Spring in my step

Next week Wednesday, a 1 1/2 week period off work begins for me. This was supposed to be our holiday; O.K. and I were booked into a spa hotel in the mountains and intended to have a week the way we love it - hiking during the day, followed by relaxing in the spa and then dinner. But of course it is not possible now. We still need time off work, though, and so we are going to spend it together at O.K.'s - definitely more of a holiday for me than for him!

It's not like I don't help with the housework; occasionally, I will even make a meal. But of course it is always the one of us who is the host who feels most responsible for everything. Also, O.K.'s cottage is the obvious choice; what with it having a balcony (unlike my flat) and the countryside around the village, with vineyards, orchards and the Black Forest so close, lends itself for more and nicer walks and hikes than my place in town. 
Last but not least, O.K.'s father turns 80 on Wednesday, and although there won't be a proper celebration, we still hope to have coffee and cake on his parents' patio in the back garden (far apart, of course). What we'll do if it rains (as is forecast), I don't know yet; we'll see.

Because of the upcoming 1 1/2 weeks being together almost 24/7, we decided that this weekend we'll both do our own stuff. Therefore, it was with my sister that I went for a long walk yesterday.

Again, I woke up to radiant sunshine and blue sky, but the wind was still chilly enough to want more than just shorts and a t-shirt.

My sister arrived at my place at 10:30, and we set off. It was well after 4:00 pm when I came home, and we had walked just a bit over 18 km by then.

Meadows full of buttercups under a blue sky - what's not to love!

Kay, this one is for you. Can you see why?

Around lunch time, we stopped on a sunny bench for the delicious sandwiches my sister had prepared. We even had Oreo biscuits for dessert, and brought water to drink.

Very few orchards are still in bloom.

The next leg of our walk took us to Hoheneck and around the castle ruins I have showed you here in February. What a difference it was now, in the sunshine and with plenty of other people about (in small groups, either couples or families, sticking to the rules).

Does the shape of this gnarled old tree remind anyone else of the Whomping Willow in Harry Potter?

In Hoheneck (which is a suburb of Ludwigsburg but much, much older), we had a look at the old church and then strolled across the picturesque streets towards the antiquarian book dealer. The shop was of course closed, but they have shelves outside, sheltered under a sort of porch around the old building. You can browse the shelves to your heart's content; if you want to take a book home with you, you leave 2 € in a cash box outside. Hardly surprising, my sister found several books, and I couldn't resist a children's book that ties in very nicely with my current reading (a biographic novel about the Brontes).

Neckar between Hoheneck and public swimming pool, where my sister and I learned to swim more than 4 decades ago.

On we went along the river, struggling for space with many cyclists and walkers by now. 

And then we were in for a lovely surprise: Near the public swimming pool (closed, of course), a kiosk was selling snacks and drinks - on the condition that customers kept their distance from each other AND would not consume the bought items within a 50 m radius of the kiosk (otherwise it would have counted as a beer garden, and not allowed to operate).

It had turned rather warm by then, and we could both do with something refreshing. My sister bought two bottles of shandy. They were well chilled, and we took them far away enough from the kiosk, to the rows of empty bike stands at the entrance of the swimming pool and had a short rest there.

Getting back towards Ludwigsburg from the river means a long, steady uphill stretch, mostly in the sun. It was warm enough then, plus the uphill walking, that every bit of shade was welcome! Good job we still had some water left in our bottles.

View towards Poppenweiler across the Neckar, taken from the first bit of uphill back towards Ludwigsburg.

The rest of the walk across town was still good, but we were both ready to go home. We said good-bye at a crossing, and when I was home, the first thing I did was make myself a cup of coffee and put my feet up (actually, the very first thing was going to the bathroom and wash my hands). After half an hour's rest, I finished my Saturday cleaning, vaccuming and mopping the floors.

It was a good day, and of course I was still in touch with O.K. via text messages every now and then, and talking on the phone in the evening.

I don't know if this video works for you - it was just a bit of fun, and gave me the idea for this post's title :-)