Unwrapping the New Year

It was reasonably warm given the time of the year, and after wrapping ourselves in several layers of gear we ventured out on our first road trip of 2014.

Twisty and partly slippery (!) roads took us to castle Landeck, which I had previously visited on a solo trip with my Sportster. As it was new terrain to Roland we stopped there for little bit of sightseeing.

It was a most welcomed break, because the exercise of climbing the steep and uneven staircase of the ruin got us warmed up again. Instead of overcast skies, which was what the weather man predicted, we were blessed with a bright blue heaven.

Warmed up again we were ready to continue our journey, and 'asked' TomTom for directions. On our way home the GPS would lead us through bare-branched vineyards.

An ancient looking moss covered stonewall caught my attention. This wall was indeed old, and so were the tombstones behind it. I failed to decipher the inscriptions, but the symbols looked somewhat familiar: This place turned out to be of Jewish origin.

The Jewish cemetery had been founded in the 17th century. Between then and 1941 it became a last resting place for almost three thousand people. About 2,500 head-stones are still preserved, the oldest being from 1701. In it's time it had been the largest cemetery in the South Baden area, and relatively unscathed despite the several wars and quarrels of the last centuries.

 All in all we rode 97km (60mls), and spent three hours in fresh air, at temperatures around 5C (41F). 

It was a good start into the new riding year!

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Auf ein Neues!

Unser erster Vespa-Ausflug in 2014. Relativ mildes Wetter machte es möglich. Wir besuchten Burgruine Landeck bei Teningen, welche Roland noch nicht kannte. Die Straßen waren ein wenig rutschig, aber wir vermuteten, eher wegen Moos oder Öl, als von Reifglätte. Das Wetter wurde immer besser und wir genossen die Sonnenstrahlen, auch wenn es nicht wirklich warm wurde… 

Auf dem Rückweg befragten wir unser Navi nach einem anderen Weg. Dieser führte uns durch kahle Weinberge und bei Kippenheim an einem von Moos bedeckten Mauern umrandeten jüdischen Friedhof vorbei. Es soll der größte in Südbaden sein. Von Mitte des 17. Jahrhunderts bis 1941 fanden dort fast 3000 Menschen ihre letzte Ruhestätte, und etwa 2,500 Grabsteine sind aus dieser Zeit erhalten. Mit knapp hundert km und drei Stunden an der frischen Luft bei etwa fünf Grad Celsius hatten wir einen guten Start ins neue Jahr.