2022年4月12日
Sequoia Giganteum. What a name! What a tree! I was always fascinated by it, The giant Redwood of California. I think there was a picture of one in our schoolbooks. A road had been cut right through the base of one tree to allow a car to pass through. I doubt that would be allowed these days. And then there was all those visits to those stately homes in England, where you would invariably encounter one or two. Maybe they even featured in Downton Abbey - who knows.
Sunday's walk took me through the Exotenwald in Weinheim. This is a special area of woodland behind the town planted with exotic trees - an arboretum. But the redwoods here are only babies compared to their relatives in California. After all, they were only planted 150 years ago. I think the Redwoods of the Sierra Nevada go back a lot further! But here there they were in Weinheim. And pretty impressive they were too.
I had originally intended to do a long hike through the Eifel this weekend, but an ominous weather forecast of rain and snow put me off. Now Weinheim is a pretty little town about an hour's drive south of Frankfurt, holding the promise of a weekend market and a few cafes to retreat to if needs be. When you are out walking on your own time passes quite differently compared to walking as a group. You have time to photograph and ponder, and greet other walkers. I'd actually already met a few soaked dog-walkers and joggers when I rounded a curve and came across these Redwood trees. I was at once reminded of a photograph which had once puzzled me. It was in a Frankfurt exhibition about photography and art in 19thc. Japan - most of the photos or prints were from Tokyo or Yokohama. But there was this photo with the title Imaichi, Nikko Road. A quiet-looking lane with a couple of guys sitting around with a cart and some boxes. Why photograph this place?
Well, you can google Imaichi if you like. You'll see it is near the town of Nikko, a couple of hours north of Tokyo in Tochigi prefecture. And here you can see parts of the cedar-lined routes which date back to the 17thc. These were part of an arterial system of routes which spread out from the capital Tokyo (or Edo as it was known then) to important centres in the newly-unified Japan. The trees were planted to give travellers shade and protection against the elements, and the route to Nikko http://www.oldtokyo.com/cryptomeria-road-nikko-c-1910/
was of special importance, because it led to the mausoleum and temples of the founder of the Edo-period: Tokugawa Ieyasu. A pilgrimmage road for Shogun and Daimyo no less. When I was in Nikko three years ago I rather overlooked these solemn tree-lined routes. But I remember climbing the many steep steps up to Ieyasu's final resting place. A quiet grove high up on the hill surrounded by red cedars - sugi 杉 - cedars which are close relatives of Sequoia Giganteum.
But back to Weinheim. It was Palm Sunday - sort of daffodil and bunnies time of year you would think. Aha.....yeah, really cosy feeling here....brrrrrr!🥶
The local castle, Burg Windeck, reminded me a little of Durham cathedral from afar.....
Overall, the Stimmung (good word that........atmosphere 雰囲気 ) was more Nordic gloom than sunny Bergstrasse.....
Coming down to the town out of the woods I was looking forward to seeing the famous Schlosspark, but the local authorities had decided otherwise...
Closed due to snowfall? Oh for heaven's sake.
Time for that coffee. I found a very snug cafe with a charming name....Cafe Fräulein Männl...and was served a huge warming cappucino.......wonderful.............aah!☕
Then out again to investigate the town. The weather was atrocious - rain and hail.
But despite this there was a market underway - including this stall selling local venison and wild boar sausages.
Not being quite ready for a venison roll I wandered round a bit and considered what on earth I would do with this........
Baa, Baa, black sheep.......But there were only 2 bags full on this occasion 😕.
I will have to return here on a nice summer's day😅.
Well, so much for Sunday's walk. Back to the car and soon on the Autobahn heading home. But as soon as I crossed the boundary into Hesse the sun suddenly came out. What a transformation! The next exit saw me turning off the Autobahn into the hills again. And I swear - the following photos are taken only 2 hours after that Nordic gloom.....climbing above Heppenheim..the skies brighten....
And then a ramble around Burg Starkenburg. A classic German Burg. They make very good Youth Hostels it seems - judging by this one....
I suppose they throw the unruly youth in here after a rowdy party...
Now that Covid restictions have been relaxed you can go up the towers, which is fun...
雨が降ったみたいです....well yes, it has certainly rained! On the climb up you can peep out of the windows...
There's a great view at the back towards the Odenwald.....
local flora.....
and a view towards the entrance.....
Even the moss looks friendly in the sun.....
THE END 終わり
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