Wandering in Dinkelsbühl

The historical center within Dinkelsbühl's fully intact medieval wall is as charming as you can imagine. The streets are cobbled, each building painted a different muted hue. The roofs are steep. It is the distillation of quaint. A triple shot quaint-spresso. So, I did wonder if business owners chafe at using the same old-fashioned  script for every shop sign and if homeowners grow weary of maintaining shutters and window boxes. But when we wandered into the Appelberg's shop we heard glowing reports of life in Dinkelsbühl. "We are not a museum town. This is a real community," Arthur told us. He is a former engineer who moved with his wife to Dinkelsbühl sixteen years ago. He is a painter and print maker;  she is a potter and together they run a small inn. I loved Arthur's work and we bought several prints. His paintings beautifully capture the iconic towers of the town wall, but are etched with small details of faces and smaller scenes--illustrating the stories that are still being lived out in this storybook town. 

Dinkelsbühl's towers are lovely. We loved wandering through the streets along the inner perimeter, and outside the wall along paths lined with yellow-leafed trees.

Wednesday morning a market sprung up in front of St. George's church. It was gone by noon. We were most impressed that panels in the stone sidewalk open up to reveal electrical outlets for the various stands. Old meets new! Yes!