Heading north from Munich, we spent a few days exploring some of Bavaria's most historic and friendly towns. Our first stop was Dinkelsbuhl, a small town with a large history. We spent two nights there, camping in a spot that was supposed to be just outside the city but turned out to be about a mile walk. The center of the town is surrounded by the old city wall, with seven towers, and looks like it hasn't changed since medieval times. When we arrived we headed through the narrow cobbled streets past crooked half-timbered houses. Just walking through town was like stepping into a time warp.

Pretty soon we realized that most of the people we saw were wearing medieval costumes as well. It turned out that we had stumbled upon Dinkelsbuhl's annual Kinderfest, or Children's Festival. The festival celebrates an event in the 30 years war in Germany. When Swedish troops surrounded the city and prepared to destroy it, the children of the city went out to the Swedish soldiers and convinced them to spare the city. In the next few days it became obvious that most of the town, and probably people from surrounding towns were participating. They all had these great costumes and every day there were parades, shows, dancing, horses everywhere, and music. Not to mention that it was fun to see whole cafe's full of people in costume.

The next morning we walked the old city wall while we waited for the tourist office to open. We were able to rent some bikes from them and took a beautiful half day ride though the rolling hills and small towns surrounding Dinkelsbuhl. One amazing thing about Germany is how many great bike paths there are. We rode for hours through some amazing country and almost never had to ride on a road, and even the roads were pretty empty. After lots of rain in Munich we finally got some good weather too!

Our next stop was Wurzburg, a small city in the far northwestern corner of Bavaria. Wurzburg is a perfect sized city, easily walkable and very friendly. The city is sits along the Main river in a low spot surrounded by hills covered with vineyards. Across the river from downtown, on a high hill, sits one of the most imposing fortresses I have ever seen. Since we arrived in the evening, we went for a sunset stroll and found a great restaurant right on the river to stop and sip some of the local Riesling. These three pictures show the view from where we were sitting as the sun went down. As the sun went down the castle lit up above us.

Here is a picture of the restaurant from the old bridge across the river, which is right next to it. This was a dream restaurant location, I hope Michaela can find a spot like it some day.

After our drinks we headed back into town, but we only made it about 50 feet before an old man came up to us and started talking to us in German and pointing back towards the bridge. Eventually we figured out that he wanted us to go back and stand on the bridge, and something about fireworks. After about five minutes tons of other people showed up and crowded onto the bridge, the best spot for viewing the fireworks that started shooting off from the hills above the city. Another lucky find. The old man was just one of the many Germans that went out of their way to be friendly during our time there. They are truly some of the friendliest people we have ever run into.

The next day we explored some of Wurzburg's substantial historical sights. We started with an early morning run up to the castle, where we had the grounds all to ourselves. Next we visited the Residenz, the mansion of Wurzburg's ruling prince bishops for hundreds of years. Interestingly, in Wurzburg, the head of the clergy was also the ruler of the city. It's a shame that we couldn't take pictures inside, because this was the most impressive palace I have come across, eclipsing many royal residences. Though heavily damaged near the end of WWII, it has been perfectly restored.

Next we headed back up to the castle. This castle had been captured only once, by the Swedish during the 30 Years War. It afforded great views over the city, including at some of the other palaces in the surrounding hills. The last picture shows the rose garden in the residential portion of the castle, which has a great view over the river and the city.