6/29/2011 Niedernhall - Neuenstein - Waldenburg - Schwabisch Hall - Kunzelsau

Morning in Niedernhall starts with breakfast - bread, meats and cheeses (stinky cheese that will blow your sinuses off, which happens every time we open the fridge), tomatoes, "California" peppers (red bell peppers), scrambled eggs (suprisingly), and palinka (not surprisingly). This mornings entry is apple palinka with "Swiss Herb" tea added. More strongly flavored than most of the breed, after two days I'm finding it schnapps too bad (pun inteded).

My morning constitutional took me around town and then down the bike path along the Kocher River. Niedernhall was founded in the 1300's as one of the many salt mining outpost for the Roman Legions. It is a rediculously cute village - half timbered houses and antique city walls and watch towers and all. An amazing place.

Leaving town, I walked by the local schools, just starting for the day (it feels deliciously subversive to watch others work at my main occupation and not have to do it myself). The view along the river is stunning. The quaint houses are lined up down along the river. Farther up the sides of the narrow valley are rows and rows of grapes (great terroir). All of this is capped by a dense forest along the top of the ridge. It goes on like this for miles.

*****

Today is a pilgrimage of sorts. Z grew up in this neck of the woods and has lots of memories of things and places nearby. As Peter and Vera will be giving up this apartment later this year, after they complete their Hungarian citizenship, this will likely be our last visit back for a while. Between all of this and the area around us being "castle central," we have us a fine day o' sightseeing ahead - so let's get with it!

We started with the castle at Neuenstein (I'm not quite sure why they named their town after a new mug, but...). We can't see much, as "The Dude is home," Z informs me. "The Dude," in this case, is a Duke I gather. There is a pretty English garden in the back, along with some great statuary. As we are coming back through the center of the keep, the grounds keeper/tour guide invites us to check out the old kitchen.

The medieval kitchen is in pristine condition. Our friendly tour guide informs us this is because for around 30 years this building functioned as a retirement home before "The Dude took it back." The retirees never used the room, hence its great condition. "The Dude" and family bust out the room for special events.

It is a dank, bottom floor stone room, as you would expect in a castle (duh.). There is poor ventilation, which explains the black, sooty walls. The first thing you see is a big stone trench for butchering, followed by a swell little fireplace with lots of hooks and platforms for pots and pand and such. There is no chimney as such; the entire roof above the fireplace rises gently to the only opening in the roof line. You can imagine how well this works. (Or just look at the black sooty walls and don't guess!) Near the back is an oevn for bread and the like, as well as a peep hole for the servants to see if dinner was ready. They were not allowed in the room until it was. A cool look at history, and a bargain at 1 Euro a head!

From there we drove up the hill to Waldenburg. The flag is flying over the castle to let us know - you guessed it - "The Dude" is home. This "Dude," also a Duke, has a really great location, but a pretty small castle. It is located on the top of a largish hill. On a clear day, you can see all the way to - well you know.

I am amazed at how small these castles we are seeing really are. I can only imagine it must have been hell during a siege.

Down the hill we go, past Peter's former employer, Stahl. Peter was involved with the construction of this building from the beginning, and functioned as the union head for as long as he worked therte. He is well loved by his former bosses and fellow employees, and gets invited back frequently for big events.

Next up is Schwabisch Hall. It is a rediculously cute village - half timbered houses and antique city walls and watch towers and all. If you were looking for a place to film fairy tales, look no further than here.

There is a beautiful, centrally located church on the square. They use the enormous front steps to stage outdoor theatre productions in the summer - a pretty clever idea. There were rehearsals for some '60's thing going on as we walked through. Most of the shows seem to be musicals - "My Fair Lady" is on deck this summer - and mapping out choreography on the steps for dance numbers seemed to be challenging.

We had lunch in an outdoor cafe by the river. Z had a noodle and cheese thing (think high rent mac and cheese). I had a salad and a baked dish with carrots, potatoes, zuchini and red pepper in a very light tomato/onion sauce. Very nice. It was all washed down with the local suds - Haller Lowenbrau (The first part is pronounced "Heller," the second "Low-ven-btoi"), and no, it's not that one. Lowenbrau means "lions beer." As "The Dude" up the hill used to be responsible for the town, and he has a lion on his crest - Lowenbrau. They also have a pretty good time with the "Haller" part of their name in their advertising campaign, involving a nun yelling (go read the pronunciation again), until a few complained. I enjoyed a glass of their pils, Z, their wheat. Mine was light and refreshing, with a wonderful floral nose, and that great German pils bitter/sweet thing on the palate. At around 5%, it is a great session beer, pretty swell.

After lunch, we moved up the valley to Kunzelsau. It is a ridiculously cute village - half timbered houses and antique city walls and watch tower and... - look, you could use this description for most of the town in Germany. I've even started abbreviating it that way in my journal. You want fancy description, you should be reading the blog of an English teacher, not a musician (and the spelling is probably better, too!). This all said, there is less of a "Ye Old-ee" feel here, but more meaning. This is where Z went to school and grew up. Every other building elicits cries of "Oh!" or "that's where..." It was fun to watch all the memories come back for her.

The afternoon ended with cappuccinos at her favorite local coffee shop from her college days. From there we hurried home to drink another Haller Lowenbrau and watch the World Cup.

*****

The "Afternoon Coffee Ritual" and Why You Will Never Get It at Starbucks.

This is one of my favorite things about all of my trips to Europe so far. Mid-afternoon, everything stops, and you sit down for a chat and an espresso - or cappuccino or whatever. Every house, in addition to the coffee pot, has a small espresso pot to make the stuff. It is amazing what that little break in the day does for you.

You should not get the impression that what we are talking about is the Starbucks-Over-Roasted-Swill here. This is a proper cup of espresso - a tiny bit bitter, with sweet notes on top. Served in a nice little porcelain cup - it is an exquisite custom.

And it moves up a whole eighty or ninety levels when you do it while you are out. No paper cups here. You don't even go to the counter - they come to you, while you sit at the table - often in an atractive outdoor setting. Your coffee comes on an attractive little tray, in an ornate little cup. On the side is creamer and sugar in cute little packaging. A small, clear glass of bubbly water on the side, along with a sweet of some type - chocolate or espresso beans in attractive packaging.

You couldn't do this at a Starbucks = in fact they don't at the one down the street. The Americans just walk off with the stuff. Sad really.