A Beautiful Week

Last week saw a continuation of the previous week's colourful walks (and two equally colourful car journeys), stormy weather with a mix of sun, clouds and rain and a birthday party combined with a mini-break.

My trains back from Offenburg on Monday (20 Oktober) were on time. It was raining for most of the day, and apart from my customary back & shoulders massage at lunch time with a quick food shopping at ALDI afterwards I didn't spend time outdoors.

Tuesday (21 Oktober) was split in two work-wise: In the morning I worked from home for my main employer, and after lunch I travelled to Marbach and spent a couple of hours there at my favourite client's, the Literature Archive. I'd not been there since April and was really looking forward to my visit - and the intended walk home.

Approaching the Literature Archive, the Schiller Museum can be seen through the trees.

View from the museum's terrace towards Ludwigsburg, with "the Rocket" clearly visible.

View from the same spot across the river Neckar towards Benningen.

Friedrich Schiller, poet and playwright, who was born in Marbach and is the reason for the museum and Literature Archive here.

Things went as planned with a constructive and pleasant meeting in Marbach, and then I started on the longish walk home. There is a comfortable lane along the river, and while I would not advise anyone to walk there on a weekend when it is overrun with cyclists and other groups of people, on a weekday afternoon it is the best way to walk between the two towns.

What I didn't know was that there are road works underway, resulting in a complete closure of a crucial part of the lane and signposted detours for cyclists and walkers. 

The detour's signs were pointing to high above the river, running parallel to it on paved lanes. Knowing the area relatively well, I was sure there was another parallel path leading between allotments and vineyards; unpaved but good enough to walk. Thinking myself cleverer than the people who had signposted the detour, I enjoyed wonderful quiet walking among gardens and vineyards in their autumn glory... until I reached a dead end, with fences and closed gates on three sides. There was only one way to go from that spot, and that meant backtracking for almost 1 km before I reached the point where I had deviated from the signposted route.

Viaduct across the Neckar linking Benningen and Marbach by train.

The Schiller Museum

That cost me maybe half an hour - but I wasn't angry, since I had seen those beautiful trees and hedgerows and shrubs along the way, and many birds as a bonus, as well as a rainbow which I would not have spotted otherwise:

From then on, I stuck to the signs...!

There's no escaping The Rocket when you walk in these parts!

Closer to home - the back of the deer park.

Three hours after leaving my client, I was home; happy but rather tired and in need of water and sustenance.

On Wednesday (22 October), I worked at the office and went to my Mum's afterwards. 

That morning at 6:00, I had hot water and the heating worked as usual. Half an hour later when I went to have a shower, there was only cold water, and the heating felt lukewarm with only residual heat remaining.

I didn't have time to look into the matter and check on the therm up in the attic, which provides us with heat for water and heating, but on my way to work I sent an urgent message to one of the two brothers who co-own the house with me. He replied almost immediately that he was going to go over and check on the therm and, if he couldn't fix it, call the company who had set it up originally and had done maintenance on it only last Thursday.

While I was still at my Mum's, he let me know that he had not been able to fix it but that someone was coming on Thursday at 10:00 am - another day at the office for me, so I wouldn't be there to let them in or learn what was wrong.

As planned, I went to the office on Thursday (23 October) and was hoping for the best. In the morning I had used the kettle so that I didn't have to wash myself with cold water. For centuries, that's what people did every morning, but I am so used to having a hot shower that I was glad for this being only temporary.

It was a day of high winds but mostly dry. I took advantage of that and did not go straight home after work; instead I remained on the train until the next stop after Ludwigsburg by the deer park, and walked to Benningen from there.

Back home, I was happy to find my flat warm and hot water coming from the taps, but I didn't know what had been wrong with our heat system.

Therefore, I rang the company on Friday (24 October) morning, but the secretary didn't know; she said she'd ask the colleague who had been to my house and would call me back... that call never came, but the co-owner and I have scheduled a meeting with them on Tuesday for a different reason anyway, and that's soon enough for me to find out.

Following a stormy night, it was a beautiful sunny day, but I didn't go for a walk what with work, cleaning, washing, food shopping, cooking and getting everything ready for O.K. spending the weekend with me. 

His Mum grows butternut pumpkins among many other things, and a couple of weeks ago O.K. brought me one - you can see it in this post where I show my bit of autumn home deco.

I now used it to make a thick creamy soup, supplemented with a few spuds and one large parsnip, spiced with coconut fat and ginger so that it would have a slightly "Thai" kind of taste without overdoing that. I was quite happy with the result, and by 9:00 pm when O.K. arrived, it was good to sit down to a warm, filling home-cooked meal.

On Saturday (25 October), O.K. drove us to Pforzheim, a city about 50 km from Ludwigsburg. We were invited to a friend's birthday party there. She had turned 60 earlier that week and was celebrating with her family and friends at a building normally used by the city's Youth Association.

The drive there was beautiful through the autumnal countryside with a mix of sun and rain. We had opted to spend the night at a nearby hotel, not wanting to have to drive back in the night and (maybe) after a glass or two of wine. The hotel was nicer than expected, especially the view from our room on the 3rd floor over the river Enz and the city of Pforzheim.

The view that shocked us, stepping out of the elevator.

I must admit we were both a little apprehensive when the doors of the lift opened and we were confronted with shocking purple carpeting and a sofa and lamps that could have been props in a porn film, but thankfully, our room was much easier on the eyes (and spotlessly clean).

A fifteen minute walk took us to the party venue. It was good to see the birthday "girl" and her family. There were about 25 of us altogether, plus four dogs which got along well enough except for one who had to be kept at a distance from the rest.

Our hostess gave a beautiful speech, using parts of the manuscript for a speech her father had written for his own 60th birthday 30 years ago. He would now be in his 90s but died a few years back; it was amazing how so much of what he wrote about himself and what it meant for him to turn 60 was exactly what his daughter felt now, 30 years later. I found it really touching and a lovely tribute.

We had the most wonderful cake buffet - not classic cakes but pâtisserie of very unusual combinations of all natural ingredients, no artificial colouring. It was difficult to choose which ones to try, as there was no way anyone would manage to try all the different kinds. We shared between us so that we could taste a few more, but there is a limit even to the most delicious food.

Next were some games - all of them reasonably funny and short enough to keep the few children engaged as well. 

At around 6:00 pm, dinner was served, with a vegetarian and a meat option. 

It was all very good again, but after the lovely cakes and a rather large starter, I struggled to finish my main course. 

Astonishingly enough, I managed a sorbet for dessert nonetheless.

Conversation around the table was varied and interesting. 

Apart from when we were eating, people wandered, changed places, played pool or table football (all part of the regular equipment of the Youth Association) or simply chatted. 

Among the guests was a wide range of ages and interests, so that there was no shortage of topics.

Since the party had already begun as early as 1:30 pm, those with small children as well as the birthday girl's 88-year-old mother were gone by around 9 pm, and the rest followed not much later. O.K. and I were at the hotel by about 10 pm.

After a good night's sleep, we enjoyed the hotel's breakfast on Sunday (26 October) morning - quite amazing, considering the feast we'd had the previous afternoon and evening!

Morning sky, as seen from our room

Our overnight bags were quickly packed, and soon we were on the road back to Ludwigsburg, once again admiring the autumn colours of the woods and fields around us.

At home, we rested a little before going for a walk. It was another day of blustery winds, driving heavy clouds fast across the sky, and some of their wet load caught up with us occasionally. The walkdid us good, and roughly 8 km later we were back at my place for coffees and cakes - leftovers from the birthday buffet that we had been urged to take home with us.

We then went to see my Mum before it was time for me to start on our evening meal. I made a salad of Romana lettuce, pear, feta cheese and cashew nuts for starters, followed by pan-fried spuds and broccoli with diced bacon.

Having changed back from Summer Time that same morning, sunset came early at a quarter past 5:00 in the afternoon. When O.K. left for his home, facing a 150 km drive, I was glad I didn't have to go out again in the cold and dark.

Sunset from my Mum's balcony on Sunday.