I had Friday (2nd of Oct) free to do some work which was good. It meant I had a little time to head to Singen (am Bodensee - Lake of Konstanz) for the weekend to visit my Oma and aunty. It was great to see them after what's been about two years. My visits always end up being a combination of hearty food, lots of coffee, walks around the area and lots of German listening. My German still isn't good enough to discuss things in two much detail sadly. A highlight of this trip was a walk up the Hohentweil with Gabi, my aunty. It was quite steep but provided a great view over Singen, across to Switzerland and the Bodensee. The big industries of Singen could also be seen easily - Alcan, Maggi and also a car axle manufacturing plant. I mention these because Singen is a very industrial town also.
The train ride from Mannheim to Singen is very spectactular. The line winds its way along the Rhine Valley into the Schwarzwald, the Blackforest. The last time I did the journey was in the middle of Winter so very cold, wet and not so green as the grasses and trees were dormant. This time the views were very green and beautiful. There are large areas of forest but also plenty of agriculture scattered along the train line. The large farm houses with their huge all encompassing roofs are very typical of the area but look great. It's a very clean and tidy part of the country. On the train there were lots of people ready to go hiking for the day. In fact it was a public holiday. Only Germans would put their public holidays on the weekend! Hopefully I get a chance to come down and do some walking also. Riding the train also gave me a good chance to catch up on emails and this blog!
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