Life is Good When Life is Simple

Three Days in Karlsruhe and the Black Forest

For the second leg of my five-day journey, Lukas Ebeler and I jumped on a train heading south to Karlsruhe. The city is home to the Karlsruhe Institute of Technology, where Lukas's older brother Moritz and a close friend from Hannover named Leo study. Exhausted from the previous evening and early wake up, I lugged my suitcase through the city--the handle had fallen off the night before. We met Leo and went to his apartment where we would be staying for the next three nights. I soon found out that Leo was a master at fixing things, and his apartment had all of the tools one could ever need. Within five minutes he pulled out a drill for me, and I worked on making new holes for the suitcase handle. So far my craftsmanship has held up!

Leo was the nicest of hosts. A long time friend of Lukas's, he wanted to make sure we enjoyed ourselves--and the food. We explored the campus a bit on the afternoon of our arrival and snacked on Doner Pizza (two of Germany's favorite fast-foods combined into one). It was the type of slow day I needed, and it was especially nice to go home in the evening and cook dinner for ourselves. Lukas and I did the shopping, mainly several packs of Maultaschen--a mix between a dumpling and ravioli. Sliced up and sauteed with onions, bacon, and cheese, it was delicious. 

In front of the Karlsruhe Palace with Lukas and Leo

I got to meet some of Leo's university friends. Jimbo and his Italian girlfriend came over after dinner (the only way for them to communicate is using English) with a big Italian salami for everyone to share. The next morning I met Connor and squared off agains him in Fifa. Let's just say I was a bit rusty. 

Friday we cooked a feast for brunch and slowly eased into the day. The skies were threatening rain, but we decided to make an attempt to see the royal palace. The city was planned so that the palace was the hub, with the main streets fanning out in a circle. Though it was raining by the time we finished our walk, we still managed to see the sights and snap a few pictures.

By far the highlight of my trip, however, was the hike on Saturday. We left on an S-Bahn heading out of the city, and soon the hills of the Black Forest rose around us. The hike was a fifteen kilometer, A-to-B day trip, from the small town of Gernsbach to the slightly smaller town of Bad Herrenalb. Thankfully I  had borrowed a pair of boots from Leo, because soon we left the streets and were moving upwards. After a few breaks for kohlrabi and some photos, we reached the summit. It was a solid effort of almost eight kilometers, and we were all pleased to see that the restaurant on top had not yet closed for the winter.

Looking down on the small Black Forest towns

Walking into the warm restaurant, sitting down next to the wood stove, and ordering some Black Forest Ham felt that much better after the hike up. We took a long break and enjoyed the food, playing cards all the while. It was hard to get up to leave, but we wanted to make it back to Karlsruhe to go to dinner at Lukas's brother's flat. The walk down wasn't quite as scenic as the one up. Upon reaching our final destination of Bad Herrenalb, though, we encountered a sight that made us all stop and stare. The quaint and old-fashioned spa town featured a church dating back to the thirteenth century. Outside the church was an archway, and on top of it grew a tree that must have been forty feet high. The roots ran down either side of the arch, all the way to the ground. The idea, the design, the execution--all flawless.

Never seen anything like it--the tree growing
from the top of the arch in Bad Herrenalb

A tree growing from the top of an arch? Just one of the little details that my extended stay has allowed me to discover. Those are the best moments--when something makes you say "wow." And more times than not, it's a little detail that I would have easily missed had I just been city-hopping around Europe. I am trying to see as much as I can, but the memories I take home will undoubtedly come from those times when I slowed down and found something simple to appreciate.

Lukas and Leo were so nice to me over the few days we spent together. I loved my stay in Karlsruhe, and I am glad we decided to go for the hike--no reason to sit around on a beautiful Saturday! It's getting a bit colder now, and rainy too. If that was the last glorious day of autumn, then at least we made the most of the warm air and beautiful German countryside.