....right where my "rise" is the biggest. It will be a time of celebration when I can wear my new jeans comfortably!

Rothenburg is not a large city, however it is larger than Cortona, with quite a few more shops, however since I lived in Germany for such a long time I am finding that I already purchased many of the things I liked, so am not so tempted to shop. A good thing for my wallet. I did buy a silver ring with an oval amethyst in it to wear on my middle finger and some postcards to send to friends and family.

There is a music school near my house and walking home one night I heard singing, so sat on a bench under the window to listen. They were singing I Will Follow Him, from the movie Sister Act and were doing a fair job of it until the soprano soloist started in. She was just ghastly and I am pretty sure she hit a few notes never previously undiscovered. Unfortunately, the teacher had the soloist yodel her part time and again, and I had to fight the urge to paw my ears and howl. I finally decided that I´d heard enough yowling for the evening and walked to the back of the music school toward my apartment only to bear witness to a trio of flatulent tubas squelching out a noise better made in private. Such entertainment!