home!

early out of bed, we want to take advantage of the mild morning temperatures to take a walk through the Wilhemshöhe Bergpark. there is an app that has all the info, though we get mixed signals about whether the impressive waterfall system will be operational. on the website it says there is maintenance, other sites say the water spectacle only occurs on Wednesdays, Sundays and bank holidays!

definitely warm enough for just a tshirt and we set aside some spare clothes in the car before starting the climb up to the top of the hill. it’s pretty steep, you can see the Wikiloc trail here. most of the water features are indeed disabled and we’re a bit disappointed, but the forest is beautiful. it’s pretty hot in the sun, so we stick to the shady trails, but even so we can see the underbrush is suffering from the drought. you can hear birds rustling up worms in the dry leaves on the ground, I even manage to catch two specials on camera: a jay finding a quieter tree and some sort of tree creeper.

we set out from the hotel around ten and have a short drive ahead of us: only 400 km today to get home. the car registers temperatures up to 37° C, even in the relatively cool car we drink lots of water. the refrigerated box on the back seat plugged in to the car battery keeps the water cool, Arne bought it on an impulse right before we left, best idea of the holiday! there is the usual traffic, road works and traffic jams, but all in all a smooth drive and we arrive home around three. the rest of the day is filled with basic grocery shopping, vacuuming and hugging the cats, both of whom are a bit needy after our absence.