Summer Weekend

This is the continuation of my previous post, which ended with Thursday, 11 July.

Friday (12 July) started off warm and sunny, but clouds were drawing in during the morning, and just after lunch time, it rained with a sprinkle of small hailstones.

With my usual pattern of work in the morning, household matters in the afternoon and getting ready for O.K. spending the weekend at my place, I wasn't paying too much attention at the weather. But in the course of the afternoon, it became darker and darker, the wind picked up, and all of a sudden my town found itself in the middle of a hailstorm - and what a storm it was! Not so much for the wind, but for the size of the hailstones; they were as large as cherries, I kid you not!

Hailstone on a saucer, as collected from my kitchen window.

The hail fell for a several minutes (I can't really say how long, but it felt pretty long for such an event). I had to shut some of the windows in spite of really wanting fresh air in my rooms. It was incredibly loud, with the hailstones clanging on the metal windowsills and against the glass. My Mum was scared that the hail would smash her attic windows in, but thankfully, nothing worse than a really messy balcony happened at her place, with torn leaves covering every surface.

My sister's car, parked on the street in front of her house, suffered hail damage as did almost all other cars parked outdoors in Ludwigsburg that afternoon. At the nearby garden center, 1,000 glass panes of their vast greenhouses were smashed to bits. Crops on the fields, vineyards and orchards suffered, and some gardens here looked very sorry for a few days with flowerheads crushed to the ground and shredded leaves.

But as far as I'm aware, nobody around here suffered physical harm - I was just glad to be inside and not on an after-work walk! O.K. was not yet on his way to me, otherwise his car would now be covered in dents, too.

He arrived at my place at around 8:30 pm, in time to spot part of a very luminous rainbow from my kitchen window:

We had a summerly meal of tabouleh, falafel and a dry white.

Saturday (13 July) was much cooler at 22C/71F, mostly sunny with a few clouds, and completely dry (which has become a rarity this summer). 

We had a late breakfast/early lunch in town at "Bubbles", our favourite café these days, watching the world go by on their way to and from the market. 

A stroll through town centre and a few shops followed, until I felt the need for caffeine early afternoon. We stopped for an espresso and then made our way through the palace grounds and the deer park to near the ruined castle above Hoheneck, where tents, tables and benches had been set up between stalls of three local wineries and a food counter.

Ludwigsburg palace grounds - always worth a visit!

That small local event had been our aim, and we had a meal there before walking on towards the ruins and down the hill into Hoheneck itself. From afar, we could hear live music, and found that there was another small local fête on the other side of the river. We crossed the river via the footbridge and had a look around, listening to the music (good musicians at the instruments but not very good singers) for a little until we felt they weren't going to get any better.

drystone wall in the vineyards

castle ruins above Hoheneck

River Neckar, as seen from the footbridge between Ludwigsburg and Neckarweihingen.

We made our way back up the hill, once more through the palace grounds and into town at a leisurely pace, stopping on the market square at the outdoors area of "my" Irish pub for a pint of cider - very refreshing after the long uphill walk through town.

North front and oldest part of Ludwigsburg's Residential Palace

Click to enlarge, and spot the ferris wheel.

It was 9:30 pm by the time we arrived back at my place - a wonderful day spent almost entirely outdoors, something I love doing in the summer.

Another rain-free day was Sunday (14 July), the day of the European Championship Final (Fußball/football/soccer). It was warm again at 27C/80F, and after breakfast, we went for a walk on the fields, visiting my Dad's and friend R's bird markers at the cemetery on the way to my Mum's, where we had coffee and cake.

Later, O.K. and I had a snack before he packed his things and started on the long drive home just after 8:00 pm. I walked to my sister's to watch the final game together - of course we were rooting for England. The game started at 9:00 pm German time.

Sunset around 9:30, as seen from my sister's.

When I walked home after the game, I was wondering where all the Spanish people and supporters of the Spanish team were - no auto corso on the main roads, just a handful of cars honking as they drove into town.

Another week gone, and just one more to go before our Yorkshire Holiday!