Sunday 9 February 2014

An Evening With Friends Revisited

The first "Evening with Friends" post was this one, and of course there have been many more such evenings in the meantime; at least one every month with this particular group of friends. It still is our regular get-together on the first Friday of the month, and the day before yesterday, it was that.

The reason why the headline of this post has the word "Revisited" is that we went back to the same place. Because I remembered how much some of you liked walking along with me to the castle, I took my camera with me once more.

This time, though, it was quite different from that summer's evening of 2011: It was not particularly cold, but pitch black dark by the time I set off from home, and instead of the pink summer dress I wore last time, now I was in my padded winter coat and a knit dress with woolly tights and boots, plus the usual equipment of scarf, gloves and handbag.

When I got off the train in Asperg and started to walk towards the footpath that is the shortest way up to the castle, I found out that the street lights end at the bottom of the hill. I wasn't afraid of anything (or anyone) lurking in the dark, but I was not keen on stumbling on the uneven, steep path and maybe hurting myself - I need both my legs in top condition in order to be able to do all the things I like doing.

So back to the road I went, walking along there with cars whizzing by, something I don't like at all. 

Halfway up the hill begins the fortification with the gate. Cars are allowed through there, and the road is rather narrow. But as you can see, there are niches in the walls (where once soldiers stood), so I knew I'd be safe. In the end, no car went through there while I was walking up.

Looking back the way I came.

The gatehouse/tower from below. The restaurant where I was to meet my friends is behind the lit windows. Compare this to the pictures of the post from August 2011.
It looks easy from there, doesn't it, as if you'd just have to get inside the building now. But... there is no direct access from there. Instead, you have to go through the gate and the tunnel, turn right and walk up another relatively steep road, only dimly lit:

But once you've made it to the top, a nighttime view of the surrounding small towns and villages is the reward. The four lights in a row at the bottom right of the picture are part of the road I walked up, from the first picture.

When we were little, for New Year's Eve sometimes our parents would make us go to bed as usual, and then wake us in time for getting us wrapped up in our warmest winter clothes, and take us to the top of the hill. From there, we'd watch the fireworks over our hometown, which is clearly visible from the castle walls.

No fireworks that night, though. But my friends were waiting for me, there was light, it was warm (and very noisy in the small restaurant with the thick old castle walls!), and we had an evening of good food, some drinks and plenty of laughter.

I did not take a picture of my main course, since it was a very standard mixed salad (and I was not even given a piece of baguette, which usually accompanies a salad ordered as a main course). But the dessert was nice. Mine was chocolate mousse with rhubarb:

For the way back, I did not need to take the train. One of my friends went the same direction and gave me a lift, something I was quite grateful for.

Next time, we'll try a new Chinese restaurant that has recently opened in our area.

24 comments:

  1. I remembered your last post in remarkable detail (given my very poor memory) but went back to compare the route in the day and night. I have to say it's not a route I'd choose in the night without a good torch. The photos of the walk at night are really atmospheric (and not a little spooky given that there's no one around). As for you, Meike, you look absolutely radiant. You obviously enjoyed yourself.

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    1. Graham, both thee and me would need a Sherpa, preferably two, one pushing and the other pulling. A torch without the Sherpas would be redundant.

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    2. Places with restaurants are usually well lit at night in my area, so I did not expect having to bring along my torch. No one around is, to me, less spooky than a few shady-looking louts up to no good.
      Thank you for the compliment, Graham! I think I look pale and tired (which I was), but I am glad it obviously did not show that much. And yes, I did enjoy myself :-)

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  2. The walk does look a bit nerve wracking at night, so i'm glad you had a good time waiting for you at the top!

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    1. The walk was alright; I was only worried about car drivers maybe not noticing me, so I was very careful to walk as close to the wall as possible.

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  3. Well, I do not think I would enjoy that walk in the dark, not even when I was younger and more nimble! But I love that sort of night view from a height, looking out over the lit towns below. And I think having a group of friends with whom one goes out to dinner once a month is delightful. Probably at other seasons of the year it would not be so dark and the walk would not be so scary, but then you would not have the same view at the end either.......I just posted something for the blovel. Sorry, I did mean to do this earlier......

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    1. Thank you, Kristi, I have just seen your contribution to the blovel, I love it!
      I enjoy walking no matter the time of day (or night), but not when it is very cold or where the ground is muddy or icy.
      The view from a height is always special, isn't it!

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  4. I'd definitely prefer to visit the place in summer and daylight :) Glad you had a good time, though.

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  5. I'm curious Meike, is there no crime at all where you live and walk about in the dark of night?

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    1. Plenty of it, Jill, but only where there are people, such as near the train station or outside night clubs, and of course we have our share of pickpockets and handbag thieves in the shopping malls.

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  6. I don't know how your blog slipped through my reading list for years. I've rectified matters now and you can look forward to my inane comments. I would never have made the restaurant. These pictures are wonderful. Naive almost. I love them.

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    1. Thank you, Adrian, and welcome to my blog! I've "known" you for a while, since you regularly comment on some of the same blogs as I (Graham's, and YP's, for instance).
      Glad you like my totally unprofessional, spontaneous snapshots, taken with a rather old, hardly state-of-the-art camera.

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    2. It is not the camera but the eye behind it. These are well composed. I love Naive paintings.

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  7. I am glad you had a friend to give you a lift at the end of the evening too. I should think it would have been cold getting back to the train! Love that photo of you, it looks like you were having a good time!

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    1. Thanks, Kay! Yes, it certainly felt very cold when we left the restaurant. Actually, the thermometer did not show it as colder than before, but of course I had been a lot warmer then because of walking up the hill. It had been very warm inside the restaurant's thick walls, and so we felt the cold a lot more when we left.

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  8. An interesting contrast with last time! a lift with a friend is good though, you have done the journey once this winter and that is probably enough!

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    1. I won't go there again until the weather will be nice and warm enough to sit outside, Jenny.

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  9. I think I might have given up or called a taxi. A long walk uphill in the dark would present great problems for me. You are a brave and determined lady. I hope you’ll enjoy many more evenings with your friends, maybe at a less difficult-to-reach venue.

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    1. It was good getting some exercise in after having spent nearly the whole week sitting at an office desk, Friko. I become restless and moody if I don't get out and about enough.
      The next meeting will be at a place that is difficult to reach without a car, so I will only go if one of my friends can give me a lift.

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  10. I prefer walking to taking buses. Here the public transportation is very good I must say, except that on Sunday there isn't any. But the air is so clean and fresh that it's worth walking, moreover the city is so small that we can walk from one end to the other in about one hour:) That chocolate mousse looks delicious. I wish we had rhubarb here in Sicily. I can imagine how tiresome if must be to sit at the desk for the whole week. You really did very well in walking.

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    1. Not too keen on taking buses, either. As you say, in town, distances are not long enough for me to justify using a bus, and out of town, trains are faster. And whenever possible, walking is the best option anyway!

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  11. It looks like you had a great evening! The restaurant sounds wonderful!

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    1. We did, Mary! The restaurant is alright; not so impressive as to want to go back there very soon, but alright.

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