Burg Hohenzollern, Bier Garten, and the Titisee

A good week it has been. The new instructor really made an effort to teach us and I learned way more this week than the week prior. On Thursday my teacher, Nathanael, his sister and girlfriend, Emily and Lisa, drove the 11 of us students in three cars to a few different places instead of class. Our first stop was a very quick one, the Atomkeller Strasse, where the Germans were trying to develop the atom bomb back during WWII. We were able to look inside through windows, a very small laboratory it was. Next was the Burg Hohenzollern. This was a large castle about 20 minutes from Horb. I posted pictures below. It was cool wandering around, but I find museums to become boring after a while.

After that we went to some Roman ruins that date back over 2000 years. We had a BBQ there and looked around. For some reason I was getting antsy so I decided to ditch the group for a while and wandered into the forest by myself. The adventure in the forest I found to be the most exciting part of the day. I wandered for about half an hour and ended up in another town, at that point I decided to head back. Wearing shorts wasn’t the best plan because the plants irritated the hell out of my skin, but oh well, when in Deutchland. By the way, that night when I was going to sleep there was a thunder storm with lightning and heavy rain, sweet.

On Friday after class a group of us Californians met at a beer garden to drink and celebrate Orlando’s 21^st birthday. The beer garden overlooked all of Horb. After a few hours we decided to walk down into Horb, I’d estimate 2km. I have a hard time sticking with a group when walking because I walk so fast, I definitely got this trait from my Oma. So I went on down the hill into Horb ahead of the rest. At one point I decided to just start jogging because it was so steep.

Once in Horb and after waiting for the group to make it down, we entered a pub and ordered some drinks. The pub was very small and one could smoke inside if so desired, and many had that desire. As time went on more and more Californians showed up. We had the pub packed, probably 30 of us, bringing America wherever we go. At one point I sat down and just so happened to lean up against a candle that spilled over, all of the melted wax befriending the back of my black T-shirt. I took off my shirt and pulled out my knife to try and scrape off the wax, it was no use. Damn.

With the mixture of my shirt getting ruined and my lack of interest in spending more money on beer, I made a decision. Outside I was with Eric and Dana. At that point I had already told Eric that I was thinking about walking home (a 12km walk, at night, in the rain). He suggested we have a cigarette before my departure and I obliged. Once my smoke was out I bluntly said “aite late” and as I was leaving Dana said something I couldn’t completely make out, but I think it was “you’re going alone” and all I said was “yup” and then I was off. Not looking back I began to jog up the hill into the darkness of the night.

A long, strenuous walk it turned out to be. I believe it took me around 2 and a half hours to make it home. Though my feet were sore, my throat was dry, and my clothes were wet, I enjoyed the alone time that the walk provided me. Once I arrived home I wasted no time and immediately fell asleep.

The following morning I woke up and went with Wolfgang and Erika to buy a bike that Wolfgang found for me on ebay. We had to travel 180km and once we arrived at our destination the husband wasn’t there and the bike was not what it appeared to be online. Long story short, I didn’t buy the bike and then we headed to the Titisee. The Titisee is a lake in the Black Forest. It’s a very touristy spot with a lot of shops and koo-koo-clocks. I put some pictures below.

After a while we decided to leave and then I passed out in the car. I woke up and we had just arrived at an Asian buffet. Man was I hungry. At the buffet one could pick out different meats and sauces and then they would cook it for you. All I ate was meat, mussels, clams, beef, and even kangaroo. The kangaroo was great and I have a new goal for the year, to try a bunch of different animals and perhaps some human as well.

Fortunately last night Wolfgang found another bike on ebay 5km away for only 30 euro and we went this morning to check it out. I ended up buying the bike.

Life update complete, my camera died when at the castle so I don’t have any pictures of the Roman ruins.

Titisee with Erika

Titisee with Wolfgang.

 En route.

 

Inside the Burg Hohenzollern.

Outside the Burg Hohenzollern.