I had decided on this week to be the the week when I head out for the first time by myself on a train. I had no idea where I wanted to go but thought that the cheap Länder-Ticket was my best option at 21 Euros for as many trains I need to take within Baden Württenberg between 9am and 3am, if there are more than one of you going it is even better value as you can get a ticket for up to 5 people for just 29 Euros. C N Heidelberg from Heidelbergerin suggested Bad Wimpfen and the name amused me so much that I just had to visit.
I got up at 6am, to catch a lift in to Stuttgart with Uwe and he dropped me at the station so that I had no excuse but to go through with the trip, even though I'd had a niggling sore throat since the night before. I knew if I put it off then it was likely to be weeks before I built myself up to doing it again.
I managed to order myself a Brezel and a Chai Tea Latte for breakfast, my English vowels breaking through the English words on the menu. The Latte was served with a straw and although I had learnt early on in life that hot things should not be drunk through a straw unless you don't want to taste anything for a few days, the addition of the straw in the first place was temptation enough to try again, although only a mini sip which confirmed that it needed to be removed.
I had expected the station to be much busier than it was but then again it is a terminal station that people commute to rather than from on a daily basis. The platforms are open so that loved ones can see you off on a long journey from the platform edge, which now is something to be seen in period dramas back home, unmanned ticket barriers blocking our way.
At 9:15am I was on the train and on my way. The ticket lady came around and stamped my ticket and then handed me a pen for me to write my name on it, obviously at first I wrote my name in the wrong place and only now on uploading the picture have I noticed that I should have written in block capitals... oh well silly Ausländerin!
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| Yes, if you can read it that is my actual last name... sounds even funnier with a Frau in front of it! |
The scene that welcomed me to Bad Wimpfen was slightly drizzly and very foggy, but it wasn't going to stop me from exploring this beautiful place.
It's not as if I am unused to this kind of weather being English so I just got my camera out wandered around and snapped things as I looked out for an Apotheke to buy something for my sore throat. I just spotted an Apotheke at the same time I spotted what I thought looked like a familiar face, Rene from Ich liess mein Herz in Deutschland, but I thought that it must be someone that looked like her as at the time I had no idea she actually lives there, so there is a small possibility my facial recognition skills are not completely kaput. Also I wasn't really a fan of approaching a stranger and freaking them out, or passing on a cold to her and her baby.
Here are some of the pictures I took, sorry for the quality but it was foggy and I was poorly.
There seemed to be a fountain around every corner, the sound of which may or may not make you want to pee.
So this is how foggy it really was, can you see the tower above the building in the background?
How about now? Just a little bit peeking out from the fog...
Even standing right under it you can't really see the top because of the fog!!
Some pretty doors around town and a really cute signpost. There were some lovely shops selling beautiful knick-knacks that I could have spent a lot of time and money in. I tried to take some pics of the window displays but failed.
Although my encounter with this beautiful, friendly kitty warmed my heart, my slight sore throat had turned into a fully blown cold and I couldn't stay as long as I had planned so I headed back to the one platformed station and headed home to bed and Lemsips, which is where I am heading again right now.
