Springtime in Sauerland

Finally - with blue skies, sunshine, and a temperature above 20C - we had a taste of spring. We just spent a lovely relaxed weekend with John & Mariska and their two dogs at a holiday house in the rolling green hills of Frankenau (Sauerland, mid Germany). The house was great (see first photo below), with all mod cons, a perfectly positioned terrace to enjoy a sunny outdoor breakfast, and a view out over the valley and the village of Frankenau below.

Frankenau itself is nothing to write home about - pretty boring and uninteresting little village. On Saturday night there was no one out on the streets, and it seems all the locals (all 15 of them!) were dining in the same restaurant we were. Schnitzel paradise ;-)

Lucky then that the surrounding area has plenty to see and do - traditional villages filled with beautifully detailed "fachwerk" buildings, national parks, and a giant toboggan run!

The fachwerk technique has been used extensively in Germany and the buildings are readily recognised by their external timber frames (if you know the Tudor style, you know fachwerk!) We visited two little mediaeval villages (Fritzlar and Frankenberg), enjoying lunch on the terrace in front of one of the historic buildings of Fritzlar (the Seibel House) and ice cream in Frankenberg.

One of the highlights of the weekend was our visit to the giant outdoor summer toboggan run :-) Fun for young and (not so) old ! At more than 850m long, you are pulled up to the top of the hill by cable and then left to decide how much (or little) brake you apply as you hurtle down the hill. We all had loads of fun, and were definately not the only adults out there enjoying ourselves!

The rest of our time was spent not doing much - sipping wine in the sun, reading, and playing boardgames. Hard life huh!?

Alli xxx