The Weinberg - Day 4

August 21
Dad got up extremely early to take Inge to the station and returning with dad were Sylvia, Theo and Rosie. The train ride all the way from London was of course very exhausting for Sylvia so we let her have a nap while we took the kids out for a walk up the Weinberg.
The base of the Weinberg was surrounded by farms, mostly arable and the few cows around were kept under cover. Orchards covered the lower slopes. Apple trees with heavy fruiting boughs supported by stakes. Plum trees dropped their fruit across the ground. The hill rose steeply making Rosie's buggy hard to push. The first stop were the beehives. This was high density living for bees with maybe 40 compartments stacked up in a grid. We stood in the flightpath for a minute but Theo wasn't so sure so we moved on upwards. A new hut had been built apparently to support the wine trade. A stack of leaflets advertised the wine festival in Backnang next week. Nice timing! I tasted a couple of the grapes.

From TamPicsBacknang2008

They were small and sweet and full of pips. We went up a little further and when we got to the top Rosie got her energy back and we had a ramble around the vines.

From TamPicsBacknang2008

A chap was in the middle of the vines clipping away and many bunches lay rotting on the ground. It looked like a big waste of grapes but the extra air and light reduced the risk of fungal diseases and let the remaining fruit swell and ripen properly. Up in the Weinberg was an ideal place for eagles and occasionally we would hear a screech as one rode the thermals over us. On the trip down we sampled some of the plums.

When Sylvia recovered from her train journey went off to see Hilla. She now lives in a tidy block of flats with a pleasant garden.

From TamPicsBacknang2008

Horst was there being a splendid host. Christel turned up too with Andy. Hilla had a great spread of cakes and coffee. She also had little bottles of condensed milk which was an innovation. The last time I saw Hilla 32 years previously the same brand milk was in little cans. Horst had a big supply of stuff for the kids. An extensive collection of dinosaurs were in the toy box and soon were all over the floor. Before we left, the children had all been given some new toys and the adults had bottles of wine AND we also very generously had the loan of Christel's car for the remainder of the holiday.
In the evening a bright yellow hot air balloon balloon took advantage of the warm calm conditions. It sported the tool manufacturer name Kärcher. The kids took advantage of the sat tv and watched the cartoon network in German.