the final leg

When we rented the car at the airport in Memmingen, Germany, a Renault Elf, it had 9 kilometers on it. They drove it straight from the lot for us to rent. That intoxicating new car smell was quickly replaced with the wind from the Alps and all our fruit and cheese snacks that filled the vehicle. I’m so much like my dad, who is also super sensitive to smells in general. I don’t like perfume, or scented soap, or nail polish. They give me a headache. I far prefer the scent of the fresh alpine air, the freshest blooming flowers, and the animals that roam freely, grazing on the mountain grass.

The car was a must for this journey, however, and we had a blast putting over 1000 kilometers on it in the short time it was ours. We drove all through the Bavarian Alps, visiting old spots that I used to frequent in solitude, and we explored outside of what I knew by heading in to the Austrian and Swiss alps, and of course a stop over in Liechtenstein, just for fun. 

We took to the road for the sake of being on the road this time around, and with one final destination in mind, a small town in Southwest Germany, deep in the Black Forest. The town is Totdnauburg, and had the honor of being the place where the great philosopher Martin Heidegger kept his summerhouse. There he did a vast majority of his contemplating and writing. And by the looks of this place, it was a good spot for these mental tasks. Being as we are both Philosophically inclined individuals it seemed a good place to add to our journey, and we were very pleased to find it so serene, quiet, and remote. Not a tourist destination, but a simple hut up the mountain, on a simple trail, with a killer view.

After a happy stop at this aforementioned location we continued to traverse the mountain roads through the black forest and north to a small town called Nagold, on the same-named river. That evening there was a football (that’s soccer to Americans) match between Germany and Greece. It was politically charged,  and high energy, to say the least. Germany won, so I’m glad we were in Germany, where the celebration was a dramatic display of joy in the streets for hours and hours that included millions of honking car horns.

Somehow we managed to get a really solid nights sleep through the intense celebration that lasted late into the night. We must be tired these days… And in the sunny morning we took the road again, avoiding the large and speedy autobahn for the most part, leaving the navigating up to me and our trusty map. We found simple two-lane roads that sent us through forests, along side vineyards and farms and rivers, and through miniscule towns. We like this style of road trippin. It takes more time, but it’s more beautiful. Who’s in a hurry? A wise person once told me, if you live your life quickly you will live your life quickly. Think about it.

Next stop Aschaffenburg, where our lovely German friends, Markus and Christine, awaited with their beautiful home and wonderful hospitality. We explored their pretty city and caught up after many months, cooked some meals and drank some beers, played a rainy game of put-put golf, and rested up before the last leg of our journey took place.

Which is where I write from now, thirty-something thousand miles above the sea (what’s that in kilometers? That’s where my mind has been this past 1.5 years). We are mid-flight, homeward bound.  And that my friends, is another story. Stay tuned for more.