Last of April, First of May

As has been the case every year for the last eight years, O.K. and I took the last week of April and the first week of May off work. Taking up where I have left off at the end of my last post, here is the first of those two weeks.

Monday (29 April) was sunny and nice at 18C/64F. With my big black suitcase (as opposed to the little red one I use for weekends and short business trips) packed for two weeks with clothes for nearly all kinds of weather and activities ranging from physical work to birthday parties, from hiking in the woods to fine dining, I made my way to the train station. Both connections worked out, and I arrived in Offenburg around lunch time. 

Early afternoon, O.K. and I visited a fellow village band member to wish her a happy 50th birthday and were asked to stay for coffee and cake. Later, we met with O.K.'s family on his Mum's patio for more cake and drinks to remember his Dad, who would have been 84 years old that day. We stayed on until the evening when we all retreated indoors and ordered pizza.

It was an early summer's day on Tuesday (30 April) at 25C/77F. O.K. had two appointments, one in the morning and one late afternoon. In between, we managed a walk around the village. I accompanied O.K. into town for the second appointment, and we strolled around town for a bit afterwards, eating at a brasserie and finishing with ice creams before returning to the village and the cottage. 

Rhubarb cake with home-grown rhubarb by O.K.'s Mum - delicious!

The 1st of May (Wednesday) was even warmer with a high of 28C/82F - perfect for the May Fête which was, as always, hosted by the village band. Also as always, friends and family members helped setting everything up, manning the food and drinks counters and put everything away again late in the evening. With the weather being so good, we had many visitors and ran out of one food item half way through. Nobody had to leave hungry (or thirsty), though.

It was busy but less hectic than in some previous years when we were truly rushed off our feet.

Part of the village band in action

Enjoying a well-deserved rest and Apérol Spritz afterwards on O.K.'s Mum's patio

Rain had hold off for the fête but plenty of it arrived in the afternoon and evening of Thursday (2 May), and it was considerably cooler at 16C/60F. O.K. and I did a bit of food shopping and household tasks, and for our evening meal had a lovely seasonal dish of green asparagus, (ready-made) sauce Hollandaise and ham.

Friday (3 May) was O.K.'s birthday, and in between answering phone calls and messages, he began to prepare for our departure the next day (my stuff was of course still/already packed). The day was a mix of sun and clouds, and so that I wasn't under O.K.'s feet all day (and also because I really wanted to stretch my legs), I went for a brief walk on my own in the afternoon.

This one is for my Mum!

A birch with eyes.

Early evening we changed into nicer clothes, and O.K.'s sister and her husband drove the five of us to the next village where a table was booked for O.K.'s birthday meal. Everything was good - the food, drinks, company and conversation.

We left the village on Saturday (4 May) in sunshine at around 16-18C/60-64F and drove a little under 2 hours to our destination for the second part of our holiday: Feldberg-Bärental, in what is called Hochschwarzwald (High Black Forest).

Our hotel was at 1,050 m height, meaning it was cooler there than at O.K.'s, but we came well prepared. I even had borrowed two fleece zip-ups from O.K.'s sister because I expected much colder weather - in the end, I didn't need them, but it was good to know I could have put on warmer clothes just in case.

We checked in and unpacked and then went for a first stroll in Bärental, a small community where every other house is either a hotel or holiday flats.

We had a bath tub in our room but never used it - we much preferred our en-suite shower room.

View from the front of the hotel

It was nowhere near as forbidding as it looks here!

Bärental claims to have Germany's highest altitude railway station.

The four course evening meal was good, and from our table by the large panorama window we had a beautiful view of the Black Forest and hills.

Sunday (5 May) was our first full day here, and we used it well in spite of the unsettled weather - in the end, we were even rewarded with a rainbow! 

View from our room

We were lucky in that it never rained during our walk, a themed circuit of about 8.5 km called "Hochschwarzwälder Hirtenpfad" (High Black Forest Herder's Path), dedicated to the boys - some of them as young as 7 or 8 years old - who for centuries were sent away from their poor families to work for farmers, herding their cattle, goats or sheep in all sorts of weather, barefoot from April to October, with no other gain than a meal a day, a place to sleep and a pair of shoes for the winter before they were sent home.

Here are my pictures from that walk:

Can you guess what's inside the little cabinet?

Back at the hotel, we followed our trusted pattern of having coffee, going to the sauna (from where we spotted the rainbow - hence no pictures, since I never take my mobile phone to the spa area) and enjoying another 4-course dinner.