Josh and I agreed we would do something local this weekend, but again, we didn't have a set plan. Someone Josh works with had told him there is an abbey near us which brews beer, makes honey, goat cheese, and raises fish. Josh wanted to go check it out and get some beer. What started out as a beer run turned into another "go wherever we feel the need" Saturday.
Himmerod Abbey turned out to be only about a 20 minute drive from our house. When I looked online I thought it would only be open to the public in the morning on Saturday, so we left the house pretty early. When we got there nothing was open and we were way too early. It gave us a chance to wander around and see the grounds. There is an old stone wall which surrounds the whole property - supposedly it was built in Roman times. The abbey does have a brewery, keeps bees, and has a fishery - all of which we did not see. But... the grounds are pretty.
While we waited for the abbey stores to open we were joined by a neighborhood kitten. He was pretty funny - and full of energy. His favorite thing was to dash across the lawn and leap onto a tree. It was entertaining.
After the store opened we did buy ourselves some beer, apple cider (non-alcoholic), and honey - all of which are made at the abbey. We ate lunch at the restaurant at the abbey (which was also recommended to us by Josh's co-worker). My lunch was delicious - kasespratzle - or cheese noodles. SO delicious! Josh ordered some sort of fish (which was from the fishery at the abbey). I thought it tasted like mud, but he liked it (Josh wants me to explain the fish just tasted like fish which were raised in a pond. Yes. Mud).
Our little shopping trip and lunch date didn't take us past noon... so we decided to get back out on the road and literally just drive and see where we ended up. A little ways up the road we came to the town of Mandershied - which has two castle ruins. Every August there is a medieval festival hosted here. Last year we didn't go (I'm not sure why... maybe Josh was working?) but I've heard great things about it. We got to Mandershied and made our way to the castle ruins. It reminded me a lot of the ones we saw on the Rhein river when my parents were here.
Once we toured the ruins we looked at each other (again) and said... okay. Now what? So we hopped back in the car and kept on heading up the road. We saw signs for a wildlife park, which Josh had heard of before. We arrived at the park and discovered you pay your entry fee and then drive you car in. There are a few areas where you park your car and get out to walk/look at animals, but otherwise you just drive through the park. The reason Josh really wanted to go there was they have a fenced off area with monkeys roaming around freely. I thought this sounded fun, although creepy. The monkeys are (at the end of the day) a wild animal, but these ones are pretty tame and domesticated. They mainly just sat around eating and looking at us (creepily). But it was kind of fun to walk past them and be so close.
After the monkeys we drove through the rest of the park. They have llamas, goats, buffalo, and deer - none of which is exciting to us. They did have red stags (Germany's version of an elk, only a little smaller) and wild boars, which was more interesting. We were driving along and Josh saw a huge herd of red stag, so we pulled into a parking area. I was getting out of the car when a goat came running up to my door. It kind of startled me. Growing up my neighbor next door had goats - I liked them and I would say I'm pretty used to goats... but this goat for some reason made me nervous. I guess I'm not used to a goat crowding me as I'm attempting to get out of the car. This same goat followed us into an area where you can get a better view of the red stags, goats, and llamas (as they are all housed together) and was getting aggressive. He kept stamping the ground and putting his head down like he was getting ready to ram us. I'm not afraid of goats, I just don't feel like getting rammed in the ass... or going to the hospital with a fractured hip. I think he probably just wanted to be fed (as you can buy feed for them)... but threatening to ram me isn't the way to get food. Nor is trapping me in my car.
We also saw a bunch of wild boars (and some wild boar babies). It was kind of funny to see how domesticated most of the animals are. The animals were in the road and were very irritated with you driving on the road or being in their way. More than once we almost hit something. We also found a meadow area which was full of deer, goats, and llamas... which was also full of a trail of bread. It honestly looked like someone had gone out with a tractor and just spread bread all over the meadow to get the animals out in the open. It was entertaining.
On our way out of the wildlife park we saw a rodelbahn - a type of luge ride. We went on one last summer in the Black Forest and we tried it out. This one was a little different from the one we went on before. The other one had rails which out cart rode on while this one had a metal pathway you followed. The other one was longer and faster than the one we rode today. However. It was still fun. You ride down on your little cart, and then at the bottom they hook a tow cable onto your cart to pull you back up to the top.
We are both pooped! These no-plan Saturdays are turning out pretty great!
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