Travelogue 1995 / Episode Two

Travelogue Deutschland 1995 / Episode Two

Early to Bed, Early to Rise...
I slept wonderfully last night, after the almost nineteen-hour marathon of staying awake from friday into saturday. I woke from my sound sleep at about quarter til six, and had a look outside the window of my room. The sun was just beginning to rise, but it was overcast and the light was soft and diffused. I did not need to get ready for breakfast until eight, so I laid back down and slept a bit more. At seven-forty-five my little alarm clock went off and I began preparing for the day ahead of me. Today, Martin and I would go to the little church in Zavelstein, built in the 14th century, after a nice breakfast of coffee, rolls, cheese, butter and jam. After breakfast, I dressed for church and then Martin and I began the walk down to the center of town. We arrived in at the church in about five minutes, just as the bells in the tower began ringing to signal that church was about to start. We arrived a few minutes before the pastor did.

The Evangelische Kirche, Zavelstein
Today, there were three babies to be baptized, which I guess is a bit unusual for a small town like Zavelstein. I tried to understand the pastor but soon gave up on that idea since I was only able to pick up words here and there. The singing of hymns went much better since the singing was slower and because I could see the words in the Gesangbuch ahead of time. After the service it began to rain, and rain hard Martin's father realized that we did not bring umbrellas at all, so he came to pick us up at the church. We were intending to wait the heavy rains out and then walk back, when Rolf came. We all raced out to the car trying to dodge raindrops as we hurried to the little silver VW Golf that was waiting for us about 500 feet from the church. We all jumped inside and began the drive back to the house.

A Traditional Swabian Sunday Meal
About fifteen minutes after we returned home, Martin's mother had prepared a Swabian specialty for us, called Rouladen. This dish is a mixture of pickles, carrots and spices rolled up in a piece of flat beef and then tied with a string for cooking. Swabians like lots of sauce, Martin told me, as he poured gravy sauce over his meat and potatoes. Like they say when in Swabia do as the Swabians do so I did as Martin did. After dinner we enjoyed more rich coffee and several different types of pastries. It was another nice time to sit and talk. Martin had some unpacking to do, since his things from Esslingen were just stacked everywhere in his room, and I snuck off to my room for a bit of a nap. I needed a little more catching up on German time and this was a perfect opportunity a cool, rainy day.

Kloster Hirsau
About an hour and a half later, Martin woke me up and invited me to enjoy a little snack before we went off to the Kloster Hirsau [a monastery] in the small town of Hirsau and Liebenzell Fireworks. I was still very full from dinner, and did not eat very much. Afterwards, I grabbed my camera and sketchbook and we began the drive to the kloster. In about ten minutes we had arrived at the parking lot and walked across the road to the entrance of the complex. It was interesting to see the map of the whole area that was painted under the arched doorway at the entrance. Some parts of the historic site dated back to Roman and Gothic periods, making this a very old place.

As we entered the complex, I could see an old church off in the distance, with a large circular stained glass window. This was the Mariankapelle or Chapel of Mary and just in front of it was an open area with an outer court that surrounded the large space. Along the walls of the court were arched gothic window spaces some with the window casements still in them, and some that were just openings in the wall in the shape of gothic windows. The roof of the outer courtyard was roofless in all but one place and that was just a temporary wooden roof anyway. It appeared that the outer courtyard once had a roof all the way around and that the center part of this structure was an open-air courtyard. I imagined that this open area was once been a meeting place for the monks that studied here and I began wondering what conversations might have taken place in the inner and outer courtyard hundreds of years ago.

Near one end of the place, I could see an old water system that once supplied the water for a fountain against one of the walls. We walked around the rest of complex and I saw ruins of an older and larger church called the Peter and Paul Church, which had been reduced to the first section of the wall, and a grassy area where the sanctuary had once been. Along the interior walls were stones with latin carvings in them, some with very clear lettering and some that were very worn and almost unintelligible. I could see that there were cross-shaped blocks that might have once been support beams for the roof. By the area that this ruin occupied, I imagined that it might have been quite a large cathedral at one time. On the opposite end of the monastery grounds, there was a building undergoing a restoration and it appeared to have been some kind of small castle that a private [and rich] citizen may have built. It also looked to be built in the gothic style, with large red sandstone blocks.

Bad Liebenzell and the Fireworks
A few minutes later, we in the car and were moving again, winding through the Black Forest towards Bad Liebenzell. There they have fireworks each August, at what they call the highpoint of the season. We found a parking spot on a hill just outside of town, and began to walk to the parkplatz [park place] where the fireworks were to be held. We walked around to the front gate and paid our entrance fee and walked inside the park. It was a nice place, with a walkway all around the grounds and small candles lining the path, and the a river passed along side of the grounds. The whole area was filled with trees and every so often a park bench for enjoying the scenery. We were at the farthest end of the park, when the security officer for the fireworks directed us towards the other end to keep us from getting showered from the falling firework shells. It was getting a bit drizzly so they started the show at nine-thirty, which was earlier than ten, which was listed on the posters and in the papers. The fireworks were very nice and were supported by a soundtrack from G.F. Handel.

After the fireworks ended at about ten, the rain really began falling but since we each had umbrellas we decided to find a place under a tree and relax for a while. That didnt last too long since Martin's umbrella had a few small holes that began dripping on him as the rain increased in intensity. It took several minutes to reach the car through multiple puddles and past rain soaked tree branches but we made it. It was a short ride back through the forest to Zavelstein and another wet jaunt from the car to the door of the house. I was happy to be where it was warm and dry. We took a moment to have a glass of fruit juice before heading off to bed. In my room, I spent the next hour writing a good portion of the first episode of Travelogue Deutschland since I had slacked a bit over the past few days. I felt surprisingly good at eleven German time, so I guessed that I must have not totally switched into the new time zone. Soon I finished my writing for the night, and climbed into bed.

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