Monday 25 May. Neidlingen

Today is a public holiday in Germany so lots of people have been enjoying the long weekend. We drove right over the mountain under which Neidlingen is nestled, through forest and green green farmland to Laichingen where there was a big market day. Lotte is an excellent parking spot finder so we were soon wandering through the market checking out all the stalls. Near where we sat to have our bratwurst lunch there was a giant pole with a fir tree on the top. It’s a May Pole and I saw them in a couple of other villages that we drove through.

As the day was still young we continued to Wiesensteig and a lovely picnic area with a cool stream at Filsursprung. Great for a paddle on a hot day and also for throwing stones in the creek.

Then this evening I was taken to a restaurant called Deutsches Haus in Gruibingen where Alex recommended the Wurst Salad. Very tasty. Arthur liked it too.

We were all pretty exhausted by the time we got home so an early night was in order. Lotte and Alex have given me such a lovely day.

Sunday 24 May. Neidlingen

It is so lovey to be here with Alex, Lotte and Arthur and I have a terrific room with en-suite and even tea-making facilities. Lotte even bought English breakfast teabags for me.

Of course my day started in Nuremberg and because I had a lot of time before my train, I found a cafe and had breakfast in the part of the old town nearest the station. Today’s train was an IC not an ICE, which meant it was a bit slower. The countryside was, as usual, beautiful and I was excited to see 2 stork nests with birds sitting in them. 

In Stuttgart I changed to the S Bahn which was more like travelling on the Belgrave Line.  Alex, Lotte and Arthur were waiting for me at Kirchheim Station. They took me for a lovely drive to an ice cream cafe where we sat under some shady trees and were entertained by a small boy who was determined to eat all of his ice cream. It’s lovely to see what a happy and confident boy he is and I was surprised at how quickly he accepted me.

Then it was dinner at Sabine and Jack’s place. Sabine had made delicious beef roulades ( might have to check that) and her famous spätzle. Yum! Afterwards a delicious plum liqueur and a very small schnapps, the one that Jack says is very mild. And it did have a much lower percentage of alcohol compared to the other firewater he has.

Back to the house for a cuppa and a piece of cheesecake and I’m ready to sleep.

Saturday 23 May. Nuremberg

My quest for this morning was to find the post office marked on my map. My first mistake was to look for an actual post office shopfront. According to both the tourist map and Google Maps I was in the right spot but there was no sign of a post office until I found a tiny sign on a window telling me to go to the fourth floor of this department store. Eventually I found it tucked away in the evening dresses department. No wonder Google had a note that it was hard to find.

Having bought my stamps I followed the tour route from the map, finding more churches, the White Tower, which isn’t white anymore and crossing the wooden Hangman’s Bridge. There was a nice little cafe on the other side so I sat under an umbrella, had an iced coffee and did the nine letter word and sudoku from the Age (an old one, obviously).

Continuing on I came to the main market in front of the Frauenkirche. The tall golden tower is the Schöner Brunnen or Beautiful Fountain but it’s being repaired and there was no water. Once again the veggie stands were featuring asparagus. There was a really lovely flower stand with a huge assortment including banksia flowers. This was my chance to have the local bratwurst so I bought one and ate it sitting on a shady chair. All day I have been trying to walk on the shady side of the road as it is really hot.

I did a bit of walking in circles looking for a shop that wasn’t there and when the sweat started dripping into my eyes it was time for an ice cream and heading back to my little apartment. Did a mini wash as there are free washing machines and dryers in the basement and as I only have one hot weather top I need to keep it nice.

Tomorrow I am so looking forward to seeing Alex, Lotte, Arthur and the rest of the family.

Friday 22 May. Nuremberg

I left off one layer of clothes this morning but ended up coming back for my one hot weather top. It felt much warmer than 25, especially walking in the sun. Today was HOHO bus day and I sat up top just under the shaded part where I could catch any breeze. The tour was very interesting and covered all the major parts of the city but I wasn’t tempted to hop on and off as it’s  a very long time between buses. Any photos I took tended to have window reflections so sorry about that.

The old town covers a very large area. I entered by the round tower opposite the station. Had a wander through the Craftsmen’s Courtyard and was able to get a map in the information centre. It has a suggested route through the town so I decided to do part today and more tomorrow. But first I felt the need for a late lunch/early dinner under a shady umbrella and the place I chose had that delicious asparagus on the menu so I opted for it again. Back on König Strasse to the Lorenz Kirche (church) and then across the Museum Bridge, along to the Fleisch Bridge and back through some minor streets to “The Way of Human Rights”. This is a sculpture with a gate and a row of white concrete pillars, each of which has an article from the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. Nuremberg wants to shake off its Nazi era reputation for party rallies and become known as a city of peace and human rights.

This brought me out at a gate in the wall just near the opera house and my building. I had seen an Aldi not far from there so I popped in for a couple of provisions before returning to my room to recover from the heat. Am now cool as a cucumber.

Thursday 21 May. Nuremberg

There’s not a lot to report as it’s been a travel day today. My first train was a regional train taking me back to Berlin Main Station so it was part two of Monday in reverse.

Once again I was bemused by “Brand Tropical Islands” railway station so I’ve done a little research and discovered that a shuttle bus takes you from the station to Tropical Islands Resort, a tropical themed indoor water park housed in a former airship hangar. 

It’s one of the biggest buildings in the world by volume and can cater for more than 8,000 visitors a day. It has an interesting history going back to WW2. I saw the building in the distance from the train and wondered what it could be.

For once I didn’t have a long turn-around in Berlin before my next train and I was getting very edgy as the noticeboard in our train said we’d be at least 5 minutes late. I was at the door ready to almost-run when we finally arrived. The arrival platform was on the highest level of the station and my departure was from the lowest level. I had about 10 minutes to get to my train. I opted for the slow to arrive glass lift instead of umpteen escalators and it was the right move. Got onto the train with a minute to spare before it quietly pulled out of the station.

Ever since I landed in Brussels, the landscape has been very flat but the topography changed on this journey and the further south I came the hillier it got. We went through a lot of tunnels. It’s pretty difficult to get a good photo out of a train going at 200kph so I’ve deleted most of my efforts.

It was an easy walk to my accommodation and nice to stretch the legs after so long sitting. I’m staying very close to the opera house and I passed a couple of gates into the old city. I’ve gone from one extreme to the other with my apartment hotel here. There’s a lift and it’s very modern. I knew there’d be something eye catching on the wall and I’ve got giant palm fronds to make up for the ugly view out the window. There’s no TV as their philosophy is that people should talk to each other. I won’t miss that because all I’ve been able to get is CNN news. There’s a self check-in where you make your own key card and the people checking in next to me were Aussies. First English I’ve heard spoken for ages.

I picked up a salad at the station so I’m set for dinner and starting a new book this evening. I just finished “Leonard and Hungry Paul” by Ronan Hession. A charming, gentle read. Loved it.

Wednesday 20 May. Cottbus

Took a photo of my horrible stairs and fancy front door on the way to the laundromat, which is just around the corner. While the washing was washing I went for a wander along the street and found part of the old town wall and one of its gates. There was also an amusing sculpture of a Cottbus postman whose mail had gone flying when he lost the wheel of his carriage. I found a little poem on the wall nearby but haven’t managed to translate it yet. Maybe it’s a tongue twister.

Washing sorted, I headed to the old market square, only about a hundred metres from my apartment, in the direction I hadn’t yet gone. Then I remembered that that’s why I chose this apartment, because it’s right in the middle of the old town. 

There are cafes all around the marketplace with Italian, Greek, Japanese and finally one that looked German. There was a board with asparagus dishes listed but when I tried to order that they either didn’t have any or didn’t serve it for lunch. So I opted for a tomato and feta salad, which satisfied my craving for vegetables. The sun was shining brightly when I sat down but there was a sudden change and I had to move under the umbrellas to get out of the rain.

Went back to the apartment for a while to wait out the rain and then set off to find the statue of Ludwig Leichhardt which was nearby. He went to school in Cottbus and there is a school here named after him.

The busiest cafe in the marketplace is the Eiscafe, so with memories of the lovely one in Offenburg I found a table (under an umbrella just in case) and ordered a latte macchiato and a strawberry sundae. There must have been a whole punnet of strawberries in it so I got a fruit as well as a veggie fix today.