The next morning we were up early, breakfasted and ready to leave with our Frankfurt hosts when they left for work at 8.30am. It was strange not to have our bikes or heaps of gear as we walked through the city centre taking photos of the carried sculptures as we went. Once at the train station we stored our gear so we could be unencumbered tourists until time to catch our train south at 1.40pm. Sat a while in a couple for cafes writing postcards and drinking tea as too hot to be good tourists!!
The train we were to catch was originally delayed by 10 minutes then cancelled so we lined up at information to find out which next combination we could take that would get us to Kaiserslautern on time to meet Anne. So …… we get a chit to say that our train was cancelled and we wait about an hour for next combination. And guess what!? Once on that train it became delayed so we missed our intended connection and had to wait 30 minutes for next connecting train. Still we arrived in time to meet Anne but she and Kader had had a flat tyre so we’re delayed 1 hour anyway! A day of delays and of exercising patience.
No matter, we had a lovely evening with Anne and Kader at the cottage they had rented in a rural village, Hahnweilerhof [link], about 20 minutes drive from Kaiserslautern. We went for a walk up to the forest edge, spotted a deer on our way and talked with a goat family through a fence (3 very cute kids).The cottage is the bottom half of an upstairs apartment and next to it are three other units permanently lived in. Across the courtyard is another cottage ….. making up quite a little community out of what was once a farmyard and farmhouse. Around our complex are numerous other houses and farm buildings with a narrow road winding through the hamlet.
Thur: The next day Anne lead us on a walk through the forest to Falkensteiner-hof restaurant where they serve the most delicious dumplings – both sweet and savoury – after 6+km up hill and down dale they and the beer that accompanied them were well deserved. The Donnersberg forest is very open woodland with Imbach dotted throughout and a myriad of well marked trails one could follow. Very important to have a map to know which route will take you to the Imbiss or cafes one finds on the edges.
Back at the cottage after a 6km return walk we enjoyed a quiet cuppa while Anne prepared our dinner repast to which her brother’s family we coming.
As it was a warm evening, Caroline and I set up the table and chairs outside under the tree so all 8 of us could dine in true summer comfort. The roast vege with feta salad and green salad with fresh bread was delicious – Anne has a knack of making the most amazing salad dressings. Yum. Her niece, Caroline had contributed delicate gluten free peach custard flans and huge meringues for dessert so we were well fed in the evening as well as for lunch!! It was lovely meeting Anne’s brother Ralf, sis-in-law Birgit and two nieces……. the older one, Caroline we’d heard much about in terms of her baking skills whilst the younger one, Sabrina we learnt is studying to be a chemical technician. I also made friends with one of the cats of the village, a talkative tabby. The evening ended when darkness fell and we had to move inside. A lovely day had ended.
Fri: It was another hot night so tossed around a bit and awoke early so went for a walk around the garden and took photos of the pile of old bikes stored at the bottom of the garden. Talked to my friend the tabby cat.
Another walked planned on the other side of the Donnesburg so all 4 of us drove round and walked up passed the convent up and up to get wonderful views over the Rhine Valley. A rather extraordinary metal arch, built to celebrate the defeat of the French in 19C, framed the view once at the top. Back down to Dannenfels village for lunch at Cafe Anno – huge cheese sandwiches and massive pieces of cake (mine was a plum strudel cake) washed down by lovely Darjeeling. All in the shade of a huge old oak tree.
We were dropped off back at the cottage using the time to work on diaries and plan for Canada while Anne and Kader went to visit Anne’s mother to celebrate her 82nd birthday. They returned early-evening and we shared a home-made pizza & salad meal, again outside enjoying another peaceful, warm evening.
Sat: Mid-morning Anne and Kader drove us to her home town of Ramstein-Miesenbach. It is known as an American Airbase and their presence has transformed her home area over the years since WWII. In the old days most people worked in mining or were turf diggers or farmers or foresters. When the Americans came they actually drained a swamp in order to build their huge runway and developed barracks for their troops. Many more locals went to work for the Americans. We had a lovely walk around the town, visiting the two homes she lived in and the schools she went to. Called in on Anne’s friend Klaus and Marita, enjoying nibbles and apfelschorle with them under the pergola in the neat, well planted garden.
Back in time to welcome Anne’s sister and her family for afternoon tea again in the garden under the trees to shade us from the hot afternoon sun – got up to 29C. Lovely to meet Michaela, her grandson little Maxim, his parents Andreas & Larissa, and stepdaughter Noelia. While the others went for a walk Caroline and I again worked on planning our Canadian trip …… I fear we may have left it rather too late. At least we have accommodation in Montreal sorted!!
When they returned we went to the local golf complex for our evening meal. I really enjoyed a goats cheese green salad, himbeer-schorle (recipe) and all of us got a gratis Mirabelle tart and ice cream dessert. Yum. Left as the sun was setting.
Back at the cottage we packed up our gear, chatted a while before heading to bed. Another warm night’s sleep.
Sun: I got up and showered before the others awakened as knew we’d have a busy morning packing up to head back to Berlin. It was lovely to sit outside and wander in the garden before anyone else in the village was up – was joined by my talkative tabby friend.
Once breakfasted Caroline and I completed our packing then helped with the cottage clean up. With a farewell from the landlady we set off just after 10am for a speedy 8 hour journey along the autobahn to Berlin. Sundays trucks are not allowed on the autobahn so we saw many trucks parked up at the numerous parking bays – truckies picnicking or cleaning their vehicles while they wait for midnight.
The day was hazy so the views were not very distant but we could see the varied landscape we passed through. Solar farms, many, many wind turbines, farmland with maize fields, huge vineyards in the Palatine, many signs pointing to places of interest. As we neared Frankfurt we passed under the runways of that vast airport, and then wound our way around a couple of autobahn ‘spaghetti junctions’. Also saw a huge mountain of potash called Monte Kali.
After about an hours driving we slid to a sudden halt as traffic built up ahead of us due to road works reducing the three lanes to one ….. with no warning. We were rather shocked by the lack of traffic management as we were still stuck 1.5 hours later when we were finally able to turn off the autobahn, find a petrol station, fill up, go to toilet and get an ice cream before finding another route back onto the autobahn further along the route. Luckily we had plenty of food and water on board to keep us from going hungry or suffering dehydration. I must admit to being a bit freaked by the speeds one drives at in Germany 130km/hrs does not make me feel comfortable 🤐😣🤐.
And then the next thing you know we’re in another traffic jam (stau) time due to an accident. Crawling along slowly until we could see the traffic management trucks turning us off the autobahn but then we see cars going back up the ramp onto motorway so we follow …….. bad move as this time we found the traffic completely halted as the road had been closed completely while they cleared the accident which was between two trucks and a small car. Time for food and exercise on the roadway along with everyone else!! A number heading up the bank for a pee. Halted for an hour forty! Hot day, too – so glad we had plenty of water. 😥😣
Once started it was a slower journey as so much traffic needed to be cleared but soon enough we were back up to 130km/h. Haha! Not for long as we kept coming across road works that took us down to two lanes with the last major ‘stau’ just as we entered Berlin. This last one was due to an accident. At least there were other points of interest that we saw and Anne explained to us like the differences that can still be seen between west and east German housing and the greater amount of farmland in the old eastern part. This was most noticeable as we drove out of the very long and deep tunnel Jagdberg Tunnel that was built since reunification to be faced by long blocks of soviet era housing. We also passed through the old checkpoint into West Berlin Checkpoint Bravo.
Finally arrived to Anne’s home at 10pm – 12 hours after we left.
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