I first showed you Gengenbach here; since then, I have been back several times. It is always worth a visit, but that Sunday in October, we weren't there for the picturesque historic old town.
Let's start right at the parking lot where we got off the car. See those berries? I don't know their German name, but from Kay's blog, I know they are called Beautyberry. See here - it's the same plant (the third picture from the top on her post), and if the colour on my picture looks different from Kay's photo, it is simply the light; the berries really were just like that.
On the hills around Gengenbach, several paths meander between orchards, vineyards and woods. The views across the Kinzig valley were beautiful; I am not a fan of artificially straightened rivers such as the Kinzig is at this point, but the area is nonetheless beautiful.
You can tell the light was dwindling fast; by the time we walked back down the hill and reached the car, the sun had completely disappeared behind the horizon. And now that it is almost mid-November, it is dark when I leave the office around 5:00 pm. But it's only another 5 1/2 weeks or so until winter solstice!
Your lovely photographs make us want to visit these places. Good walking in late autumn. It might not be long to the solstice but it always seems to take a lot longer for the days to lengthen than to shorten.
ReplyDeleteThank you, Tasker! Yes, it seems like that, doesn't it. But the weeks fly by so fast that it will be spring again in no time. First, though, Christmas and the time leading up to it.
DeleteThe light fades fast in November, doesn't it? As always, your pictures are beautiful and I love seeing them.
ReplyDeleteHave a great week!
Yes it does - all the more important to grab daylight whenever we can, so good for our mental wellbeing.
DeleteThank you, Jennifer, you too!
Well I'm astonished that I've never heard of the plant 'Beautyberry' or Callicarpa. I don't think I've ever seen them in the wild but I'm sure they must be available in garden centres.
ReplyDeleteAs always the photos, especially when enlarged, give a lovely feeling of what it was like to be on the walk with you.
Thank you, Graham; that is what I want to achieve with them.
DeleteI have come across the plant many times in many different places but learnt its name only from Kay's blog.
Yes, curtains drawn here by four oclock to keep in the warmth and heating turned up.
ReplyDeleteYour comment about the solstice is cheering!
When I come home from work, turning up the heating is one of the first things I do - after I have opened (and shut) the windows for some air.
DeleteEven though I do not mind winter anymore as much as I used to, I am looking forward to the time when I can walk home from work again in daylight.
I remember Gegenbach as a place I walked in in the early '70s. I didn't know about an artificially straightened river.
ReplyDeleteGengenbach, Offenburg and many other, smaller places sit along the river Kinzig. I don't know what its natural course would be like, but it was straightened out decades ago, as was the Neckar (the river where Stuttgart and Ludwigsburg are), to facilitate commercial shipping. Nowadays, efforts are made everywhere to re-naturalise those poor rivers at least in parts.
DeleteAren't landscapes involving vineyards always amazingly beautiful? Your second from last photo, when enlarged, is so stunning and makes me want to head out to a vineyard, enjoy the scenery, and sip a good warming red wine from a winery on an Autumn day. Any country will do, haha!!!!!!
ReplyDeleteMary x
Yes, I love walking in vineyards, too - and if there is a nice glass of wine waiting for me at the end of the day, all the better!
DeleteI am glad my photo makes you want to do that.
Beautiful pictures and so good to think that soon we will have the turn of the year back towards the sun.
ReplyDeleteI believe this is your first comment on my blog; thanks for popping in and leaving a kind comment. I have had a quick first look at your blog - but definitely not the last, since I am interested in all things Yorkshire.
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