Loose ends and outtakes
It was a great trip in so many ways, but there’s always something isn’t there?
I mean, it had only been a short flight and we didn’t have far to go once we’d picked up the rental car, but somehow we always want to get going! It always feels like miles to walk to the rental desk and then again to the actual vehicle. As usual, we get in, I take photos and we make adjustments thinking “we’ll get used to it”. But this time, we didn’t. The Chinese built MG was underpowered, uncomfortable and we made a mental note to never accept another! My Hero sat low in the car in a kind of fast car driving pose, whilst I sat high and upright, both of us unable to change the seats except for forwards and backwards. We must have looked like Laurel and Hardy!
Anyway, in drawing a line under our German trip, I realised I had a few loose ends to tie up before I was ready to move on, so here we are.
Whilst in Augsburg, this beautiful building was not so far from our hotel and we passed it often. It’s the Weavers Guildhouse and though it appears to be not as old as we had thought, it was, nevertheless, quite a landmark with its lavishly decorated walls. The thing is, however much I tried, I never managed to get a decent photograph of it, so it didn’t appear in my blog post. I always seemed to cut off the gable end or manage to get it at such a weird angle that it couldn’t be corrected.
Once home and uploading my photographs to my desktop however, I found this one. Better late than never, eh?
Also whilst reviewing photos from Augsburg, I realised that I didn’t include anything from inside the cathedral. We’d been to the Fugger museum and just stepped inside for a few minutes. I pottered around, appreciating the light and finding this small altar arrangement particularly attractive. That was before I realised the significance of the leafy branches placed around it.
Opening the door to leave the cathedral, however, the heavens opened with a sudden downpour. With quite a walk across town to return to our hotel, we stood with a few others under the shelter of the cathedral porch until the rain eased off. Those wet streets and sudden lack of traffic was quite remarkable, especially since in a few minutes it had all returned to normal again.
One thing we missed was the stunning “Bath House” in the Fugger Houses next door to our hotel. How could that be? Well, yes, visits are by guided tour only, but only when we were home and looking through photos did I spot what we missed. Hmmm. Next time?!
Moving on from Augsburg, a traffic accident? Well, only at the Märklineum model railway layout, thank goodness! The Märklin factory and visitor centre made a good stop on our way from Augsburg to Reutlingen and we enjoyed an hour or so there.
We couldn’t be in Germany during early June - Spargelzeit - without enjoying plenty of asparagus! We have plenty of locally grown English green asparagus at this time of the year but seldom see the white variety loved by our European friends. I chose it from several menus in standard format: usually about half a dozen stems of white asparagus with boiled new potatoes and hollandaise sauce, with the option of a small schnitzel or a fillet of salmon to accompany it. Delicious.
I took few photographs of Reutlingen since our days were filled with music, but on each journey from our hotel we passed by this beautiful brick building. I tried several times to snap a picture but this is the best I got. Now a restaurant, it was built as a fire station, hence the “One for all - all for one” motto in the bricks.
Sometimes, I snap a photo along the way and later realise I have no idea where it was taken. I know, from the order of the images, that it was in between Reutlingen and Ulm, but that’s as far as I can get…unless Google Lens can help, that is. And of course it can: within seconds I discover that it’s known as the Postillion, it commemorates postal workers in Germany and that it’s on a bridge in Neckartailfingen. I will add my guess that the bridge is over the river Neckar then!
I know that this photograph was taken in Blaubeuren and that I had so many images from that lovely place that this one didn’t make the edit! Looking back though, I thought it curious: yes, by all means paint a mural of some kind on the gable end of one’s house, but paint all those cracks too? I thought that quite strange! Perhaps the owner is a painter and decorator, advertising his services?
The photo above, taken in Ulm, most certainly comes from the outtakes folder. How is it that one can stand in front of a building and frame the view through the arch so badly? (It’s the Police HQ in Ulm, btw) I have no excuses.
I mentioned roadworks in Stuttgart, but at the junction by our hotel in Ulm they were also rather challenging, not only when driving, but somehow, even worse when trying to navigate one’s way through on foot. I was glad that a local woman was heading in the same direction as us so we could accompany her across the trickiest bit!
With one last day to spare in Ulm, we asked in the tourist office where they recommended.
“Blaubeuren” was the unanimous answer! But we’d been there already and when pushed for a different answer, it was clear, the two women were struggling. Eventually one said “Wiblingen”, where there’s a monastery with a spectacular library. She handed us a map and leaflet which were really helpful. The following day, not only was Wiblingen on our route but also “Fuggerstadt Weissenhorn” - what, more Fuggers?!
We didn’t get off to a good start. There was just one space left in the car park and though every other space had a name on it, this one appeared to be available…or? It was inbetween two spaces allotted to the company with the two green and white vans, but there really was no name! We decided to risk it and walked to the entrance.
The library was to be found upstairs…not only was there no lift, but no handrail either! Arriving at the ticket office, a “brisk” woman explained it was on the second floor…
Indeed it was, although the lack of information and explanation meant that we simply gazed and admired for ten or fifteen minutes before retreating to review the exhibition next door…
a model of the Kloster in LEGO!
And there, in the Kloster garden a music festival was taking place. Have you ever seen so many LEGO minifigs?!
Is it wrong to come to an historic library such as this and then find more enjoyment in a room filled with LEGO models? But the bigger question was, had our nasty car been towed away?!
(Thankfully not!)
Perhaps one of the reasons why we’d been less motivated to make an effort with Wiblingen was that we planned to visit Fuggerstadt Weissenhorn?
We pottered about the small town, enjoying a look around the large church here and hot drinks and cakes in the baker’s nearby.
But what of the Fuggers? It was clear that the “Fuggerstadt” label had not been given without reason. We took a look at some information outside the Town Hall and the answer was there.
Fuggermuseum: under construction.
For now, it seemed that there wasn’t anything to see here. Never mind.
Time to go home. It was almost as though the Weather Gods had decided to send us a message. Here too was one last reminder of how glad we’d be to say goodbye to this bright blue MG rental car - the windscreen wipers were next to hopeless!
We always love to travel, but there’s nowhere quite like home. Not only that, but in the words of my sweet Mum, “You have to go home so you can look forward to the next trip”.
Exactly!
