Five Go Mad

Well I guess it was going to happen some-time, that double lightning strike of misery (double for obvious reasons); food poisoning! To be honest my money would have been on somewhere grubbier than Munich but there you go, I guess campylobacter and salmonella have little respect for orderly and respectable society.  Alas first Ashleigh, then Robyn became familiar with the night-time bathroom floor, with a substantial overlap. Fortunately we had two rooms or things could have become rather quite ugly.

Next morning, a late check-out was ordered then the healthy went for coffee and Imodium leaving the invalids to fend for themselves.  Being Sunday everything was surprisingly closed requiring travel further than tram or shanks’ pony (google it) would reach. Daughters not going off like a catherine wheel were pressed into emergency service figuring out how the sat. nav worked while the other interpreted the street signs and I concentrated on not crashing too much on the way to the Apotheke. Despite the shouting and crying and parking debacle we found one and a lovely Apothekist provided us with appropriate drugs for both ends of the food poisoning unhappiness spectrum if you get my drift. Fortunately she spoke English because I was dreading having to mime the symptoms for her. So, long story short etc. drugs in, checked out.

It is 250km from Munich to Rothenburg which is quite far. Calculating how long it would take having stops every 15 minutes left my mouth dry.  Turns out German drugs are very good so didn’t have to stop and, they have the Autobahn which, apart from going very fast, is more importantly very smooth, so no joggling. Rothenburg ob der Tauber is a walled mediaeval town whose history features well documented witch trials, torture (also well documented), bubonic plague, some sort of hazy Nazi Party link and Harry Potter.  Fortunately for Rothenburg it’s also a very pretty place so all is forgiven by the general tourist populace, all of whom decided to give the place a visit the very sunny Sunday afternoon we arrived. The narrow cobbled streets nominated by the sat-nav were wall to wall with families out for a stroll in the Christmas markets so the last 250m were driven sheepishly at stroller speed while my passengers hid their faces with the diabolical embarrassment of it all.

Potential moment of contamination in Munich

Hotel window shot Rothenburg

Fantastically un-PC (possibly downright dangerous) kids toys

Square of an evening