Friday 6th November – Heiligenstadt, Germany

It has been getting cold over the last week or so but we hadn’t got to sub-zero temperatures, until today. And it did it in style, it was -4°C this morning and the grass was a sea of white frost. We decided against having showers in the stellplatz block, preferring to use our own shower in our lovely warm van. Having said that, it did take our very efficient gas heating some time to get the van to a toasty temperature.
We tried to find out more about the Rathaussturm but failed. We did however find a record of other Holy City Snails events and they all started at 11 minutes past an hour – very intriguing. We decided that we really liked Heiligenstadt and were happy to stay for three days so that we could solve the mystery of the event.
We had coffee in the town bakery yesterday and Jane spotted a sign that said that they baked wood-fired oven bread on certain days of the week and the next day is Saturday, so I will buy one of their loaves then. They also sell wood-fire oven pizzas but only on Tuesdays, so we will miss that.
Although it was very cold, it was a beautiful sunny day and we decided to go for a walk. Jane discovered that there is a Jewish cemetery on a hill above the town and this gave us an objective. We set off up the hill until we got beyond the houses and admired the castle on the next hill. The castle is open to the public but can only be visited on a guided tour that is given in German. We have seen a few castles and decided to give this one a miss. The trail was now high above the town with a rather murky view over it and we sat on one of the benches provided for walkers. Suitably refreshed, the path took us into the woods and further up the hill to a walled enclosure that held the cemetery. It was established about 1600 and the last burial was in 1900. We continued the walk down into the town on a rather uninteresting road.
There is a guesthouse in the town called Brauerei Gasthof Drei Kronen (Three Crowns) and, as its name suggests, it is also a brewery. It is very much a locals’ pub that serves food as well as beer. We both ordered the salad that came with a fried egg – it was good and the beer was excellent.
Photos: Schloss Greifenstein set in the autumnal colours; Walking up the track towards the cemetery; The walled Jewish cemetery.

Thursday 5th November – Heiligenstadt, Germany

I had spotted a stellplatz in Heiligenstadt that looked interesting. The Bord Atlas and Park4Night both mentioned that it was new and had very good facilities. It was also on route to Bamberg where we were hoping to visit.
We had a relaxed start and continued our journey along the Wiesent valley and, as the road was very quiet, we could take our time. The autumn browns, reds and vibrant yellows painted the scenery and we stopped a number of times to admire the views. A large layby gave us an opportunity for a coffee stop and a walk. A small wooden pedestrian bridge allowed me to cross the river to a railway line. This is a small preserved steam railway that has now closed for the season. A rail vehicle was parked on the line ready to maintain the track during the closed season. On my walk back, a man got in and drove it off down the line.
Eventually, the landscape started to open out a little and we left the valley heading to Heiligenstadt. Although not as spectacular as the Wiesent Valley, Heiligenstadt is pretty with a small river running through it and wooded hills on either side. It even has its own castle, Schloss Greifenstein, that sits above the town.
The stellplatz is on the edge of the town next to a swimming lake and is very pleasant. Six generous pitches are provided with electricity available if required. There is no charge for overnight stays but dumping, water and electricity are chargeable. There is a public toilet block on the site and even a shower chargeable at €1 for 5 minutes. It is all very new and in excellent condition.
We chose a pitch and then walked the very short distance into the town. Jane spotted that there was a sign saying that parking was not allowed in the market square tomorrow. That made us wonder what was happening as it wasn’t their market day. I spotted a poster in a nearby house that told us that there was a ‘Rathaussturm’ in the square tomorrow, starting at the strange time of 18:11. Translating the poster, we discovered that the ‘Holy City Snails’ invited us to a carnival parade, a performance by dance groups, music and refreshments. It all sounded intriguing and gave us a problem – should we stay for three nights to see the Rathaussturm?
Photos: This house is built into the cliff and the small building on the right is a mill, probably a saw mill – behind me is a traffic sign warning of falling rocks, which could well be a problem for the house owners; Another rock formation at Tuchersfeld; The rail maintenance vehicle; The swimming lake by the stellplatz in Heiligenstadt; The unusual interior of St. Vitus and St. Michael (built 1168 as a fortified church) with its double balcony; And its painted ceiling; The maypole in the market square was erected by the local fire brigade and, if you look very carefully, you will see two fireman’s boots nailed onto the pole.

Wednesday 4th November – Pottenstein, Germany

 Before we left, I went to the Euringer butchers that is housed in the same building as the hotel. All of the pork is from their own farms and is very good quality. The shop was very busy even though it is a small village and it was obvious that people came from other villages to buy their meat. After queuing for a while, I bought some pork cutlets and home-made sausages.
Our route north took us up the A9 motorway, turning north-west above Nuremberg and then north-east on a less major road to Echental. From that point on, our Michelin map showed that it was a scenic route, although it was pretty from the moment that we left the motorway. Having said that, it wasn’t spectacular and it was the autumn colours that made it scenic. The green (scenic) routes on the Michelin maps are very varied, sometimes they turn out to be really pretty and other times we wonder why Michelin thought that they deserved green status.
We were now in Franconian Switzerland but we were wondering why is was called that – the scenery was pretty but not like Switzerland. We turned off towards Pottenstein and the Wiesent valley. The Michelin map shows most of this road along the valley in green and, in this case, it is entirely justified. The valley here is narrow with high cliffs on both sides. Fascinating rock formations appeared as we turned the bends. As we entered Pottenstein, a castle appeared on top of a rocky outcrop and here we turned off to climb a hill to a Stellplatz where we were the only motorhome and had our choice of pitches.
We walked down the road to the village. In retrospect, it would have been better to park in the car park at the bottom of the hill and then driven to the stellplatz after we had visited the village but the exercise was good for us!
Pottenstein is a very pretty village and I am sure that it is heaving in the tourist season but it was very quiet when we were there. We wandered through the main street, admiring the architecture and looking up at the castle buildings before having a coffee at the only open café.
Photos: Coffee stop on the way – the layby had five large tourist information boards including one map covering where climbing was allowed; One of the rock formations; Approaching Pottenstein with its castle; The main street of Pottenstein.