Last of August

With August ending and the calendar now showing September, it really does feel like summer is over and autumn is here. However, here in my part of Germany, we often have nicer days in September than in July; it may be cooler at night but pleasantly warm during the day. Therefore, I see it as late summer just as much as early autumn.

What was the last week of August like here?

My return from Offenburg to Ludwigsburg on Monday (25 August) was flawless with my trains being on time. It was very chilly in the morning, only 9C/48F, but later warmed up to 24C/71-75C. I spent my lunch break having my back & shoulders massaged, and after work enjoyed a beautiful walk to Benningen.

Tuesday (26 August) was muggy and felt warmer than the 27C/80F the thermometer showed, but since the morning had been as chilly as the day before, it was well bearable. I was at my Mum's after work, and for the first time in a long time we were able to sit on her balcony without it being too hot.

Once again I spent both Wednesday and Thursday (27 and 28 August) at the office in Weilimdorf. 

After sunrise on Wednesday morning, as seen from my kitchen window

On the Wednesday, I thought I'd get away with walking home from Zuffenhausen without getting wet, but I was wrong - maybe 45 minutes from home, it started to drizzle and then turned into proper rain. Not cold, not heavy, but enough to get me wet through. Never mind - I was on my way home, where I could change into dry clothes immediately, plus I was rewarded with a rainbow, albeit a very pale one.

The night brought a proper thunderstorm with more rain as well as thunder and lightning.

On Thursday, I walked home from Kornwestheim (the distance being about half of when I walk from Zuffenhausen) and made it home dry. In the evening, I watched the Netflix première of "The Thursday Murder Club", based on the first of Richard Osman's books which I enjoy so much and have reviewed here on my blog.

If you look at my review of the first one, you'll see that I always had Helen Mirren in mind for the character of Elizabeth, and I was happy when I learned that she was indeed going to play her in the film. In my opinion, all the cast were very good in their roles, and the entire film was close enough to the book, even though some detail was different. I had a good "private cinema" evening and am certain that I will watch it again, probably with the friend who has been lending me her Thursday Murder Club books.

On Friday (29 August), I took an earlier connection to Offenburg, and miraculously the train was on the dot, arriving there at 7:00 pm precisely.

Offenburg has been running an event called "Sommer in der Stadt" (Summer in the City), with live bands playing at various spots in the pedestrian area, supplemented by pop-up bars and food stalls. We strolled around, looking for a place to eat, but everywhere was packed. Eventually, we settled for an Italian place where we had not been before and were glad to have a table indoors; the wind was a bit nippy for dining al fresco.

The pizzas we saw at the other tables were huge, but because next to us was a family, we thought they'd ordered a family pizza. Imagine our suprise when we realised there was just the one size, and ours were exactly as huge as theirs!

It's not a trick of perspective - the pizzas really almost covered the entire table!!

One for the two of us would have been enough, and I took about half of mine home with me in a box. It was good, just too big really, and the place was VERY noisy.

Afterwards, we took our time walking through town centre, listening to the music here and there for a bit, before going back to the car.

Saturday (30 August) was somewhat unsettled in terms of weather, but a walk in the afternoon was possible. In spite of having sprayed myself with mozzie repellant, I returned with two new and very itchy bites on my right knee.

Harvest in the vineyards will begin very soon.

In the evening, we had a small gathering with the immediate family and a couple of neighbours to celebrate the 85th birthday of O.K.'s Mum. The restaurant offered very good food, but the service wasn't up to the same standard as the food. Still, we had a pleasant evening to mark the occasion.

We had to get up relatively early on Sunday (31 August), because I was leaving for home that day instead of the Monday (you'll see why in my next post).

I was home by 11:30 am, and at 3:00 pm, met my Mum and my sister for a visit of the palace grounds, where we had not been in quite a while. It was rather crowded as expected - it was a sunny Sunday afternoon, and when should folks come visiting if not on a day like this!

The pumpkin exhibition (according to the claim on the website, the world's biggest) has been held in the palace grounds for many years now, but we still have mixed feelings about it. Neither of us think it necessary; the park and gardens are beautiful in their own right, they don't need any extras. But the event brings in busloads of tourists, meaning money for the town. This year's motto is Cinema, and some sculptures were quite good. The only ones I took photos of were Star Trek's "Enterprise" and Harry Potter.

The three of us had a leisurely stroll with enough short rests on benches for our Mum, and a longer break with refreshing drinks later on.

It was a fitting end to August, and (at least officially) to summer.