With almost uninterrupted sunshine, last week saw me on several good walks, one of which had been a wish of mine for a few years (and that one will have its own post).
On Monday (7 April), the sun warmed the day from freezing point at 0C/32F to 10C/50F in the afternoon. I was working from home, spent my lunch break having a neck & shoulders massage and walked to Benningen after work.
With the spring evening sun, birdsong and blossoms everywhere, even the most unassuming walk becomes thoroughly enjoyable.
I worked at the office on Tuesday (8 April) and was so exhausted after a long and busy day that I did not even contemplate a walk, in spite of it still being sunny and milder than the day before at 15C/59F.
Wednesday (9 April) was my second office day last week. My department had its annual outing, meaning we left work shortly after 3:00 pm. We wisely opted for an earlier train than what would have been necessary according to the timetable, and made it just in time for meeting our tour guide at 4:00 pm in central Stuttgart.
Our department outings are always chosen democratically from a list of options, such as going bowling, booking an escape room, or a particular guided tour, and they always end with a meal at a restaurant.
This time, we had booked a walking tour in Stuttgart, but it was not just any old tour, it was a "Stäffeles-Tour" ("little stairs tour"). Stuttgart's geography is that of a deep bowl with the inner city at its bottom, and living quarters and gardens rising up its sometimes rather steep slopes. The quarters on the slopes and on the rim of the bowl can be reached on foot by hundreds of stone stairs built into the slopes, sometimes narrow and scraping people's back gardens, sometimes grand.
Our tour guide managed to keep us entertained - and able to climb almost 1,000 steps - for nearly 3 hours, taking us through the city's history from medieval times at the bottom to the more recent past and present at the top.
The weather was ideal, not too hot but mild, the sunshine offering good views of the city.
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| Stuttgart's landmark, the Fernsehturm (TV tower) was built in the 1950s. |
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| Villa Reitzenstein is the seat of the federal state of Baden-Württemberg's president. |
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| one of the grander stairs |
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| A square with a statue in honour of Queen Olga was popular with folks of all ages enjoying the afternoon sunshine (and ice creams). |
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| Almost in the middle of the picture is the large construction site for Stuttgart's controversial new train station, going by the name of Stuttgart21. |
Afterwards, we enjoyed a good meal at a restaurant before taking our respective trains home. A really fascinating tour and altogether good outing with my colleagues.
Working from home on Thursday (10 April) enabled me to see a friend after work, leaving a birthday gift for her almost 9-year-old daughter. She couldn't accompany me on my after-work-walk, as had originally been the idea, so I went on my own, walking for a solid 2 hours to Pattonville and back.
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| Diamond-patterned morning sky, just before 7:00 am from my kitchen window |
Friday (11 April) was beautiful and up to 21C/70F warm, but between work, household things and then leaving for Offenburg, there was no time for a walk. Nevertheless, I enjoyed the second part of the train ride in the evening light, looking at the spring green and orchards in bloom along the way.
On Saturday (12 April), O.K. and I were up a bit earlier than usual, in view of a walk/hike I had been wishing to do ever since I had read about it in one of our many booklets with suggestions for tours in the area. It was as beautiful as I had imagined, but you'll have to wait for my next post to see the photos.
Back home, we freshened up a bit and changed, and then spent the rest of the afternoon and early evening at O.K.'s sister and her husband's place, opening the BBQ season in their garden. It was very nice and had a definite feel of early summer about it at 23C/73F.
During the night to Sunday (13 April), a little rain fell; not enough to make up for the worrying lack of water but at least making for fresher and less dusty air.
We slept in longer than we had done in a while, and apart from an afternoon walk around the village to stretch our legs and admire the spring blossoms, we didn't really do much - which was perfectly fine.
For a glorious half hour or so, we even sat on O.K.'s balcony for the first time this year, enjoying the last rays of the sun before it was too low behind houses to reach us.
After our tea/dinner, I left O.K. to his music practice while I went out again, this time to carry a letter to its recipient in the village. It was dark, but still mild, and the scents from the gardens in bloom were my companions in the quiet village streets.
Well, I am impressed that the people in your department could do all of those stairs for 3 hours of hiking! I remember the people that I used to work with and I think a LOT of them would never have been able to make it and would just have met the rest of us at the restaurant! ;)
ReplyDeleteI'm glad you had a lovely week and hope this week goes well for you too, Meike!
Thank you, Ellen!
DeleteI am not good at all with uphill parts of walks, or going up many stairs, but even I could handle this tour easily. Our guide made it very manageable by stopping after short spells of climbing up a set of stairs, talking to us about what we could see from that spot, what used to be there, the history and context of a place, and an anecdote thrown in every now and then.
It wasn't 3 hours of straight hiking - only two or three of our group would have been able to do that ;-)
Well of course I'm partial to any statue of Queen Olga, but why isn't my dog on it?
ReplyDeleteI never knew Stuttgart has so many stairs! That tour sounds fascinating but it would be a real workout. Do they give people health warnings beforehand, to make sure those who attend are capable of climbing all those steps?
Well, your Olga wasn't born yet when our Olga had the statue commissioned ;-)
DeleteIt wasn't as much a workout as it sounds; see my reply to Ellen. On the website where one can book those tours, there is plenty of information, such as that it is not suitable for people in wheelchairs or using rollators, and that one should wear adequate footwear.
I did not know about all the stairs in Stuttgart either (I've never been there). A guided three hour tour I would not be up for these days, stairs or no stairs! ;-) ... Nice to see your photos, though!
ReplyDeleteAfter the tour ended, we walked to the restaurant (another 15 minutes or so), and as soon as we arrived, everybody dashed to the toilets - I guess that was our only "issue" ;-)
DeleteIts a lovely idea to have workplace outings and that 'stairs' walk sounds fascinating, though it's a good job you're fit. It sounds as though you walk a lot, as I try also to do.
ReplyDeleteI do walk a lot, and need it for both my physical and mental wellbeing. Among my colleagues there are very different levels of fitness, but the tour was easily manageable for all of us (see my reply to Ellen).
DeleteI do love the sound of that walking tour in Stuttgart! Not sure if I am fit enough to do it, but I think I would love to try it. We have been watching a French TV series that is set in Bozouls. There is a church built on a promontory (it was originally a castle) and a deep gorge around but there are lots of trees within the gorge, with houses built on the very edge. It looks quite beautiful, and I honestly pay attention to the storyline but whenever they show that view from the air, I always pause it and admire it! (The show is called "The Eclipse".)
ReplyDeleteYou would have made it easily - see my reply to Ellen. In our group of 9, there were two who are rather unfit; one of them is rather overweight, and often when we go back to our desks after lunch break in the canteen, she puffs and pants on the stairs to the second floor where we work. But she had no trouble during the tour and kept up with the rest of us all the time.
Delete"The Eclipse" - I have not heard of it (but then I rarely watch French TV series), but the setting sounds very beautiful indeed.
Your photos made me want to visit Stuttgart once again! We lived there for seven years, and I worked in the Landesbibliothek. I always liked the Stäffele and their views of the city and sometimes of back gardens, too.
ReplyDeleteHilde in Germany
Liebe Hilde, wie schön, dass Du so gute Erinnerungen an die Stuttgarter Stäffele hast! Die Landesbibliothek wäre beinahe damals mein Arbeitsplatz geworden, als ich auf der Suche nach einer Ausbildungsstelle war. Dann wurde es doch die Stadtbibliothek Ludwigsburg, wo ich 1986 angefangen habe.
DeleteEs freut mich sehr, von Dir zu hören - wir "kennen" uns bisher ja vor allem von Pats Blog.
This sounds like a harmonious and pleasant week. I too like the feeling of not having much to do except wander about (or, in my case, sit in the sun and listen to the sounds around me). I had no idea that Stuttgart had so many stairs. When I have not actually visited a place myself, I end up imagining it - without any very good basis for what I make up. My inner picture of Stuttgart didn't include stairs at all! (The same was true of Genoa, in Italy, which was absolutely fascinating simply because it was built on a rather small flat area bordered by sea and surrounded by hills. So you never quite knew what you would find round the corner - sometimes a tunnel, sometimes very long stone staircases, and, surprisingly often, a funicular railway!!!!
ReplyDeleteThe only time I have been to Genoa is described here on my blog:
Deletehttps://librarianwithsecrets.blogspot.com/2010/03/bluest-eyes-of-genua.html
And I must admit I remember little else of the place 😄
But I know what you mean about imagining a place you‘ve not yet been to and then being surprised by it; I had that experience with the city of Fulda which I visited properly for the first time last year and found it much more beautiful than expected.