The BIG Trip

Another beautiful clear and crisp morning in Schwabisch Alp. After a leisurely breakfast around 10am we four headed into Tübingen after picking up some bretzel for later. First mission was to find a carpark – success! Then we wandered into the old town – past a flea market, many shops, the river (filled with tourists punting and rowers training), parks and character buildings as we made our way to the cathedral. It was the most wrapped up one we have seen so far – loads of work being done on restoration. After we had a look around it we headed up the hill to the castle. Great views, inspiring architecture, fun exploring little passageways and more sunshine. We ate our bretzels, looked at archery areas, turrets, wandered around until deciding to head back to the old town. The path we were following eventually petered out into nothingness so we took a couple of off-road options through mud, felled trees and of course some stinging nettle! Off through the old town via a second hand book store where Bray discovered an awesome wee book published in 1824 and written in old German then to find coffee for Maren & Simon before a gelato stop for Bray, Roni & Simon. Time then to laze by the river in the sun. Much fun had experimenting with settings on our camera, chatting, people watching, almost napping, playing in autumn leaves and general relaxation. The sun was waning so we decided to go back towards the cathedral and find a place to eat maultaschen. This local speciality was something Maren & Simon had been telling us about for days and we were all four very excited about it. The first place we tried was called Weitshaus Lichenstein – every time we hear Lichenstein it reminds us of Knight’s Tale! They were all out of mailtaschen as everyone who comes to Tübingen wants to try it so on we went down some little side streets until we found Gaststätte...who had maultaschen...yay! We shared a maultashensuppe (soup) for starters then the maultaschen arrived...it is hard to explain...almost like meat dumplings cut into rounds but with thin pastry outer shells...served with a heap of salad too. Roni got the fleischkäse (pink meat thingee we had tried at the butcher another day) so Bray still got fries and we all tried a little of everyone’s meal. SO full after that though!! Back out on the street – the sun had gone and temperature definitely getting lower – beanies on and walking in pairs to keep warm. Car was still there with no ticket – always good. On the road to Engstingen again...we bought some kai for Sunday dinner on our way home (grocery stores in Konstanz etc probably going to be closed) along with snacks for later. On our return to Andrea’s place we played cards, hung with Pluto the cat, had a few snacks and drinks as we played more games and caught up with Maren’s Aunt Andrea & cousin Samira when they got home. Bedtime at the end of seeing Samira’s travel pics from France & Spain as Simon already crashed out on the couch and we were all ready for bed!