We went walking in the beautiful countryside around the village where I was staying. It was sunny, but a cold wind was blowing. That did not stop me from getting my camera out and taking some pictures during our walk:
Coming out of the woods to beautiful - if slightly hazy - views of the surrounding area, including a castle which name I'm afraid I've forgotten:
Vineyards are everywhere here, it is a region well known for good food and wine:
On the way back towards the village:
It was a very pleasant weekend, feeling like a mini holiday, and I am sure many more will follow.
The mini holiday is doubly welcome as I am going to spend about half of the Easter weekend working on a translation assignment I only received last night and will have to deliver early next week. Don't worry, though - I will still allow for enough time to get some rest, eat well and spend time with the family.
Happy Easter to you!
* For those of you who want to know: Germany consists of 16 member states (hence the official full name "Federal Republic of Germany"). The state I live in is Baden-Wuerttemberg. Up until the First World War, most of these states had kings or at least dukes and counts as their heads. Baden-Wuerttemberg did not yet exist - there were two sepearate states, Baden and Wuerttemberg. When and how the dukedom of Wuertemberg became a kingdom I have briefly explained here.
The two states were merged into one only in 1952, and many people still emphasize the differences (not in a negative sense) between Baden and Wuerttemberg, when it comes to character, landscape, language, cuisine and traditions.
I am always so interested to see anything of Baden since one part of my ancestors came from the Grand Duchy of Baden, from a small village called Michelfeld, next to Angelbachtal (or in it?). I wish I had known these names when I was living near Stuttgart. I would have gone to see it. It looks like beautiful country.
ReplyDeleteIt is a beautiful area.
DeleteI've just tried to find Michelfeld near or in Angelbachtal on google maps, but the two places seem to have nothing in common. There must be more than one Michelfeld and/or Angelbachtal. Do you know other place names in the same region?
They are near Heidelberg....I think Michelfeld is part of Angelbachtal..
Deletesee https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Angelbachtal
DeleteThank you, Kristi! I've just looked it up and then did some more searching on google maps. There are, as I suspected, several places called Michelfeld, one near Schwäbisch Hall, for instance.
DeleteThere are also several Ludwigsburgs dotted all over Germany.
What a treat it was to open your post this morning and then to enjoy the photos of a very familiar landscape. As a girl, I lived in Baden-Baden for threfour years and then as an adult lived for another three years in Lahr im Schwarzwald (and for another three years, further north near Julich in Nordrhein-Westfalen. The southern landscape is unforgettable and I spent hundreds of hours walking or cycling along the narrow farm roads. Frohe Ostern!
ReplyDeleteThank you so much for telling me this! I love it when something I post here makes someone else a little happy.
DeleteThe village is indeed not all that far from Baden-Baden, less than 60 km, and Lahr is even closer at about 12 km.
Frohe Ostern to you, too!
This is a lovely area, and it reminds me of the region I live in! I am glad you took your camera along, and I loved learning the geographical/historic footnote you added!
ReplyDeleteHello Marcie, of course I went to look at your profile to find out where you live. I would not have expected this region to be similar to the Great Lakes, but of course I know next to nothing about that area.
DeleteGlad you liked my tidbit of history!
Some lovely views there. Thanks for sharing!
ReplyDeleteYou are welcome! That's what I thought, too. There is something about the (nearly) bare branches of trees silhouetted against the sky that I find hard to resist.
DeleteAlmost anything looks good against a blue sky, really :) And even better when you feel that spring is just round the corner. Not much can match trees that burst into flowers early in spring from bare branches!
DeleteWhat a beautiful place! I would love to visit someday!
ReplyDeleteI am looking forward to exploring much more of the area, and of course I'll show pictures here.
DeleteIf you come over, you'll have to let me give you a tour of Ludwigsburg first, though :-)
That sounds like a plan!
DeleteIt's always a pleasure to travel with you and see a little more of your country.
ReplyDeleteThank you, Graham, and likewise!
DeleteHo hum, another day, another castle! HA!
ReplyDelete"The sobriquet Ländle ("small land" or "dear land" in the local dialect) is sometimes used as a synonym for Baden-Württemberg."
This is what I found when I looked this up on Wikipedia. It looks lovely and I thank you very much for sharing it with us! (And I must admit, I am thinking of the lovely wines from there too!)
That's right, my part of Germany is the "Ländle" :-)
DeleteIn my local dialect, nearly everything is "small" or "dear" by adding an ending "-le" to every word: A Haus (house) turns into a "Häusle", a Bank (bench) is a "Bänkle" and a Zug (train) is a "Zügle". Steve found this very amusing and started to add -le to nearly all words, appropriate or not, to have some fun with my dialect and to sound more Swabian himself :-)
Every time you tell me more about Steve, it makes me wish I could have met him, he sounds very much like my British funnyman too!
DeleteHis sense of humour certainly was crucial in me being attracted to him in the first place :-)
DeleteStorm Katie arrived here overnight and we heard the rain battering against the Windows. So we were surprised to see a light covering of snow when we opened the curtains. It has gone now though (mid-morning). Hope you managed to finish your assignment. My day will be relaxing after a busy day with the family yesterday.
ReplyDeleteThankfully, no snow here anymore (for now!), but it has been rather windy, although not stormy.
DeleteI worked a bit over 9 hours on the assignment on Friday and completed it yesterday (Sunday), putting in another 3 hours. It was good; I really enjoy this kind of work and would like to do it more often - maybe not always on weekends :-)
Family gathering at my parents' today, and back to work tomorrow.
That little lane - the last picture - is so inviting! I do sort of wonder what lies beyond the corner on a road like that and would always make the effort to go to the corner and see, even if it was time for me to turn back....
ReplyDeleteExactly my feelings about such lanes and paths, Jenny! We did indeed go round that corner, as that was the way back to the village.
DeleteSo very beautiful. Did I tell you before that you could write a tourist guide to Germany!
ReplyDeleteThank you, Nan! I'd love to earn my living writing. Well, as writing is pretty much what I do for my customers, I actually am already in that line - although it is a very different kind of writing...
Delete