Gutenberg, GermanyAug 25, 2006
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Post-card perfect alpine village in the Black Forest
If you listen carefully, you can almost hear yodeling and polka's being...
Cindy and one of her favourite look-out points above Gutenberg
"Ooh - there's an open coffee shop" exclaimed Mom as we drove through a post-card perfect Alpine village in the Black Forest! "Let's stop and see what they have!" It turned out that they had some pretty great cakes, pastries, and coffee! It was a gorgeous late summer day, and we were on our way from Switzerland to Gutenberg, we where Mom's cousin Cindy and her kids Andrea and Nathan live. Gutenberg is a tiny hamlet nestled in a small valley within the rolling green hills southeast of Stuttgart. We drove up a narrow, winding lane to its end, where Cindy waved to us from the door of her quaint cottage-style house. We had been driving a lot over the last few days, and were looking forward to a couple of days in one place for a change!
While Mom and Cindy caught up on each other's lives, Dad and I took advantage of their internet connection. We also took a few sight-seeing tours around the neighbourhood. These included a couple of short walks as well as drives to two old castles. The first castle was nothing more than ruins on a forested hilltop. It was kind of neat climbing up the narrow stone stairs and peering over the crumbling ramparts into the valley below. This was not a major tourist attraction - just some ruins where only locals usually came for walks. Nathan came along with us (I'm sure he had better things to do) and endured the picture-taking right along with me. Later that day, Cindy's friend Jurgen joined us for a visit to Kirkheim Teck, a more famous castle that has been converted into a hotel and café. It too is located on top of a hill, and you can see the valley stretch out into the distance on all sides. Small villages surrounded by green fields, pastures, and hills dotted the landscape below. After more obligatory picture-taking, we strolled partway down the hill for a picnic lunch on the hillside. It was a great spot from which to watch grazing sheep and RC enthusiasts fly their gigantic model gliders.
On the morning of the day we left, Andrea and I went for a horse ride through the countryside. She graciously let me ride her horse "Aki" (I'm sure I've got the spelling wrong) while she rode her friend's. It was a chilly, misty morning, but we had a great time exercising the horses over hills, through meadows, and along country lanes bordered by groves of trees. All too soon, it was time to say "auf wiedersehen" and to hit the road again. We really had a great time reconnecting with our long-distance relatives, meeting Jurgen, and becoming acquainted with their part of the world!
