Sounds funny? But all just happened this weekend! First of all Ben’s parents came to visit. Mainly to escape the pope in Freiburg, but also of course to see their son and their beloved daughter-in-law. So of course we wrecked our brains what to do and where to take them. There is an abundance of places to visit around here, so we had to make our choices very carefully. First of all, of course we had to plan a walk, because Melba, their pretty white and peach dog, would have to walk for a bit after the drive. So we went into the vineyards around Großbottwar. They are especially pretty at this time of year, with the harvest just staring. We made our way to the Winzerhäusle on the Harzberg and there enjoyed the sunshine and the beautiful view across parts of Bottwartal. For Dinner we went to a restaurant in a fortress where we had great duck and venison. For a closer look:
http://www.burg-beilstein.de/
Then on sunday we had a late breakfast and afterwards went to see Friedrich Schiller’s Birthplace in Marbach am Neckar:
http://www.schillerstadt-marbach.de/
Marbach is a very picturesque little town, with lots of old fashioned alleys, pretty colourful houses, plenty of flowers and nice cafes. You can walk on parts of the city wall and have a nice view around. There is also a museum in one of the gate towers. And then of course there is the house Schiller was born in. You can see the tiny room and the kitchen the Schiller family called their apartment, and also a lock of Schiller’s hair, his baptism cap and a baby suit. Also his mum’s spinning wheel and hand spun and woven linen, which very much pleased the crafty person in me and reminded me, that I always wanted to learn how to spin.
At the same time there was a renaissance fair in Großbottwar, where we learned about different methods of punishment, and realized while it sounded rather minor punishment to have your fingers smashed by a thumbscrew, it could still me that you were faced with starvation as you were no longer able to work properly….subtle ways to punish people in the Middle Ages! We also bought a felted ring for Ben’s mum and a cherry-elderberry wine called “Drachenglut” for his dad.
So this weekend we managed to successfully avoid the pope (despite the fact that Ben’s parents made us a present of two “Ratzefummel”) see Schiller’s Birthplace and dive into the Middle Ages….we also went for a walk in Ludwigsburg.
We were pretty exhausted afterwards, but it was all worth it!
