Day 3 - PULL!

Got a little snuggle from G in the morning…not for long, he has an agenda. Places to go, people to see (what time does Oma Rose’s close?) We drove up to the PO to buy stamps and postcards and mail my card to Aunt Bea.

Went over to the Munst to walk around the Marktplatz and it turned out that there was a craft fair going on. It extended to the surrounding streets. Lots of nice but expensive handcrafts, including some beading. Saw some crocheted beadwork, some beaded beads and lots of felting. In the Marktplatz we saw Nancy’s olive boyfriend (he sells olives, he's not olive-colored.) Speaking of which, I found a glass marble with an olive in it. (.80 euro. Now mine.) We also bought some donut peaches. The only other place I have ever seen them (and Pat can testify to this) is at the Middlesex County Fair. Jane liked them. I took a picture of the gargoyle we call the "butthole surfer," (whenever I have my colonoscopies, I give a picture of this to Dr. Chen) and also for the first time spied a cool stork statue on top of the Munster.

We went into a fruit/veggie store and bought FRESH dates. They were incredible. I never tasted any before. They look like tiny yellow plums but taste like a date, except that they are juicy, not granular like a dried date.

I had to go to the bathroom for the first time in 10 hours and Jane accused me of having a bladder the size of a peanut but she took me over to the department store to use the potty.

Walked around some more and sampled but didn’t buy any cheese for raclette (which we plan to do today.) I was beginning to get peckish, Grommit.

We walked around the surrounding streets shopping for cards but we really didn’t find any we liked (besides some postcards.) It was crowded but a little bit chilly and overcast. No rain, though.

We walked over to Euphrat, a Turkish fast food place and got two HUGE platters of food. I got the camera out while Jane ordered so we could get a good picture of the food, but we were so delirious with hunger that by the time we remembered, the plates had practically been licked clean. The food was fantastic – we had a vegetarian platter with salat, zaziki, falafel, some kind of veggie dumpling, eggplant, hummus, and a similar platter that had the most delicious chicken. Dropped a bookcrossing book off there, too. On the way back we saw this display in a deli case of the most beautiful carved melons. I took a picture and you can see it here - click on it to enlarge it and you can see Jane & I in the window.

Came home and took G for a walk around the church. He only made it halfway before collapsing in the grass. Poor little t'ing.

Went to two grocery stores. First one, bought cheese for raclette, chocolate for scientific purposes and some gifts to bring home. Second one, bought some more stuff for our raclette and more chocolate. The chocolate aisles in Germany rock.

Took off for a fest Jane found listed in a little fest flier – it was in the nearby village of Denzingen. When we finally found it we were like, “oh man, it’s a SPORTS thing. Bummer.” We had expected food, beer, oompah music, a watered down Oktoberfest atmosphere. Turned out it was the German national championship TUG OF WAR! HAha. In fact, it was the "25 year tug-of-war Denzingen German Championship 2007".

First thing we saw this group of guys dressed in green Robin Hood hats, yellow jerseys, hiking pants, yellow socks and hiking boots. I went over and asked if I could have my picture taken with them and they were totally into it. They just grouped around me and one guy put his hat on my head. I look like a fat, demented Peter Pan in the photo.

We went into the tent to get a beer – there was lots of good looking German food but we were still stuffed from lunch – and the cool thing in the tent was that all the tables had pretty arrangements of sunflowers, and there were these awesome chandelier-looking hanging floral arrangements of gladiolas and other flowers.

We got a beer and went and sat in the bleachers to watch the action, and ended up not only being Tug-of-War fans, but trying to figure out how we can get jobs as Tug-of-War coaches. The teams were made up of either all men or all women, BUT they competed against each other. We watched for hours as the teams competed against each other and were eliminated or went on. Most of the teams were just wearing old clothes, but the 2 really good women’s teams had uniforms (matching jerseys and shorts and socks.) Only our favorite team had the funny costumes with hats, but we never saw them go into competition. One of the women’s teams was incredible – so focused and with a great coach, they were just pulling over the men’s teams one after another.

The way it goes is this: The rope is wrapped around the chest of the last person on the line. Then it is laid upon the right foot of the tuggers. At a signal, the rope is flipped up into their hands. Then the referee makes the teams move back and forth until a white line on the center of the rope is just over the center line. He raises his arms, and then yells "PULL" as he snaps his arms back to his sides. The really good female team all leaned back, dug the heels of their boots into the dirt, and when their coach told them, they inched back using their heels to dig in an leaning for leverage. At another sign from their coach, they would all simultaneously lean back. Eventually they would have the rope far enough over the center line to have won, and by that time many of the men on the other side had gone down.

After a while we decided we’d had enough and we got up to leave, but first I had to go ask our boys why we didn’t see them compete. They told us they had been eliminated early because “we are not so good.” We told them that as far as we were concerned they won for best costumes. They LOVED that.

We went to the car and then I realized I’d left my glasses on the bench, so we went back. We ended up sucked right back in. Watched our girls beat the crap out of another bunch of teams (we saw them lose only once.) Then there was an exhibition in which our boys in the hats competed. We jumped up and were cheering and screaming for them, which seemed to really tickle them. Then we got to watch the prize giving, and our favorite women’s team won the big cup! We are HUGE tug-of-war fans now. Who knew??? As we left, the band in the tent had started playing. Oompah music??? NO. “Take Me Home, Country Roads.”

There was another fest listed for the nearby town of Waldkirch which was going on 8pm – 3am so we decided to check it out. Got all the way over to the town but couldn’t find the fest. We did see a castle ruin lit up on the hill, so tomorrow we’re going to go check that out.

Got home, snacked on leftovers and then ate a chocolate buffet in bed and watched the rest of Ocean’s 13. Big G returned in the early hours.

Day 4 - They Were Ruint When We Got There

Today (Sunday) was castle day. The weather was perfect – we both wore shorts – warm and sunny. As we were driving along, we saw a sign for Bimbo. I had to have a picture. Also, there was a house with its own quaint windmill in the backyard.

We were headed out for Hochberg, a castle ruin perched on one edge of a ridge of Black Forest mountains. You are just driving along and you turn a corner and WHAM! There is it is. It’s really huge and spectacular. Naturally, I wanted a picture, so Jane pulled over onto a side street and backed up a bit. We sat there for quite a while waiting for a little cloud to finish passing over the sun. After 4 bicycles passed us, we realized that Jane had pulled over onto the bike path. We got back on the main drag and just a little bit down the road there was an actual pullover specifically for stopping and viewing the ruins.

We drove around to the other side of the end of the ridge and parked and walked up a fairly steep switchback to the castle ruins. It turned out that they were having a fest so the place was crowded and there were all kinds of reenactors in MedEEEval costume doing period things, musicians, and some crafters. Also because it was a fest there was food so we had weinerschnitzel on a roll, a ground pork patty thingy (Frikadella) on a roll and apple juice with mineral water (Apfelsaft Schorle). We walked up to the next level of the castle and found coffee and cake, so we had coffee and cheesecake. There was a pretty view of a long, wide valley, not very populated. We could see the bike path on which we had pulled over.

There is a tiny museum with the artifacts they found when they began restoration (really just trying to keep it from crumbling further.) There was crockery, weaponry, Delft and Venetian pottery and glass, etc. There also was a model of what the castle was supposed to have looked like.

When we got back to the car there was a dairy right there which was open for visitors so we took a stroll through there. There were goats, cows and chickens. Smell that dairy air! There was a tiny fridge with milk and lots of different cheeses. You took what you wanted and left your money in a bowl. Cheese on the honor system.

From there we drove to Waldkirch, the village we had driven through the night before looking for a post-tug-of-war fest. We had seen a castle ruin lit up on the mountain and were determined to find and climb it. (It turns out to be called "Kastelburg.") We parked on the main street. Waldkirch is a very pretty and large village but it being Sunday, most places were closed. There is a river and a canal. Canal would be good for you. We stepped into a biergarten where there was a great view of the castle. I took a picture from the biergarten, then we asked the proprietor how to get up to the castle. He said, “Bei FUSS???????” (By foot?) Clearly he didn’t expect we could do it. HA.

We walked way down the main street, turned, walked the wrong way for a while, came back, and finally saw a tiny, steep path with a woman descending it. This path was about 2’ wide, very steep, rocky and with roots and stuff exposed. She was puffing and wheezing, her face was red, and she was coming down at a snail’s pace. The path was to the left, and to the right was a broad, smooth path. We asked her how to get to the ruins and she said that the broad smooth path would get you there, but her path was a shortcut - “keep going up and PPPPPPPFFT! There’s the castle.” Naturally, we went with her path.

For some reason, we had the path all to ourselves. Hmmm. Up and up and pppppffft! There it was. It’s really tiny compared to Hochberg, but pretty cool. The view is spectacular; we had no idea that Waldkirch was as big as it was. Across the broad valley there was another set of Black Forest mountains, and I counted 8 paragliders riding the thermals and landing in a meadow. Jane and I each took a picture of where we thought the biergarten was, and it turned out both of us took a picture of the same place.

Just before we left the ruins, we stuck our head in an opening and found a steep, dark staircase up to the top of the tower. So up we went, 6 flights in the dark. The only light was from slits in the wall. Spectacular view when we got up there, though, and then I descended so I could get a picture of Jane waving from the top of the tower.

We came back down the steep path (easier going down) and took a different route back into the village. One of the things we learned about Waldkirch is that it is where fairground organs are still manufactured, and in a square we saw two children enjoying a see-saw which had an organ grinder sculpture.

We stopped at our biergarten and sure enough, our pictures were of the right place! The owner was so excited that we had pictures of his biergarten from the top of the castle! We got his e-mail address and will send him the pictures.

We came back home and took a nice stroll. Jane’s village is so pretty – everyone has beautiful flowers and flower boxes – and everyone we spoke to asked about Gerald. He is a local celeb. I said he is the Vicar of Gundelfingen, making his appointed rounds to visit the sick and infirm. We never saw him, but we did run into some of his katzen kohorts.

Next we fired up the raclette grille. We got everything ready – 3 kinds of raclette cheese, ham, shrimp, herbs, veggies, etc., and then realized we’d forgotten to cook the potatoes, an essential part of the raclette. Had to back up and get the taters on. That done, we had a feast and watched “American Dreamer.”

Big G came in around 5 am, meowing, got a treat and beat paws back out to patrol the perimeter. I woke up around 6 with my right shoulder (not the arthritic one!) absolutely frozen. I am in agony but Jana is taking care of me. We are cleaning and packing and getting ready to head to Heidelberg.