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Update aus Deutschland

Once again the weather held up its end of the bargain: raining consistently for days on end.  I’m not sure if this type of weather is normal for Germany at this time of year (as it is in Canada).  Some locals say it is; while other’s, it’s not.  But as such, attempts to venture out during the week were mostly thwarted.  I’m sure we’ll get at least few good days so we can take some nice photos of the town we’re in.

Most of our “adventures” this week revolve around the weekend.  We travelled to Horb which allowed us to open up the Mercedes on the autobahn.  The speedometer on the poor thing is only clocked to 240 km/h–what a shame.  So far I can’t say we like Mercedes.  I’ve never liked the look of them but always assumed they were nice cars.  My hopes have been dashed as the one we have needs a bit of work.  At 140 km/h it shakes so much you would think the panels are about to fly off.  We pushed past that to 180 km/h–it’s quite nice not having speed limits on most of the highways–and the car rides bit smoother, but not much.

The longer we stay here the more I begin to question just how–or, rather, why–Germans do things certain ways.  For example, there’s weather stripping on every door inside our apartment.  German fire regulations must also be a bit more lax as the only way to lock and unlock building doors while on the inside is with a key.  I’m not exactly sure how one gets out of a burning building quickly, and hopefully I never have to find out.  These oddities are not limited to our residence alone.  As we’re in Horb, we see the very same design in the hotel.

And speaking of odd, as you’ll see in the photos below, there are miles upon miles of vineyards.  For all the grapes they grow here, I cannot for the life of me find one jar of grape jam.  No doubt the vine fruit is being used for other purposes.  Of course, we too have disappointed many German colleagues who seem perplexed by our choice of non-alcoholic drinks.

The language barrier has so far proven to not be a huge issue.  By comparison, there are fewer English-speaking people here than Quebec, but we have managed to get by most of the time.  In some of the smaller cities and towns it can become a bit more difficult, as it also can in restaurants.  Thankfully during the most difficult times we’ve had some work associates with us to translate.

This weekend we were taken on a tour of the area and had an awesome opportunity to visit Singen, which just north of the German-Swiss border.  In this city is a large volcanic mountain upon which rests Hohentwiel fortress.  This old castle was built nearly a millennia ago.  It never saw defeat but was handed over to France–they eventually destroyed it from the inside out with dynamite.  The site is incredibly impressive; I took nearly 300 pictures while there.  Some of the best shots are below.

There were several incredible observations I made while touring.  The most notable is simply how high up the mountain this castle is situated (I believe it’s 150m above the lower ground).  The rock face is nearly sheer and the path that winds up is at more than a 30% incline.  The view from the tower (the highest point of the castle) is astounding.  This, combined with the steep incline to reach the castle, really illustrates what was important from a combat perspective in that era.  You can literally see other countries from the highest point.  As well as the entire landscape leading up to the mountain.  A surprise attack would be nearly impossible.

The other aspect that was remarkable is how the fortress was constructed.  Walking through the ruins one was easily able to identify the fortifying walls and entranceways.  It’s clear that the design idea was that if an invading force penetrated one “layer” of defence, there were at least 2-3 more fortifying walls that the defending party could regroup behind.  I’ll let the pictures speak the rest of the story.

After Hohentwiel fortress we were taken to Lake Constance.  While it may be dwarfed by the Great Lakes, it is still one of the largest freshwater lakes in the European area.  There is an impressive garden area the parallels it.  We took a handful of interesting photos including some of a rather impressively-large house.  One of the best shots is across the lake.  As the day was clear (the first in weeks), we could make out the Swiss Alps in the distance.  (It’s moments like these which make me want a slightly better camera.)  These photos are located near the end of the gallery.

To start the gallery I’ve included a rather impressive view from Sophia’s office, as well as some nearby town shots.  Let us know what you think in the comments!