Arriving at the Rossano Boutique Hotel in Sachsen bei Ansbach we immediately knew that we had made a good choice. The hotel was very modern, super clean and very spacious. The hotel restaurant, where we would dine on our second evening, looked very good as well.

After a walk around the village we headed to the only other restaurant available nearby at Gastehaus Landische. It provided good quality, simple, food at very competitive prices. It was a pleasant evening at a local restaurant which is something we do rather enjoy.

On Tuesday (6th October) we celebrated our 25th wedding anniversary. Ansbach wasn't quite Beruwela, Sri Lanka, where we should have been, but it was great that we could actually be away from the UK to celebrate.

We caught the train from Sachsen bei Ansbach into Ansbach itself, a short trip of just five minutes. Our first port of call was the Hofgarten - not quite a Schwetzingen, but still a pleasant place to spend time wandering. The town itself was a nice place, it had some grand buildings and seemed worthy of a visit. Lunch was had at Der Moher, a very traditional Germanic restaurant. Heather's salad option was a massive portion compared to my small sausage selection. I am glad that I had the healthy option.

After a bit more walking around Ansbach we headed back to our hotel ahead of having our anniversary meal.

The hotel restaurant offered up Italian style food. Heather started with a pumpkin soup and I had the carpaccio of beef, both were very good. For mains I had a lamb dish (although had to send the first back as it was overcooked) and Heather had a rather large and tasty pizza. The wine was a tad expensive, but it was a rich Nero d'Avola and a bit of a treat on this special evening.

The following day (Wednesday) the weather was poor so an indoor activity was required. We headed to Nurnberg to visit the Nazi war crimes trial museum. It was here, after WW2, that the likes of Rudolf Hess and Herman Goering were up in front of an international court for their actions. The museum was hard going, not in terms of content but in terms of delivery. There was much to read, but it was all in German and it was translated word for word via a mobile phone audioguide. It was all a bit 'samey' and whilst interesting could have been much better had a different form of delivery been used across the museum.

We then made our way into central Nurnberg, this gave us an opportunity to visit the Lindt shop to avail ourselves of the pick and mix counter (there are so many varieties available here in Germany that we don't get in the UK) as well as a visit to the Galeria Kaufhof for a spot of sock shopping. I managed a quick visit to a grill stand for some Leberkase to give me some calories to keep me going for the rest of the day - I could also taste it for the rest of the day as well, it was yummy!

We made a late afternoon visit to Rothenburg ob der Tauber, a place we really enjoyed over Christmas 2018 with our Australian friends Warren and Monica. It was great to be back and without the Christmas markets the place had a different feel about it and possibly it was better as there were less tourists about (admittedly much of this would also be because of Covid travel restrictions).

Once back at the hotel we made a quick dash to the railway station and travelled back into Ansbach. We decided to eat at Maharajah, an Indian restaurant that got very good reviews, as a different way to spend the evening. We had to wait a while for a table, but it was worth it.

On Thursday we headed to Aschaffenburg, for what should have been the final evening in Germany before heading back home to the UK. Aschaffenburg was a bit disappointing if honest, however given the circumstances it proved to be a decent place to have stopped.

After Germany, we were supposed to be having a week in Scotland. Sadly, as a result of Covid, the government there were closing all bars and restaurants after 18.00. This would not have made for a great week in Scotland, so a Plan B was quickly enacted otherwise a week of take-aways in hotel rooms beckoned.

Flights back to the UK with Lufthansa were changed (at no cost) to the following Friday, a second hire car was booked to collect at Frankfurt airport in the morning, and a visit to a launderette provided us with enough clean clothes for another week in Germany. We moved rather quickly to get things sorted!

Where to next? We had better start looking at the map . . . . .

*Please also check out the photos section of the travel blog to see more images*