This fine Saturday morning I awoke to another sunny, beautiful day! It did rain overnight though and still was a bit humid. I did not have to be anywhere until 1 pm and enjoyed a leisurely breakfast with the Pfiefers. My favorite new discovery is Nutella! I had never tried the stuff and so this morning I slathered it on my pretzel bread. It was delicious, tasting rather like chocolate frosting and it was great with the salt on the pretzel bread! I think I could even use it for frosting on cake or brownies it is tat good! It definitely will be making it into my shopping cart from now on! Mmmmm! Everyone in the family had a busy day planned and soon we would all be heading separate directions, but first I had journaling to do before it gets away from me.
Also this morning, Jasmine and I were planning a walk around her village of Oberndorf population about 1,400. We started out toward the path up to a high point above the village. Up we climbed, stopping once along the way to breathe, and finally reached an awesome lookout spot. The village lay below us and the sight was truly beautiful as red roofs looked back up at us. Also at this point was an outdoor Stations of the Cross but Jasmine and I had to get going and went on without visiting them all.
We walked all through the town and peeked in the little bakery where fresh bread smells wafted out and a little butcher shop had people doing their early morning shopping for the weekend. There was a darling fishpond where goldfish of all sizes swam and a barn that must have been 200 years old stood. It was fun to see! And everywhere were more flowers! I must plant more flowers next year, because it is so darn beautiful to see then en masse.
We visited the Pfeifer’s Catholic Church. It is quite beautiful and old and very ornate. Except for the altar that is. The altar is made from plain cement blocks! Yes, cement blocks because during WWII some church members buried it and then when they went to dig it back up they didn’t remember where it was. I don’t know if the person doing the burying died or what, but nevertheless, the altar is still missing.
The next OMG moment was The Hohenzollernn Castle. It sits atop a small mountain and overlooks a huge amount of ground and several villages. We were able to tour the castle at our leisure but had to wear these really attractive and huge grey slippers that were so big they fit over men’s shoes! Anyway, we saw their bedrooms and living quarters and the King’s offices and a treasure room filled with, well, treasure! Silver pieces, a jewel encrusted crown, a scepter, and medals, uniforms and snuff boxes and on and on!
We were lucky to have been there at the time of a falconry exhibit. Those beautiful birds were flying all around our heads diving and whirling at the mouse parts being used to lure them. I was also amazed by the giant ivy plants growing everywhere. Some of the stems of the plants were the size of small tree trunks! No kidding, these trunks were several inches around and the ivy grows from that. I have also seen lots and lots of blooming ivy! I did not even know that ivy bloomed, but I assure you, it does!
My evening was spent at home with my home stay family and we sat and talked into the evening after a delicious dinner of goulash. I could not have asked for nicer folks to stay with! Thank you Pfiefer family!
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