Romantic Road continues in Dinkelsbühl, Nördlingen and Augsburg

The charming Augsburg Schaezlerpalais

We say goodbye to our sprawling home in Weikersheim and hit the road toward Augsburg—but not without two very worthwhile stops: Dinkelsbühl and Nördlingen.

Dinkelsbühl

Dinkelsbühl is one of those fairy tale towns that’s so pretty it almost feels fake. We eat some bread in the sun so we’ll always remember it. And just as we’re taking a photo next to the city sign, we spot a mama duck and her baby basking in the sunlight. Yes, even the ducks are on vacation mode here.

Nördlingen

Nördlingen steals my heart. The entire town is built inside a crater! A real one! And not just any crater—it was formed by a meteorite that smashed into Earth 15 million years ago, vaporized from the force, and rained back down in a million molten droplets. This created a super rare rock called suevite, found on the moon and Mars too. NASA astronauts literally trained here to learn how to recognize rocks in space!

Even cooler? The town is perfectly circular. And its symbol is… the snail! Baby Bear is delighted.

I set a goal: hike up the church tower for a panoramic view of the circle town. Worth it. But as we climb, we notice something odd—dozens of Asian visitors passing us on the stairs, and many speaking Chinese. This is highly unusual. Until now, we’ve maybe seen one other Asian person every couple of days.

At the top, we find out why. Two women in matching green hooded capes are taking selfies. I ask about the cloaks—and boom! We learn that Nördlingen inspired the anime Attack on Titan! The girls are here for anime pilgrimage! I ask for a photo, and got their backsides. We spot others with pins and cloaks, and even meet Indonesian and Chinese fans, all here to walk the walls of their favorite show.

Coming back down, Baby Bear is hangry (dangerous). We grab lunch right below the tower. What arrives is not what I thought I ordered, but I’ve learned to just go with it when traveling. I apparently got Maultasche—a German spinach dumpling that looks like a giant ravioli, but this time deep fried! The “salad” turned out to be a delicious layering of leafy greens with bonus potato salad and tangy kraut underneath.

Augsburg

Augsburg greets us with a modern blessing: an elevator! Our Airbnb is on the third floor, and we have bags. In Europe, that elevator is not a given.

We clean up and dress our travel best—because we’re headed to the Augsburg Schaezlerpalais, an opulent city palace that’s not royal at all!

When we arrive, a museum staffer excitedly asks us, “Are you Chinese?” Turns out she lived in China for five years and speaks Chinese! We get an impromptu intro to the museum in Mandarin. Now that was unexpected.

This stunner belonged to wealthy merchants who bought their noble title. They filled it with Italian paintings and lived like aristocrats—trading art, power, and influence with flair.

Each room is painted in its own color theme—pink, blue, green, and lemon yellow—and the painting above each door matches! One still life of flowers practically bursts off the canvas.

The highlight? The ballroom. Oh my rococo heart. We enter a world of gilded stucco, fresco ceilings, and fruit and floral motifs everywhere.

Of course, we take a spin. The Bear Family loves to dance, so we waltz beneath the cherubs like it’s 1750. We didn’t insert music- you’ll have to imagine it in your head like we did.

At 5 p.m. the palace closes, so we head to the main square.

I spot the Waterworks Museum. If you followed our Japan adventure you’ll remember how I love all things sewerage and waterworks. Sadly it’s closed—but I devour the window poster explaining Augsburg’s engineering marvels for the last 800 years, from medieval wells to hydroelectric generators. Infrastructure fans, unite! (Still no fun manhole covers in Germany, though.)

We poke into the massive cathedral, where a service is underway. No photos, just quiet awe.

But the real photography session happens next—at the Edeka grocery store. We spend 10 gleeful minutes pointing and miming our way to three slices each of about ten different meats. Baby Bear even scores a free slice from the kindly butcher. Germans are so good to kids. Our haul includes: liver pâté, pickled veggies in aspic (yes, in jello!), Spanish ham, and much much more.

Back home, feet tired and hearts full, we eat cold cuts, listen to Mozart and toast to crater towns, rococo ballrooms and Germany.