Limburg, Germany

This was an unexpected surprise. Limburg was an authentic German town, seemingly far off the tourist trail. Unlike Cologne, the only other tourists here were the Germans themselves.

Limburg’s Altstadt (old town) teemed with crazily-cantilevered timber buildings and narrow, cobbled lanes. In addition to the Christmas market stalls, small shops were brightly lit, competing for attention.

Half the fun wandering around these old German towns is spotting whimsical carvings. Who says the Germans don’t have a sense of humor?

We enjoyed schnitzel and tall beers in a cozy restaurant featuring traditional German food. As we walked through the market, the Germans around us sampled steaming mugs of Glühwein (spicy mulled wine), Reibekuchen (potato pancakes with applesauce) and Apfelstrudel.

We looked over a wide variety of treats before picking a few to take with us. The Bäckerei here in Limburg seemed to actually be run by local bakers instead of chains. The cookies and pastries were reassuringly irregular.

I hiked up to the top of the hill to visit the unmistakable Limburg cathedral, a late-Romanesque gem. It was vastly different from the Gothic Cologne cathedral we visited yesterday.

Frescoes and wall paintings covered the bright stone interior. I was impressed with the table tomb of a curiously-named Konrad Kurzbold. I later learned Kurzbold was a nickname for his below-average height (kurz is “short” in German). The “bold” was for his great bravery.

In his day, Count Kurzbold was hailed as a new David. Evidently, his diminutive stature didn’t stop him from slaying a huge, boastful Slav. Another legend tells of Kurzbold defending the king from an attacking lion before the king could even draw his sword. Our brave Kurzbold died in 948.

Of course there was a carved lion paying tribute at his grave:

We drove back to Boppard later in the evening guided by our car’s GPS. Initially we thought it had made a mistake bringing us to the wrong side of the Rhine but miraculously, a ferry showed up right in time.

Even the ferry was decked with a lit Christmas tree!

It’s our last night in Boppard. Tomorrow we head a bit southwest to the small town of Bernkastel-Kues on the Moselle. I think we’ve found a very unique Airbnb for our final week in Germany. More on that later…

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