Flipping freezing today - not what we ordered at all! Only reached 11c all day and rained for the morning but that thankfully went away around lunchtime. The shower block on the campsite was most unwelcome today and we became chilled to the bone afterwards. If its the same weather tomorrow we are going to stay dirty!
Not to be deterred though we have still been out and about to sightsee around the area - ending up in good old McD's in Norlingen to upload the pictures (see the previous blogs now that photos are on there) - and write up the blog. Also need to send a few emails after this.
First stop was Donauworth, a town about 18km from Wemding. It is a town between two rivers and we had a walk around there. Spent some time at a farmers market - Spargel (asparagus) is everywhere at the moment - white and green. Also a peculiar feature of this and some other towns we have visited is that small branches from larch trees are put outside shops and hotels in buckets of water, or simply fastened to the walls. They do add greenery to the streets but it is a little odd and we don't know why yet - but plan to find out if possible. Also every village and town have a very tall - approx 60ft tall, straight trunked conifer with all but the very top branches stripped bare, leaving only an umbrella type top, looking a bit like a very tall Christmas tree. The trunk is decorated in various ways with all sorts of things. We will try to photograph one for you to see. We don't know what they are about either but need to find a local who can speak some English to explain to us - not many seem to do so around here.
Next on to Harburg which is noted for its old, well preserved castle. You will see in the picture that after Steve had raised the portcullis he had a hard time pushing open the big gates for us to get in - but he did it! There was nothing special about the rest of the town so we moved on to Norlingen.
This town is another walled city with gates at the north, south, east and west and a covered sentry walkway. It does not have half as much charm as some of the other cities though and there is much more new build in it too which dilutes the charm even more. We stopped off for a beer in a most beautiful building which turned out to be a coffee house run by a religious community called the Twelve Tribes. No booze sold so we had a coffee and a long chat with the lady serving us. She told us that all income from members of the community is shared out and they live by the principle of forgiveness and submission. We were pleased to encounter their aspects on life but the no beer scenario did not impress Steve at all - so we won't sign up.
One other interesting point about Germany (and Holland actually) is that there are no independent butchers in the towns. All supermarkets have a butchery counter but the quality is not good - like Tesco I suppose. However, today we found a covered market with what looks like great steaks and even some liver - the first we have seen on our trip. We will eat the steak tonight and let you know. The liver goes in the freezer for later.
Having had our milk shakes and completed this blog we will head off back to the camp and eat the steak - talking about it has made us hungry. We will see what the weather brings tomorrow before we commit ourselves to anything - although it will not keep us from exploring - thats what waterproofs are for.
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