Autumn 2004
Autumn in Europe
It has been exceedingly hectic here for most of the last month. I had been trying to work my way up the Neckar Valley from Heidelberg to Bad Wimpfen for months. I finally found my way into Bad Wimpfen — originally two smaller towns, Bad Wimpfen im Tal and Bad Wimpfen am Berg. The modern town was originally two smaller towns — literally “the Baths of Wimpfen in the valley” and “the Baths of Wimpfen on the hill.”
My first real glimpse of the altstadt was the back-side of a narrow angled fachwerk haus, and a narrow street. The big tower in town, the Blue Tower, was originally built c. 1200. It was substantially remodeled and expanded several times over the years. Several times in the history of the tower, it had great fires (1674, 1701, 1776, 1848, and 1984). From the top of the Blue Tower, I had some excellent views of the surrounding town and countryside.
The following weekend, I went to Heidelberg and got some good coverage with my digital camera. I hiked up to the tower that is just about all that's left of a 1090 St. Stephen's Monastery. From the base of the tower is a spectacular view of the Altstadt. Along the ridge I discovered historical markers for an ancient Celtic fortification, an old Nazi Party amphitheater, and the ruins of the Cloister of St. Michael — all contained within the perimeter of the Celtic walls.
It has been a crisp, cool autumn here. Unfortunately, as far as the foliage is concerned, it went almost overnight. My weekend in Heidelberg and nearby was one of the few weekends with good autumn colors on the trees.
November was a seemingly short month. Just before the first 4-day weekend (Veteran's Day weekend) we had our first snow in the air for the season. I drove up to Koblenz, and visited a scenic, historic castle on the Rhine. Following that, I worked my way upstream, and stopped at a couple more castles and walled towns.
On Saturday I drove south for the mountains — up into the Hochschwartzwald Strasse (High Black Forest Road). Further up, the snow increased, until actually on the scenic road it was the depths of winter with several inches of snow on the trees and the ground. Whole walls of snow-covered pine trees and Black Forest houses made for some beautiful pictures.
Thanksgiving arrived almost suddenly. My Church did a Thanksgiving Dinner in Heidelberg, and I participated. As is requisite of the holiday, I ate too much. Advent is upon us, and that deserves its own covering.
Charles.