A dramatic sky as sun is setting on the evening of July, 17th. I placed the digital camera on the hand rail of our patio and tried three different modes - "automatic" (1), "moonlight" (2) and "mountains" (3). Can't decide, which shot is the best...
Okay: The plan was, to put the camera on the right position, then hit its delayed-action shutter release, run away and get the best picture of a dignified steam locomotive, I've ever taken! Well - imagination and reality did not really match. Either the ancient train was too slow or my camera was too fast. And when the engineer saw me on the middle of the single-track rail route, he blew me of the tracks with his bugle.
So I had to find a saver place and took some pictures of the Schwäbische Alb Bahn on the footbridge of Blaubeuren's railway station.
The sky above Ulm is very dark early evening on July, 7th. Driving back home from work, I decide to get out of the way what seems to be an alien starship out of Roland Emmerich's blockbuster "Independece Day". Maybe I'm a little bit afraid of hail, too...: New automobile, too much noise of ice-cubes knocking on the car's tin plus I already had the experience of being caught in hail storm some years ago. So instead of taking the direct way home, I pass the edge of the frightening tempest on a roundabout route on the Hochsträß, the "high road" of the Swabian Alb. The colours of the scenery up there are surreal! Too bad, I only have the small camera of my cellphone with me. And a local newspaper published an impressive photo gallery of the approaching thunderclouds.
On our way through Münsingen we notice some strange dwellings near the edge of the woods. They look like tipis. Driving closer, we also notice covered wagon and circus trailers, colourful painted, and, furthermore - yurts! What is that - an adventure club? Right here, in the middle of the Swabian Alb? We stop the car, drive by and check with some workers. The area turns out to be a just recently (June 1st) opened camping site with some slightly different offers for accommodation, called "Hofgut Hopfenburg". It's philosophy is to provide the appropriate surroundings for taking your time out and finding inspiration. Just dream, relax and enjoy - a mantra not too bad for recreation, I guess.
Just half an hour away from our domicile, the Große Lautertal (big Lauter valley) offers caves, castle ruins, trails and bikeways within intact and green (at least during summer) nature. An idea for a nice trip is the old castle Burg Derneck near Hayingen which is run by the "Schwäbischer Albverein" (Swabian Alb Club, Europe's biggest hiking association). During the season, it offers cheap accommodation for everybody - but make sure to reserve well in advance, since the old mansion is always booked out very early!
Great fun: the bobsled run in Donnstetten, in the middle of the Swabian Alb. It's a throughout-the-year-run, you can ride it whether it's winter or summer. Buckle up, loosen the brakes and speed up to 40 kilometers per hour (about 25 mph) on the 1160 meters long way down the green hill. Scream. Loudly!
I tried to take a video of the ride - more or less successful:
There is also another toboggan run just six kilometers away in Westerheim, combined with a small animal and amusement park. But the whole facility seems a little grubby - we don't recommend it.
Rather by accident than on purpose (actually we got lost on the way to Schopfloch) we ended up in Bad Urach, a cosy village within the Biosphere Reserve Swabian Alb. Bad Urach is mainly known as a spa and for its waterfall, hidden at the end origin of a gorgious green valley. Easy to walk, perfect for relaxation and inviting for taking pictures - June 23rd, 2011.
On warm, dry days I usually take the scooter to ride to work. My scooter, which does not more than 45 kilometres per hour (or 28 mph), is tardy and noisy, but nimble. It allows me to avoid the big main roads and to ride trails, that are not necessarily provided for motorized vehicles... One of them is a scenic shortcut through the Blau valley near Arnegg. Here's a jittery video of it.
Nice: We detected another great viewpoint, south of the city. So this is just the sight of our hometown Blaubeuren on a marvelous spring day... You may click on the pictures to see them in full size.
Although we live in a rural area, surprisingly there is no farmer in our small town. Instead, our fresh milk and yogurts are delivered to our front door twice a week by a dairyman located in Markbronn, a village just a few miles away. Once a year, he opens his dairy farm ("Molkerei Mäckle") for friends and customers. So we went there to say "Hi!" to all the brave cows, whose milk feed our daughters in the morning.
