May Break: Tuesday

As usual, I am rather slow catching up with my posts. We have now arrived at Tuesday, the 9th of May. 

On that day in 1962, Dave Gahan (Depeche Mode) was born. In 1805, German poet and playwright Friedrich Schiller died, half a year before his 46th birthday. In 2023, here in Deggenhausertal about 20 km from Lake Constance, it was a beautiful day - at 22 Celsius (71.6 F), warmer than we've sometimes had in July. 

We were up for a good long walk, but since we did not want to use the car, choice was relatively limited, and so we ended up walking the Höchsten-Tour again. Still, it was not exactly the same as on the Saturday. For one thing, we walked it in reverse order. Those of you who are regular walkers know how very different the same path can feel when walked in the opposite direction, and this one was no exception. Also, this time we took better care of following the sign posts and did not miss the one turn we had missed the first time.

Are you ready for even MORE pictures of meadows and trees in bloom, spring woodland and fluffy clouds in blue skies?

Just like on the Saturday, we stopped for a shandy at the Höchsten beer garden. It was lovely to sit there with a view of the countryside, with Lake Constance shimmering in the distance and the snow-capped mountains rising behind it.

View from the beer garden at the Höchsten

Afterwards, we covered that part of the route we had missed the first time, and came through the village of Homberg (less than 800 inhabitants) with an unusual church: It is of late Gothic origin but sports a 1960s interior. I quite liked the contrast, but see for yourselves.

Coming up towards St. Johannes, Oberhomberg

Clear lines, stylish lamps and typical 1960s stairs leading up to the organ

Not exactly my taste, but then religious art can be tricky.

A rather muddy part in the woods followed. Yesterday's rain had left its mark; enough water is of course essential for the survival of woodland, and we were wearing our sturdy hiking boots, but at some points we had to find alternatives to the actual path in order not to sink knee-deep into mud.

Our hotel has a hiking boots cleaning stop outside the front door, complete with good brushes and a short hose pipe attached to a stone basin. A metal door leads to a drying room, where the freshly cleaned, wet boots can be stuck on heated metal rods and left to dry. We made good use of that before going to the spa.

Dinner was excellent again, this time with green asparagus (my favourite) and a lovely creamy soup of wild garlic. A dry white made for the perfect companion.

With having been walking in the sun for much longer than what had been possible since winter, I was very tired afterwards - but you know the kind of "good tired", when you've been out in the fresh air for most of the day. The tour itself was just short of 19 km.