Travel Tuesdays: Golden October in Germany

Hello Travelers. This autumn I've been reminded of a trip I took a few years back to Germany, during a season known as "Goldener Oktober."

To quote the German Wikipedia, charmingly translated for your convenience by Google:

In a yellow-reddish sunlight, especially at sunrise or sunset, a golden hue can be seen. The word golden at the same time expresses that such a sight is perceived by many people as beautiful.

I hadn't been to Germany in 13 years, and was living in Malta at the time. Imagine what a treat it was to see the trees--which are plenty scarce in Malta--in all their glorious color!

Not to mention a few adventures with cousins and castles. :)

So today, in honor of Tuesday and the fall, I invite you to come with me and enjoy a trip into Golden October...

The adventures started at my best-friend-cousin Helge's place. I once spent another beautiful few days of autumn hiking with Helge through the Smoky Mountains, but that's a story for another day (if I can ever manage to get the photos off of MySpace again).

Helge was still studying at the time, and he literally had a view of a castle from his apartment.

His girlfriend (now wife) Sabine also made sure he had some flowers growing on his balcony. :)

They took me to see the castle of Heidelberg, which is super famous.

I was pretty impressed with what the medieval Germans had done with the sandstone.

This is the view looking down on the city from the castle.

I thought this little column of blue smoke from the chimney was pretty dear. :)

And this is me in one of the towers.

Later we walked back across the river...

Lovers' locks

And into the town below.

And then we went to a market in Stuttgart.

Where they had all kinds of chocolate...

Affectionately called Schogglad in the local dialect (opposed to the more proper Schokolade).

We also visited one of the coolest libraries in the world.

And then headed south to...

Schwarzwald

We visited a beautiful old town called Altensteig (which literally means old steep path).

And of course took the old walks from my cousins' village...

And then we had homemade pasta with mushroom sauce!

My cousin Heiderose is a floral artist. I thought this piece was so perfect because it contains both heather and rose, like her name. :)

My cousins' grandma in their hundred-year-old house. She's still alive, by the way.

And then we visited one last castle, Hohenzollern, which is super beautiful. (Click the link to get a far-back view).

Here's some views from the top:

And from the three windows of one tower:

Well, I hope you enjoyed this little Wanderung through Golden Oktober! What does autumn look like where you are?