Last of January, First of February

The past week saw my family remembering my Dad and me finally - after we'd last seen each other on 7 January - spending the weekend with O.K. again. The relatively mild days made for a pre-spring atmosphere.

It was sunny on Monday (29 January), with a frosty morning and a high of 12C/53F in the afternoon. Work was uneventful, and a very early start meant that I was able to go for my standard Benningen walk (just under 2 hours) and still make it in time to a meeting with my volunteer group after work.

On the fields just outside Freiberg

Looking back to where I have come from on my way to Benningen

Tuesday (30 January) was mostly cloudy but still mild at 9C/48F. After work, I walked for about 1 1/2 hours, this time in a different direction and not involving a train back. My lunch break was spent at the nearby spa where I was booked for a back & shoulders massage of half an hour.

Sunrise on Tuesday morning

A minute or so later

I worked at the Weilimdorf office on Wednesday (31 January) - the first day in my new room. My group of five as part of our department moved within the building from the 4th to the 2nd floor. All our rooms look pretty much the same, so it wasn't anything spectacular; just making sure that my things (few enough there are) were where they should be, and my computer was set up properly and fully functional (it was).

Sunset as seen from a footbridge when I left the office

My Mum expected my sister and me at 6:00 pm for a commemorative meal: It would have been my Dad's 82nd birthday. She had prepared one of his favourite meals for us, and we spent a pleasant evening together (after I was about 15 minutes late, thanks to yet another problem with public transport).

Thursday (1 February) was wet, and I did not have a chance for a walk. After work, the two brothers who co-own the house with me came for a visit to talk about last year's cost of heating, water and electricity and who was due to pay how much (they don't live in the house but have rented out their flats; I am the only owner still living in the house and therefore compile our annual table of costs).

It was sunnier again on Friday (2 February) and still mild at 9C/48F. Work involved the usual end-of-month tasks, as did my weekly cleaning round. I have a weekly routine but there are also a few things I only do once a month, and in order to keep them regularly without forgetting, the end of one and beginning of another month is a good time for me.

After three weekends spent separately, I finally was on my way to O.K. again. Both trains were on time - always a relief. 

When O.K. met me at Offenburg station, he suggested we give a newly opened restaurant a try. A short drive later, we found that in spite of it being their opening night, they had a table for us - it was already past the main dining time, and so we were lucky. The chef's parents are from Hungary, and he grew up with Hungarian cuisine, offering a mix of traditional German and Hungarian dishes. We both went for Hungarian options and enjoyed our food. It is not going to become our favourite restaurant, but we can imagine going back with friends.

On Saturday (3 February), I was on my own most of the afternoon, since together with a small delegation from the village band, O.K. was to play at an 85th birthday in the village. 10C/50F and a mix of sun and clouds made for a nice walk, even if only for an hour.

Looking towards Dierbsurg, one of the neighbouring villages

The church at O.K.'s village

The church again

Carnival bunting in the village

When O.K. was back, we briefly went to see his Mum before it was time for our customary evening meal of salad, bread and cheese, some of which his sister and her husband had brought as a souvenir from a recent holiday in Austria.

Sunday (4 February) was off to a sunny start but later was mostly cloudy. We'd not been for a proper hike in the Black Forest since October (I believe), and were itching to go. From a booklet with suggestions for hikes and walks (many of which we have already "done"), we chose one that involved a drive of a bit over half an hour to its starting point.

The suggested circuit was supposed to be somewhere between 10 and 11 km (6.2 to 6.8 miles), but we ended up covering only about 6.5 km/4 miles. Why was that? 

All started well, with signposts clearly indicating which of the paths cutting through the woods we were meant to follow - sometimes there was even a sign on a perfectly straight path with no diversion, completely unnecessary.

We could have sheltered underneath this rock (but didn't need to).

We took in the impressive and slightly mysterious big rocks of the "Heidenkirche" ("heathen church"), which of course was never a church but got its name from folks believing that in ancient times heathen priests performed animal and human sacrifices there. Another myth says that there are caves underneath those rocks where those priests (and maybe others after them) hid precious treasure in times of danger, and a ghostly black dog guards the entrance.

Well, we saw neither ancient priests nor treasure, but there was a couple of walkers with a collie-type dog; they had nothing ghostly or mysterious about them.

Not long after that, we came upon a crossing with a multitude of signposts. Surely it was going to be easy to find ours among them? No... none of the three place names we needed next appeared on any of the signs, not one. We looked and looked, compared with our booklet, checked the tiny map in the booklet for general orientation, and in the end gave up, slightly disappointed.

We walked back on a path largely parallel to the one we had come, and when we reached the car again, ate the sandwiches we'd brought.

It was still a beautiful walk with the "heathen church" being a fascinating landmark, but the entire outing was not quite what we'd been looking forward to.

Back at the cottage, we had coffee and cake, then a little rest before spending a quiet night in to end the week.