A Sunday Out

Today will see me returning back to work - I have never missed work for so long (4 weeks!) for health reasons, and the last time I was on holiday for 4 weeks in one go was in 2004 or 2006, more than ten years ago. And while I feel truly ready to resume normal life with all its activities, right now I can hardly imagine to be in an office for 8 or 9 hours, looking at a screen or reading text on paper all day. I am determined to take breaks whenever my eyes tell me they need it, and not overdo it - we shall see how successful I'll be at that!

Yesterday, Sunday, O.K. and I took the train to Bietigheim, a nearby town where he'd never been before. Somehow I woke up with the idea in my head that I'd like to visit there, and since the train journey is only about 10 minutes, we arrived there soon after breakfast.

Bietigheim is one of those strangely laid-out towns where the train station is rather far away from the town centre instead of right in it. There is a bus service, but of course we walked the 1,5 km or so. The path leads down to the valley of the river Enz, deeply cut into natural stone walls on one side and a relatively wide opening with the town surrounded by meadows and orchards on the other side of the river.

Arriving in town, we found out that there was a lot going on - shops were open (they usually aren't in Germany on a Sunday), there were booths lining the pedestrian area of the historic town centre, a brass band playing and food stalls spreading all sorts of smells. We had not known that (lack of preparation on my part, I'm afraid), and I offered to turn round and go somewhere else, but we decided to stay and just try to avoid the thickest crowds.

Instead, we took advantage of the fact that the old town centre has many hidden corners and little gems of "secret" gardens aside from the main street, and we even spent some time in the town museum, a house that was built in 1535 and is famous (in our area) for its richly painted interiors.

The weather wasn't quite as dreary as it looks in the pictures. The sun even came out hestitantly a few times, and then my light jacket was almost too warm, but there was also a sharp wind blowing which made me keep it on all the time.

Back home, I made us my own version of bacon-and-brie sandwiches before O.K. had to face the long drive home. Fortunately, the roads were less busy than we had feared. I am always glad and relieved to know he has arrived safely and without too much delay.

Right, time to get those old brain cells of mine working again!!