A Wish Come True

Last Sunday (3rd of November), a big wish of mine came true: O.K. and I repeated a walk which I had wanted to do again in autumn, when vineyards, orchards and the woods would be at their most colourful.

Twice before we'd been on a panoramic walk 360 degrees around the picturesque village of Sasbachwalden, maybe a half hour's drive from O.K.'s village.

The first time was in May 2021, when we experienced dramatic skies and all sorts of weather apart from snow. The second time was in September 2022, when everything was still green and the autumn colours had not yet begun to appear.

But this time, we caught an autumn day like straight out of a picture book with (mostly) blue sky and mellow golden sunshine - the best we could wish for!

As we had done twice before, we parked on the relatively large public car park in the village and followed the well sign-posted path from there.

The first part of the walk is mostly uphill, which of course had me puffing and panting, but we were soon rewarded with views of the village and surrounding hills, some of them covered in vineyards and orchards, others in woodland.

After that, it wasn't long before we reached the bottom of the waterfalls. To reach the top, one crosses thirteen bridges and climbs dozens of steps.

As before, we visited the small private chapel, open to the public, with its beautiful stained glass windows.

On we walked, and by the time we reached the historic mill (no photos this time - you'll have to click on the links above to the May 2021 and September 2022 posts for that), it was 1:30 pm and we were hungry enough to take a break and eat our sandwiches. The wooden table and benches were partly in the sun, which made for a pleasant meal and warm enough to sit down.

After that, the walk continued along the familiar route. There were other people about, but never so many as to make things unpleasant.

The path meanders through the woods, then out into the open again, through those same orchards and vineyards we had a view of earlier.

Oh dear! I've shrunk!!

Sasbachwalden, as it nestles among the hills.

This is for my sister! 

We reached the car park about an hour before sunset, the afternoon light already having taken on that wonderful golden quality I so love about this time of year and day.

Instead of driving straight back to the cottage, O.K. took us on one of the hills around his village, where we got off the car and watched the sun go down. Within minutes, the glowing orb descended behind the Vosges mountains in France. We said "good night" to the sun and drove back to the cottage.

A delicious evening meal (some would probably have it for breakfast) concluded this beautiful day.

Golden October Week

Last week was pretty much the way one imagines a "Golden October". We had sunshine most days, and I managed not only to get in a few good walks after work (or sometimes before finishing work for the day, just to make sure to catch some daylight), I also very happily repeated a favourite hike where I'd not been this time of year before.

Monday (28 October) was beautiful with mellow golden light. I interrupted my morning of working from home by a visit to one of the installations in the Stuttgart area run by the US military. A friend of mine is a retired member of the US Army, and he is allowed to bring the occasional visitor, of course except for the restricted areas. But we are allowed to visit the shops, food malls etc., and generally have a look around.

The drive alone was worth taking time out of work! I didn't take pictures from the driving car, or at the installation, but Stuttgart has surprisingly much woodland around it and in between some of its more or less separate districts.

My friend gave me a quick drive-by tour of the installation, showing me the housing area, gym, bowling place and others. It reminded me a lot of what Pattonville used to look like, the all-American town just outside Ludwigsburg that has changed almost beyond recognition since the 1990s, when the vast majority of US military left this area (I wrote about Pattonville here).

We then looked around the shops, and my friend bought the few items he had come for and can not find in German supermarkets. I was back at my desk just before lunch time.

After work, I decided on a walk to Benningen, wrongly assuming that sunset was going to be at around 5:30 pm - only when I was more than halfway there, I realised that the weather app on my phone said 5:08 pm. Still, I had enough daylight left on the fields to safely reach Benningen, from where I took the usual local train back to Ludwigsburg. It was completely dark by the time I was home.

On Tuesday (29 October) I tried to complete one of the errands that had not worked out last Saturday, and was again unsuccessful (the shop being closed in spite of the opening times being stated on their website). I was a bit miffed because of that and cheered myself up by walking back home in a VERY roundabout way, turning it into a 2-hour-walk which greatly improved my mood.

There is nothing really to report on Wednesday (30 October); I went to work at the office and spent a quiet evening at home. No walk, since I had a lot to do and only took a short lunch break, and the sun was setting as I left the building.

I do not "do" Halloween, but Thursday (31 October) was still a day to remember: My late husband would have turned 56 that day. I worked from home and had a friend coming over for our lunch break; we exchange books every now and then. We had a bite to eat together and enjoyed the catching up.

After work, I tried my errand for the third time - this time, I had rung beforehand to ask if they were open, and therefore I finally completed this self-set task. Being in task completing mode, I finished another one before walking home via the ruins of the horse stables I have showed you before, for instance here.

Coming up towards the ruins of the old stable block

View through the gate; the offical path leads right through the ruins.

It was a quiet walk back, and the evening was almost as quiet, with the doorbell being rung by trick or treaters only once. I wasn't prepared for them, since usually nobody comes round the building to my front door which is not visible from the street, and therefore I didn't go downstairs.

Friday (1st of November) was a holiday here in Germany, All Saints. I did everything at a more leisurely pace than usual on a Friday, not having to work, and finished my weekly cleaning well before I left for the station.

November sun in my living room

O.K. and I had agreed that it made sense for me to take an earlier connection than on a usual working Friday, and I arrived in Offenburg 2 1/2 hours before my regular time. It was dark when we reached O.K.'s cottage, making it feel a lot later than it actually was. We enjoyed our customary salad, bread, cheese & wine meal to mark the start of the weekend.

We had to set the alarm for Saturday (2nd of November), because we were going on a day out by bus with the village band. They try to have a day out every year, and I was able to come along once or twice. This time, a visit to a popular brewery in the High Black Forest had been booked for us, complete with a tour of the brewery and lunch.

It's always nice to start the day with coffee and home-made cookies from O.K.'s Mum - this time of year, she usually makes these goose-shaped ones as well as hearts.

Just as our bus was reaching the road leading into the Black Forest, the sun came out, making for a beautiful ride. Up where the brewery is (Rothaus, as seen on my blog before, such as here), everything was under a solid grey lid, and fog was drifting about - never mind, we were going to be indoors anyway.

Lunch was first; it was good but not exactly brilliant. I must say I enjoyed the food more when O.K. and I visited the place on our own when we stayed in the area for holidays. A tour of the brewery followed. Our guide was a feisty lady who obviously knew her stuff. The brewery was closed for the weekend, but we still got an impression of how much must be going on there on working days.

Main building of Rothaus brewery

Guess where this vivid wallpaper, picking up the traditional Black Forest "cuckoo clock" theme, is!

In the ladies' :-D

Note the fog in the background.

The restaurant is one of the oldest buildings on the brewery's site.

Inside the brewery. Of course, we were behind a window.

The tour ends at a beer bar. This wall shows most, but not all, of their range of beers.

The ride back home was in darkness after the first half hour or so. We arrived in the village at 7:00 pm, having the evening to ourselves (which was quite welcome after having been with a group of almost 30 people all day).

My highlight of the entire week was Sunday (3rd of November) - but just like last week, I will describe that in a separate post.

Sunday in the Park(s)

This is the continuation of my previous post, which ended with last Saturday.

As we had already seen on Saturday how terribly busy the palace grounds were, O.K. and I decided to go somewhere else on the Sunday (27 October).

A local train took us into Stuttgart, and another few stops by tram to Höhenpark Killesberg. Killesberg is a part of Stuttgart, and its name has nothing to do with killing - it is most likely derived from the Ancient celtic word "Külle", which meant mount or promontory. It is indeed mainly located on a mount (the "berg" part in the name indicates that), and best known for its extensive and beautiful park.

Getting off the tram and arriving at the top end of the park, we had a good view of the unusually shaped viewing tower. I'd been there many years ago, but not visited the park at all since then - I'd say ten or more years back, most likely with my Mum on a Friday off or something like that.

Click to enlarge - there's the viewing tower!

As children, my sister and I would come here with our parents and grandparents. The park as such was created in 1937, lay dormant through WWII and reopened in July 1949. It was the location for various flower and garden exhibitions throughout the years, and some of the structures built for those shows and exhibitions are still there today.

The park has a lot to offer for families with children; there are playgrounds, animals such as alpacas, goats and sheep in pens, and a small funfair (not sure how permanent that one is, though - it certainly wasn't there in my childhood). For other visitors, there are many beautiful trees to admire (some of them rare), winding paths to explore and sculptures to contemplate. 

Several places offer food and drink, and a little train operates inside the park's boundaries. I was actually looking forward to a ride, but when we reached the station, the queue was so long that we agreed it wasn't that important.

I enjoyed the walk a lot, and of course the tower with its double helix stairs was a highlight. (That tower even has its own wikipedia entry - click here if you're intested.) We stopped at one of the cafés for coffee and cake and then walked back to the tram station at a very leisurely pace, even resting on one of the sunbeds for a while.

View from the tower. We later sat in that café - I can even see at which table.

Another view from the tower...

...and another one...

...one more...

...and the last one, with the small funfair at the bottom of the hill where the tower stands on.

View from the bottom of the tower.

It's very cleverly built, light and airy, making it easy to withstand strong winds because it offers little resistance.

So many paths to explore!

A mysterious little building

After we were back at Stuttgart's main station, we did not take a local train directly from there, but walked until North Station, from where we took the train to Ludwigsburg. I made that walk twice this year, as you may remember; those walks are here and here. 

It was a beautiful day in a park I visit not often enough, in spite of it not being difficult to reach, as well as walking through two other parks between Stuttgart main and north stations.