03.09 - Day 232 - Maisenbach, GER
Tuesday 3rd September - Maisenbach, Germany (Day 232)
An early morning walk simply confirms this is a tiny village with one pub and nothing else beyond charming houses.
After school work it’s a short 15 minute drive to Zavelstein for our next castle - this one smaller than yesterday but still impressive how much is still standing considering it was built in the late 13th century.
Thankfully the 166 stairs up the remaining tower seem at least 7 centuries newer and atop the lookout we can see a smattering of small villages amongst the forest. At the bottom, google translate tells us the signs above the still working water pumps mean Don’t Drink rather than Do and so we wander back to the car past ornate old houses, via a bakery / backerei picking up bread and our first pretzels.
We eat our baked goods 15 minutes up the road at Klosterruine Hirsau, a ruin of Monastery and what must have been a huge church given its footprint. Its scale is impressive today so we can only imagine its impact hundreds of years ago.
Rather than pushing my luck with a third ruin in one day, we carry on north 10 minutes to Bad Liebenzell to the local outdoor swimming pool as a reward / escape from the humidity. For only 12 euros for a family ticket, there are two main pools (plus a couple of baby ones), a lazy river and, most excitingly, a 65 metre long slide.
But after only 15 minutes a rumble of thunder is followed by an announcement that must mean to leave the pool. Sure enough, rain arrives and more lightning and thunder but most people wait undercover rather than leaving. In the time it takes to cross the road and stock up on food at Netto, the rain abates and the thunder pauses and we’re allowed back in.
Sienna asks the nonplussed lifeguard if he can turn the slide back on which he’s none too thrilled about as it involves him first walking up the slide brushing all the fallen leaves. We get a good hour of repeatedly going down the slide in tandem - no safety concerns on this front - and whipping around the lazy river.
Home prepped chicken schnitzel and rice for dinner, and, after more train playing it’s time for sleep.