Lorsch Part II

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OK, that ends our little Intermission, so grab your popcorn and take a seat, its time for Lorsch Part II.

I'm going to outline the little morning routine we've sorted out in Haus Schleissman. I'll wake up somewhere between 8 and 9am. I'll head downstairs to find Marianna brewing the first pot of coffee for the day. We'll chat a bit in simple English/German and then I head back upstairs to figure out what to wear, based purely on what doesn't smell (Kidding Mum, I have actually done some washing during this trip). 15 minutes later breakfast will be on the table: bread rolls, cheeses, jams and meats. Come to think of it, we eat the same thing for dinner too. Both are family affairs, and we even see the elusive Fabian on occasion.

Anyway, enough of food. I have to voice a second complaint about building regulations in Europe. Every doorway in this house measures up to about 6'5", which I have gotten used to. However, after dinging both the front AND the back of my head on their dining room doorway, which sits at around 6'3", the Schleissmans were on the floor. I think they watched for my entrances with great anticipation after that.

So, back to the tourings of the Deutsches Land:
Heidelberg is a very nice town in typical German fashion. The age-old architecture of the shops and houses, the dark and imposing churches and cathedrals, and then a great, thumping big castle up on the hill. As we headed in the direction of the castle, we kept stopping to look around as we got further up the hill. At each turn it got more and more amazing, and by the time we got to the castle itself, I kept expecting the Demtel guy to pop out from behind a tree, "But wait, there's more!" And there was, believe me.
We trundled around till we hit the balcony overlooking the town. A truly amazing sight. We found the royal wine barrel. Another truly amazing sight. There's enough standing room on top to host a small Rave party.

Freiburg is very similar to Heidelberg, but bigger and older. There are buildings here whose foundations were placed in the 1300's! We had a lot of fun and managed to get into an old cathedral for 20 minutes before all the tourists were pushed out, as they were starting they're Mass. Incredible architecture.
From Freiburg we wended our way through the Black Forest. I will never forget this drive, though I didn't get many photos as it was raining. We stopped in a little town that made clocks, and also sold all the touristy bits.

I will post photos of these bits, I promise.

Alright, now that that's all out of the way...
Our drive to Freiburg consisted of the following ingredients: 1x Mazda 6, 1x Autobahn, 1x Bianca's uncle, 1x Bianca's uncle's lead foot. Mix well, throw in 1x upeneded tree in the middle of the road, and you have the basics. Thanks to the 6-speed, the Mazda sat happily at 3500 revs to push us along at a completely unreasonable 200kph. It was a 2-laner bahn though, and therefore a bit of a squeeze at that speed. Of course, as on every road, there was the occassional dingus who would sit in the fast lane at a paltry 140. And the tree had us at standstill for about 1/2 an hour. Still, at every occassion possible, my hero would quietly throw 4th and just push the Mazda up to kiss 220, before settling back to 200. I honestly don't know how I'm going to go back to 100/110 in Australia.
Oh and by the way Dad, there have been several offers from the Germans to swap their cars for yours, as they believe owning a Porsche anywhere with speed-limits is just laughable. Boy would you have fun over here!

Right. This is where I'll leave you for now. I'm in Stuttgart for the night, catching a 7 hour train to Lyon tomorrow and getting my car the day after. Andrea has gone back to the Schleissman's, which means I'm officially on my own.

Let the fun begin!

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Comments

[Ruanda Dewald]

Well Done!
Hi Steven Sounds like you guys have had a really good and interesting time. I have really enjoyed your amusing anecdotes of your trip. I am not reading your blog to purely 'stalk' Andrea's comings and goings in her trip overseas (as only a parent would) but your writings have really given me an insight into your travels. Enjoy the rest of your trip on your own and travel safe!