Easter with Götz

After a long hiatus, Fabian and I are back to adventuring! To quickly recap why the blog has been dormant since last September:

In October we moved to a new apartment. By the time we were settled, it was Thanksgiving, and then Christmas, and then came my birthday. Fabi began spending every Saturday at work writing his Master's thesis. Shortly thereafter I applied and was chosen for a position at the Hochschule Heilbronn, where Fabi studies. I thoroughly proofread over 60 pages of Fabi's thesis and then began my new job on March 1st. My bosses are two of Fabian's professors, and, in a whimsical twist, Fabian ended up turning in his thesis on the 4th of March... to me! (My boss picked it up a few days later from my office.)

Since that day, I have been enjoying having my husband back on Saturdays. The first one we spent lazily lounging on our big sofa, the next we spent on a spring cleaning blitz, and this weekend we spent on a surprise getaway that Fabi had planned as a gesture of thanks for my support - and patience during his absence - during the past months. 

On Saturday morning we threw our bags in the car and drove north through the heavy fog to destination #1 on our trip: the medieval-looking town of Bad Wimpfen. This little treasure is only a 30-minute drive from Heilbronn and is famous for its skyline...

 ... and for its menagerie of quaint gift shops. The old town center is full of curvy streets and crooked "fachwerk" houses. Here we had breakfast at a little yellow house. It consisted of fruit and yogurt with granola (everybody likes parfaits!) and an assortment of rolls, cheeses, smoked meats and cucumber slices. Across from Fabi at the breakfast table, I expressed my gratitude and satisfaction with the location of our surprise weekend and he said, "oh! We are not staying here tonight. The surprise continues..."

The fog lifted around 10 a.m., and we strolled about taking pictures until the sun was out definitively. On our way out of town we caught another glimpse at the skyline before heading north again towards destination #2: Kloster Schöntal.

Kloster is the German word for monastery, and Schöntal means "beautiful valley." It lived up to its name! Here we stopped for lunch at the Kloster Cafe and were served Maultaschen with mushroom sauce, then we took a peek inside the Baroque-style church before heading off on our hike.

The hike took us up the hill you see there to the right, and then down into the next valley. We walked along the river Jagst towards the town of Berlichingen - the home of the legendary Götz von Berlichingen - an unmannerly knight-turned-baron with one iron hand, known for his poetry and mercenary activities. Goethe once wrote a play based on his life, and the popular vulgar German expression "Lick me on the ass" (still in use today) is attributed to Götz.

Not far from Götz's residence, we enjoyed our first Radler of the year (a refreshing mix of beer and Sprite), our faces turned up towards the sunshine. Motorcyclists sped by in droves. The walk back to the monastery was a long one, and we were happy to shed our hiking shoes for sneakers before getting back on the road for phase three of the surprise...

We drove back south from whence we came, then turned right and headed down a stretch of the Neckar river valley I was unfamiliar with. The river widened as we drove and began to remind me of the river road to Alton, Illinois. About 20 minutes in, Fabi turned right and headed uphill towards this:

These are the ruins of Burg Hornberg, a fortress commissioned by - you guessed it - Götz! Not all of the castle is in ruins, however. It is owned by baron who runs a hotel, winery and restaurant inside the renovated half of the castle. Fabian grabbed our bags and checked us into the hotel - we stayed in the "tower room" with a view over the river below! From the outside, it didn't look like a tower, but you climbed a spiral staircase to get there, so that felt authentic. The doors were also barely taller than Fabian, proving that little medieval people once graced place with their presence.

We placed our bags in our room and ran immediately back outside to take photos before the sun set! Then we showered and got ready for dinner at the restaurant. For all the hiking, I think we cleaned up pretty nicely.

On Easter morning, we got up and enjoyed breakfast next to the window with a view over the valley. 'Twas a breakfast of (jousting) champions! We sat at the table below, nestled between the coats of arms of local villages. On the opposite side of the room was a mural of the 1408 jousting tournament of Heilbronn, depicting two local nights who took part.

After breakfast we checked out and headed to church... and completed our weekend with a marathon of the Lord of the Rings! All that is left to say is THANK YOU to my husband, who planned a wonderful weekend full of surprises. I'll have to proofread things for you more often. ;)