Kaierberg
We headed along what was labelled the Romantic Road in the 1950s after the war. The aim was to develop a tourist route in a beautiful part of rural Germany. An initiative to uplift the spirit of the country after the devastating effects of the war. It is a 350 kilometre stretch from Würzburg to Füssen which consists of romantic quaint villages and fairytale castles set in lush green rolling hills, forests, fields and pastures. Our last Airbnb stay in Germany along the Romantic road was in Kaierberg. This was a true gem of a rural village, population around 180 with no supermarkets, restaurants or shops. The only thing to purchase here in the village were eggs from the local farm. Our Airbnb host was again very friendly and welcoming and gave us many wonderful tips. He had renovated this darling hundred plus year old house which was only across the road from his. The house was full of character and charm with a fire place, bath, quaint country finishes and a charming cottage garden that backed onto a lake full of farmed carp and singing frogs.
Each evening when the sun lowered its rays into the evening sky we would take a drink and walk out near the lake to feed the fish and play spot the frog. The song of the frog is quite harmonious. Our host also told us that a beaver lived along these waters. We had spotted a mystery lump swimming past which we thought was a large fish. It was amazing how relaxing this simple pleasure was for us.
We found the people we met in this small village extremely friendly and accepting of visitors like ourselves. The man across the road who only spoke German was eager to say hello and gave us directions which we appreciated. Our host gave us many tips and one was the local egg farm which was really just across the road. Some of our best experiences whilst travelling have been the unexpected generosity of the local people. We are thankful for the effort they go to, to try and use English with us, as once again we are the first Australians to stay here. I noted as we were walking up the driveway to the egg farm that they had what looked like a cherry tree full of ripening cherries. We had never seen a cherry tree so I was a little excited as I love cherries. We fumbled through a conversation using a little English, Germany and Charades as I asked about the cherries. The egg lady returned with a free bucket of cherries for us as she said she had 5 trees. We purchased extra large farm fresh eggs and some wonderful spiral spelt pasta. We had another heartwarming moment with our Airbnb host who, after he knew Rob was collecting beer glasses, he came back over and gave Rob a local beer stein. Rob loved his stay here as the cupboard had a full crate of local beer. You help yourself and pay 80 c a beer!! Over here in Germany you buy beer by the crate!!!
I was taken aback at the amazing recycling bins in our Airbnb accommodation. Paper, glass, plastic, tin, bio and non recycling. Our host told us that glass is then also separated into blue, clear and brown glass. We have now been recycling our plastic and glass bottles at the machine inside the shops. It is a quite fascinating machine that automatically decides whether the bottle is recyclable. You get about 25 c for beer bottles and 8 c for plastic water bottles. You then get a receipt which you hand in when you shop and it comes off your shopping bill. Fabulous so why are we not doing this in Australia???????
We had so many great chats with our host. One evening we went over to his place to see his hobby farm full of cute adorable animals. He had alpacas. They we so lovable with their slender thin necks, huge eyes and luscious long eye lashes. They were very curious and friendly. I was a little cautious at first as I had never been up close to an alpaca and I thought they were known for spitting on people. What I learnt was that when it is mating season a female alpaca will spit at a male alpaca to tell him to stay away from her if she is pregnant. When we finally did get up the courage to give them a pat they felt just like sheep’s wool. Their coats had been freshly shaved for the summer. Rob loved the fact that when he was having a conversation they would come close and put their nose in his face just like our cat Dash!!
We meet the huge pet geese who were like watch dogs as they had eggs!!! Through the well kept stunning garden forest, past the pond where the beaver sometimes sun bakes. This oasis is a little like an animal refuge as our host told us of the story of how he rescued a baby deer that could hardly walk due to having three cut legs from when a near by farmer had been ploughing his field. They called it Bambi and it became a family pet along with two other deer.
So what other pets could you have besides a collie, patch work ginger cat and raccoons in the shed?? Oh that would be an Australian marsupials!!! Seven cute knee high wallabies along with three joeys playing peekaboo out of their mums’ pouches. I got to feed them and they do lots of talking.
How unexpected to see ten pet wallabies in rural Germany. We heard a funny story of when one got out!! A like bit of a shock to see a wallaby on the road in Germany!! Definitely a highlight and they were quite tame as they are family pets. This was a great last memory of Germany. The people and places have won our hearts!! Danke to all those wonderful people we met!!!
