Five Days in Limpach: Arrival

Saturday (9 May 2026), the day after our wedding, was the start of a short break at a hotel in Limpach where we've spent a May holiday before; if you're interested, the first of my 2023 posts about that holiday is here.

We took our time in the morning to get everything sorted. While my suitcase had never been unpacked since my arrival at O.K.'s on the 30th of April, O.K. of course had to pack his for our time away.

The day was as sunny and warm as the Friday, and after we'd said good-bye to my new mother-in-law and loaded the car, we left the village at about 1:45 pm. 

Almost exactly 2 1/2 hours later, we arrived at the hotel in Limpach, part of Deggenhausertal, 20 km from Lake Constance. The hotel's website is here (in German only), in case you want to have a look. All their food is organic (some of it comes from their own farm, which existed long before they opened the hotel), and the hotel, restaurant and spa are run on sustainable energy and a low-waste philosophy.

We were booked for dinner at 8:00 and used the time until that for a first short walk, taking in the beautiful meadows, picturesque church and views.

This is how we found our bedroom at the hotel flat!

The flowers were ours (not my bridal bouqet, but a gift from friends).

St. Georg is just up the road.

 Click to enlarge; on the horizon, you can make out the Alps with snow-covered mountains and a glimpse of Lake Constance.

The vicarage was adorned with garlands in view of a celebration the next day.

This gate was also put up for the celebration.

Looking back towards Limpach

There was still time to spare after unpacking, so we went up to the hotel bar and grabbed an Apérol Spritz each, which we took back down to our flat on the ground floor of a different building. Our own private sunny patio outside the French windows was the perfect place for that!

 

Dinner was as delicious as we know their meals to be, but we didn't last long after that; the restaurant was rather full, and the group of six at the table next to ours was talking rather noisily (for Neil: there was at least one Meist in that group). Instead, we retreated to our nice, quiet flat, looking forward to Sunday and our first full day here.

Our Wedding

At about 1:05 pm on Friday, the 8th of May, O.K. and I were officially declared husband and wife - a big step and important moment in our lives!

As I have mentioned before, we deliberately kept it all very modest and small with just our immediate family present: our mothers, sisters and the husband of O.K.'s sister. The only other two people there were the registrar and the photographer.

My Mum and my sister had arrived a couple of hours earlier; their 150 km drive had been smooth and they found us without a problem (it was their first visit to the village).

As arranged, the seven of us met with the photographer outside the village hall a quarter of an hour before the scheduled ceremony and then proceeded to the room where we were going to be married.

It was modestly but elegantly decorated, and real candles (always important to me!) had already been lit. There was a vase ready for my bouquet, and we took our seats.

We had given the registrar (who looks even younger than she is) personal information about ourselves, how we had met and so on, and she used that information well in her speech, which was really nice and appropriate, even eliciting a few smiles (and probably the odd tear or two) from those present.

Our rings were exchanged, a kiss followed, then the signatures of us, our witnesses (our sisters) and the registrar, and we were married!

It being a beautiful sunny day (but not too hot), we all went up to the village hall's rooftop terrace where my brother-in-law opened the sparkling wine we had brought, along with some nibbles. Between clinking glasses, photos were taken and the view from the roof admired.

Before we said good-bye to the photographer, he took some more pictures on the ground in front of the village hall - and guess what... O.K. allowed me to show one that shows BOTH of us!! (I doubt he'll make it a habit now, and I swear I did NOT nag him into it!)

The seven of us then were at my mother-in-law's for coffee and cake. She had made a raspberry cream cake and an apple pie, both delicious. My Mum gave a short speech, and we were presented with some lovely gifts (I will tell you about these at a later time) and many hugs.

Afterwards, my sister and my Mum drove to the nearby village where I had booked rooms for them at a hotel and where we were booked for the evening at the adjoining restaurant. O.K. and I had about an hour to ourselves, which provided a welcome little rest and plenty of time for me to get changed.

We all met again at the restaurant in time for me to have a look at the rooms where my Mum and sister were to stay the night, and found them very good.

The restaurant offers typical Black Forest cuisine, and as it's the middle of the asparagus season, there was plenty of choice on the menue. We all enjoyed the meal and conversation and were a happy little gathering. In spite of our two families having met only once before (in 2018 for my 50th birthday), everybody got along very well and there wasn't an awkward moment between them.

At around 10:00 pm, we left the restaurant - happy and a little tired. The entire day had been just like we had wanted it to be, modest and small in terms of "fuss" but big in importance and emotions.

The Last Four Days…

…before our wedding were sort of busy but not too much. Little had to be done in view of the wedding, but a few jobs in and around the house were in order to prepare for being away for a week.

Monday (4th of May) was overcast and a little cooler than Sunday, but it remained dry. Perfect for gardening, wich was what O.K. did practically all day. We had a snack around lunch time, and for the evening, I prepared a mix of vegetables to be fried; we ate that with hummus.

We went for some errands on Tuesday (5th of May) and later for a walk in the sun, followed by coffee and pastries on the balcony. Rain was coming up then, and lasted for much of the evening. We enjoyed a typical meal for this time of year: green asparagus (fried in the pan) with ham and a dry white wine.

The scent of this rose in the garden next door was as beautiful as the rose looks.

The long awaited and much needed ‚proper‘ rain finally arrived on Wednesday (6th of May). O.K. drove us into town for a few more things to do in readiness for our upcoming holiday. 

Neither of us fancied lunch in town, so we had a snack at home instead. I had a longish nap in the afternoon and later cooked couscous with what vegetables were still in the fridge and needed using before we‘d leave. We also did a last load of washing so that there would still be time to iron and pack some items for Saturday.

Thursday (7th of May) was our last day as an unmarried couple. It was chilly with sprinkles of rain, but by late afternoon, it was nice enough for a walk around the village before we retreated to the kitchen where we grabbed a frying pan each and fried another bunch of green asparagus in one and two bulbs of fennel, thinly sliced, in the other. We added plenty of spices and quite liked the result.

It being the eve of our wedding day, we then had an impromptu type of combined hen and stag party, just the two of us, playing our favourite songs quite loudly. (Don‘t worry, no neighbours came to any harm!)

My next post will be about the 8th of May, and yes, there will be pictures, but no, not of O.K. or anyone but myself. As a first glimpse, here are pictures of my two dresses, the headband I wore and my bridal bouquet:

Last of April, First of May

April was much drier than average in my area, and in my diary I have recorded rain only four times for the entire month, none of which was substantial. There are large cracks in the soil now, but everything is amazingly green in spite of this lack of water. Maybe vegetation still benefits from February‘s more than average rain.

On Monday (27 April) I worked until 6:00 pm and then went to enjoy the evening light on my standard walk to Benningen.

No shortage of buttercups this year!

Tuesday (28 April) was spent working from home, and in the evening, our team was booked for the pub quiz. 

It was a truly special quiz night for us, not only because we came first: One of our team mates is moving to Hawaii to be with his wife (she‘s native and lives there) for at least a couple of years. Chris has been a regular and valuable team member and friend for many years, and we‘ll miss him. I had prepared a good-bye gift from all of us, and two of us had secretly asked the landlord and quiz master to include a question or two about Hawaii, as a subtle nod to Chris. When those questions came up, he was wondering aloud whether it was a coincidence, and then we told him that it had been our doing.

I worked at the office as usual on Wednesday (29 April) and said good-bye to my colleagues for 2 1/2 weeks - next time they see me I will be married! To celebrate, I‘m inviting them for an after work drink at the hotel bar next door on my first day back.

Sunrise on Wednesday

I went to my Mum‘s after work for a meal and a chat; we‘ll see each other next on my wedding day (and my sister, of course!).

On Thursday (30 April), I finished a few tasks for work in between going for a morning walk with my friend, a back & shoulders massage at the nearby day spa and having coffee with my downstairs neighbour who will look after my few house plants and the mail while I‘m away. I cleaned the flat and packed my suitcase, and at about 6:00 pm left for what was planned as a relaxed train ride to Offenburg with only one change in Stuttgart.

Well… I ended up changing trains FOUR times for the 150 km long trip… that‘s more changes than our standard trip to Yorkshire in the summer!! It was the opposite of relaxed, with the chaotic situation leading to very packed trains and a constant need to check connections on my phone and take quick decisions. In the end, I arrived in Offenburg only about 10 minutes later than scheduled, but rather exhausted.

The navigator app on my phone showed almost an hour‘s delay for my original train.

We were up early the next morning (Friday, 1st of May), and along with many other village band members and other helpers began to set up everything for the May fête which was to start at 10:30 with the Maypole being set up and the actual fête - serving food and drink - at 11:00.

The weather could not have been better, although the wind was a bit nippy at times. Many people came to the Maypole ceremony and the fête; we met some friends and neighbours and were able to sit with them for a bit when O.K. had a break from playing music and before we started our shift at the dishwasher.

We were scheduled to do the dishes from 6:00 pm until ‚open end‘, helping also with clearing and cleaning up as much as possible afterwards, and I had braced myself for being up half the night. Imagine my surprise when most people were leaving by about 8:00 pm; it was of course still daylight and mild enough to sit outside, but O.K. reckoned that many had been out and about already since the morning and possibly been up for much of the night before, when traditionally there are bonfires lit in the fields and allotments to celebrate Walpurgisnacht and welcome in the month of May.

The more helping hands work together on such occasions, the better, and we were back at the cottage already at 10:15 pm - at a time I had expected us just to begin clearing up.

I didn‘t take my mobile with me all day and therefore took no photos, but you can find pictures of previous Maypole setting-ups and the fête on my blog here and here, for instance.

Saturday (2nd of May) was the warmest day of the week at 26 C. O.K. spent all day on various garden jobs around his Mum‘s house. I went on a few errands in the village and during the last couple of hours assisted O.K. mainly by fetching water from the fountain on the square near the cottage, watering his tiny front garden and fetching more water for the jobs he was finishing.

It was getting on to sunset when he finally called it a day, and we enjoyed a refreshing Apėrol Spritz on the balcony, listening to bird song and looking at the evening sky.

It was O.K.‘s birthday on Sunday (3rd of May), and we had a rather relaxed day with enough time for a walk in the afternoon before getting changed and being driven to nearby Ortenberg, where O.K. had booked a table for family and friends at a traditional village restaurant. The meal was good, and it was nice to see the friends we don‘t meet very often. O.K. and I ended his birthday, the day and the week with a nightcap at the cottage, trying out one of the birthday gifts.

Sunny Walks Week

Both during last week and on the weekend I managed good, substantial walks, fully taking advantage of the mostly sunny weather.

On Monday (20.04.2026) it was chilly and windy, but sunny. Work obligations meant I only went for a short-ish walk of about an hour after 7:00 pm, catching the beautiful evening light.

Sunrise on Monday

A mostly cloudy and chilly day followed on Tuesday (21.04.2026), with the grey clouds even shedding a few token drops of rain during my otherwise beautiful walk to Benningen after work.

Wednesday and Thursday (22./23.04.2026) saw me at the office in Weilimdorf. Both days were sunny and warmed up nicely after very cold mornings (not far from frost). I went to my Mum's on the Wednesday and walked home from Zuffenhausen on the Thursday.

The familiar spot is now much greener than last time I walked here.

A badly needed haircut was had on Friday (24.04.2026) morning, and around lunch time I went to see my neighbour whose cat and two rabbits I will be looking after in late May/early June when the family are away. 

Later that afternoon I met my book-swapping friend at a nearby café; we swapped books, had a piece of cake each and opted for cold drinks instead of coffee - it was so nice and warm to sit in the sun outside the café.

By the time O.K. arrived at around 8:30 pm, I had done all my cleaning, shopping and getting things ready for the weekend. 

Saturday (25.04.2026) was the warmest day of the week at around 22C/71F. After breakfast, O.K. and I walked into town for the "Open Day" at Grävenitz Palais, which was interesting and much less crowded than the same event in February 2024.

Inside Grävenitz Palais

From there, we crossed the busy main road to the palace grounds and had a relaxed stroll there.

The deer park was next, and we followed the long straight road from there to the small palace by the lake before returning home for a rest and coffee.

Preparations for an event were underway around the palace by the lake.

In the evening, we were meeting my Mum, sister and a friend at a nearby Italian restaurant, a favourite of ours for such gatherings. The five of us enjoyed the food and drink and of course the conversation and company, and eventually retreated to Mum's for dessert.

The weather was pretty much the same on Sunday (26.04.2026), meaning we were off for another walk. This time, we went to Marbach on foot and returned by train.

We had ice cream in the historic town of Marbach - my first time this year (not counting the occasional ice cream for dessert after a family meal, for instance Easter). Having walked about 16.5 km that day, we needed proper sustenance, and I made Quiche Lorraine for our evening meal before O.K. packed his bags and started on the long drive home.

Just out of the oven :-)

I packed my wedding clothes in a box and my hiking clothes in my rucksack so that he could transport them by car, making it easier for me when  I'll be traveling to him by train this week Thursday.

We really, really need rain; after February was wetter than average, April has been a lot drier than average, according to meteorologists.