An Almost Walkless Week

Last week, the only time a proper walk was possible for me was on Thursday. The rest of the week was either full with appointments or the weather was inclement, or both.

On Monday (19 January), my trains back from Offenburg were on time, but on the first train, my booked seat was taken. The man who sat there showed me his ticket and it looked genuine - I was in no mood for a discussion and decided to spend the hour and 20 minutes or so standing with my weekend suitcase by the door, looking out and having my peace and quiet. With a desk job, I spend too much time sitting around anyway; I was only a little angry at having paid money for the seat and then not been able to use it.

I took this picture from my kitchen window as soon as I came home on Monday. It's not snow, just frost.

In the afternoon, my boss from my secondary employment arrived. The company laptop I have been using for years has reached the end of its life in terms of security updates and support, and since our work is about information security and data protection, we can't risk using outdated equipment that is not properly protected. Therefore, my boss took the old laptop and set up a newer one for me - not brand new, but with another couple of years to go. All went well.

Tuesday (20 January) was the first pub quiz in 2026 for our team, The Corner Shop. We weren't doing too badly in the first half, but blundered some answers in the second half. Never mind; we still had a fun night with our friends, and I paid the first round of drinks in celebration of my engagement.

The day had been sunny and cold, but apart from going to the Day Spa for 25 minutes of back and shoulders massage for my lunch break I didn't benefit from the good weather - it was of course dark by the time I left for the pub.

Another sunny but cold day, Wednesday (21 January) I spent at the office. The usual chaotic situation with our local trains meant I arrived a bit later at work than I had intended to, but still in time for the first meeting of the day. 

Then it was Thursday (22 January), and like on the Wednesday of the previous week, I was scheduled to give a basic training about Data Protection and AI at a company in Stuttgart. This time, we were to start at 9:00 am, and I chose a local train that would take me into the city with 35 minutes to spare - generous planning, considering that walking from the nearest station to the company only takes about ten minutes, and I didn't have to prepare anything.

The train was on time in Ludwigsburg. Everybody got on. The train pulled off. Then, the speakers crackled - usually not a good sign, and we were right: "Sorry, folks, this train has to end in Kornwestheim" - just the next stop after Ludwigsburg, instead of six more to where I (and doubtless numerous other people) wanted to get to. But we had no choice in the matter, and everyone got off the train, trekking across a long, long stretch of normally unused platform to reach the regular platfrom where trains to Stuttgart depart from.

It wasn't a long wait for the next train that was supposed to go where I needed to, and I was still confident I was going to make it to the training before 9:00. However, once aboard the train, it was soon clear that while this one was going to Stuttgart alright, it was stopping at the Main Station, where long distance trains come and go. Still, it was better than being stuck in Kornwestheim, and so I travelled into the city. I rang the person who had organised the training to tell them that I was coming in later, and since everybody in the Stuttgart area knows how bad our local trains are, he was fine about it, promising to tell everyone. And as I was the one to give the training, they could not start without me anyway...

In the end, I walked as quickly as I could from Main Station to the company, a distance of about 1.8 km / 1.1 miles, delaying me by about 15 minutes. The training went well, and for my way back to Ludwigsburg, I simply got on the next train at the nearest stop and arrived there well ahead of the lunch time I had arranged with my Mum at her place.

We had a delicious meal, finished with a coffee, and I worked the afternoon from home.

Just a bit before 4:00 pm, I left for the only proper walk I had all week - my standard route to Benningen. It was cold, but of course I was dressed accordingly, and really enjoyed the 1 hour 45 minutes it took me to get there.

Again, no problem with the local train back to Ludwigsburg; why can't it always be like that?

Nothing unusual on Friday (23 January); I worked from home, did my cleaning, packed my weekend suitcase and was on my usual train to Stuttgart and from there on the long distance one to Offenburg, where O.K. picked me up a little after 8:30 pm.

For Saturday (24 January), O.K. had planned to cut the ivy growing on his Mum's house. The previous Saturday he had cut the climber (we don't know what that plant is called) on the other side of the house, and I was chilled to the bone from holding the metal ladder and not moving for hours. This time, I was wiser and wore my hiking boots - their sole is much thicker than any other pair of shoes I own, and I was wearing several layers of clothes on all parts of my body. Also, I was able to do a bit more than just hold the ladder, and moving about to gather the cut off branches helped keeping me at a tolerable temperature in spite of the day never getting warmer than 4C/39F and the sun not reaching properly where we were working.

For the evening, we dressed reaonably nice, and O.K. drove us the short distance to Diersburg where we had dinner at a traditional restaurant. We enjoyed our food and the fact that after the day's work we didn't need to cook and clear the kitchen afterwards.

O.K.'s Mum is still at the clinic until the middle of next week, and therefore we went to visit her again on Sunday (25 January) just like we did last Sunday. This time, the weather was less walk-friendly than the previous week, and from the parking lot we went straight to the clinic. Coffee and cake at the VERY busy cafeteria was good, and we caught up with what had been going on during the week.

The day ended the same as most Sunday evenings when we're up at 5:15 the next morning; a meal, a bit of TV or reading, and early to bed.

A Very Busy Week

Those of you who read my blog more or less regularly know that I am usually relatively busy, both at work and in the hours before and after. Last week felt busier than usual; a trip to Cologne for work had something to do with that.

Monday (3 November) was a reasonably quiet start of the week that allowed me not only to work through my tasks mostly undisturbed but even gave me the chance for a walk to Benningen in the golden afternoon sun, which I appreciated very much.

I got up well before 5:00 am on Tuesday (4 November) in order to take an early train to Cologne where I was to attend a meeting of Data Protection Officers in the same industry (insurance). Scheduled to start at 10:00 am, I had planned to arrive with about an hour to spare, and wisely so; in the end, due to our notoriously unreliable railway system, I arrived in Cologne with a delay of about 35 minutes and made it to the venue ten minutes before the meeting began.

I enjoyed the train ride with beautiful views of the sunrise and morning mist on the fields.

I also enjoyed my breakfast on board!

Afterwards, "thanks" to my train back to Stuttgart being also delayed, I had time to stroll around the (not very nice) area around Cologne's main station, and for the first time ever I visited the cathedral (in spite of me having been to Cologne for work many, many times). 

Part of the floor inside the cathedral.

I was quite impressed by the beauty and calm, peaceful atmosphere; once inside, it is easy to forget how ugly the immediate surroundings are. If you want to find out more about this wonderful building, click here for the wikipedia article in English.

Deutzer Brücke ("Deutz Bridge") in Cologne, famous for the huge number of "love locks" on it.

The Rhine in Cologne.

By the way, for the first time this season it was so cold in the morning that I saw my own breath when I left the house on my way to the station.

On Wednesday (5 November) was not only the 16th anniversary of my late husband's death but also my usual day at the office. Although Tuesday had been a day of work (and a very long one at that), I had of course not done any actual "work" as usual, and so a pile of emails and many other tasks made it busier than usual. 

Sunrise on the 5th

Last but not least, my boss (who is bipolar) was on a high and kept coming to my room every five minutes (I am NOT exaggerating; when he is on a high he really is like that), and at some point I had to ask him to let me get on with things... it's not nice if you have to say that to your boss, but it's the only way to handle things during such a phase, and he is not offended or anything (he knows that he can be VERY exhausting).

I can not tell you how relieved I was when left the office that day.

This is not the sun, but the moon on the evening of the 5th - it was incredibly bright that night!

At only 4C/39F, Thursday (6 November) was cold in the morning but sunny. For the first time since the summer, my friend and I managed to meet for a pre-work walk, which was very nice. In the evening, I went to my see my Mum.

Sunrise from my kitchen window on Thursday morning

Pre-work walk

Another busy working day followed on Friday (7 November), but the weekend was already in sight. It was wet, cold and grey with a fog that didn't lift properly all day, so I didn't mind not having time for a walk. 

After work, I did my usual cleaning, packed my little red suitcase and went to the train station. Miraculously, my train to Offenburg was on time, and O.K. and I were happy to start the weekend with our customary Friday evening meal of salad, cheese, bread and wine.

I had time to rest on Saturday (8 November) but also for a walk around the village combined with one or two errands while O.K. was doing some jobs around his Mum's house. 

There is actually a rather busy road outside the village - it was hardly visible for the fog on Saturday.

Late afternoon, we had a quick snack, donned our village band t-shirts and walked up to the village hall. 

In this part of Germany, Carnival begins officially on the 11th of November, but especially in villages, many associations and bands who are active during the Carnival period organise an event to kick-off the "silly season" on the weekend before the 11th. In O.K.'s village, a big event was held in the village hall, calling for nearly everyone to lend a hand.

O.K. and I had put down our names to help in the kitchen, but not with the food; we were manning the dishwasher and dealt with an unknown number of glasses and cups from 6:00 to 10:30 pm. It wasn't stressful at all, just constant work, and while our hands were busy, we were free to chat. We were allowed to help ourselves to whatever food and drink we wanted, and being tucked away in the kitchen also meant that we were not exposed to the full noise in the hall.

After our shift, we stayed on only for a little while; after all, we had been on our feet since before 6:00. We had a drink with some of our friends from the village band and then said good-bye. It was well before midnight when we were back at the cottage.

Sunday (9 November) was a slow, quiet day with rain almost all morning. In the afternoon it stopped, allowing us to go for a leisurely walk before popping in with O.K.'s Mum. Coffee and cake was next, followed by a rest, and in the evening, our meal was basically a repeat of what we had on Friday.

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.