August 10 – 11, 2016 (Calw, Germany)

That concludes our Japan trip as we bid farewell to the Orient. We landed in Frankfurt, Germany on Aug. 10th and took a lovely train ride south through the German countryside to a town called Calw, located on the route between Frankfurt and Stuttgart, to visit a friend.

J met us at the train station and as soon as we stepped off the train, we were greeted by a cold wind that brought the scent of pine and a crisp chilliness in the air. J had warned me about this so I had on my warmest clothes but I was not expecting it to be as cold having just come from mid-nineties, humid Japan. After we shivered a little and zipped up our jackets, we realized this was a pleasant change to the unbearable heat we had left behind; Grant and I weren’t about to complain.

The following morning, J showed us around the town she grew up in. Calw, located in the middle of Baden-Württemberg in the Northern Black Forest, is a quaint medieval town with a lovely cobble stone street running through the heart of it. I’m not sure when it was established but it was first mentioned in records dating back to 1,037. This was the perfect intro to Europe for Grant and I as it was picturesque and played directly into the images we had created in our minds of what mediaeval villages in Europe should look like.

The air was chilly on this morning too but the weather was sunny and felt like a perfect day to explore the town.  We started at one end of Old Town and made our way down main street.

There is the oldest stone bridge in Calw that crosses the Nagold River, called Nikolaus Bridge, built around the 1400’s. It supports the gothic Chapel of St. Nikolaus (the patron saint of sailors and the high seas).  The bridge also bears the bronze statue of Hermann Hesse, a Nobel Prize winning poet born in Calw.

This was a great place to take photos as it was near the river and you could catch glimpses of the town in the background.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

After having ate breakfast before we left, Grant was getting hungry again, so J led us to a pleasant cafe where I got to try a really good mocha.

 

 

Next, J took us to an old monastery where we had a good time exploring the peaceful grounds of the ruins.

The Hirsau Abbey, once known as Hirschau Abbey, is located on the northern slopes of the Black Forest mountain range. At one time, it was on of the most important Benedictine monasteries in Germany.  During the 11th and 12th centuries, the monastery played an important role in carrying out the Cluniac Reforms, a set of changes that focused on a return to traditional monastic life and encouraged art and charity work. The buildings suffered a lot of damage in 1692 during the War of the Palatine Succession, and was not rebuilt.  What’s neat is that the city holds events and concerts for the locals on the abbey grounds and while we were there, they were setting up for a concert in the evening.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Afterwards, we drove through a town called Leonberg, located northeast of Calw, and then J took us to a rustic, but popular restaurant specializing in South German Country Cuisine. The restaurant, and brewery, is called Hausbrauerrei Monchswasen. J insisted I try the spätzle, a type of soft egg noodle that the region is know for, with sausages and lentils. It was nothing like I’ve ever had before but it was delicious.

 

 

 

 

 

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