Castle and FieldsGreen fields of Ortenau Valley, castle tower in foreground. Ortenburg, Germany. I arrived in Offenburg at 3:30 and took a local bus to Ortenburg and walked up the hill to the castle with a Japanese hosteler. This castle is the hostel I was told about by the German I met on the train in Norway. It is quite a place. I’ve never lived in a castle before.

I checked in, and then walked back down to the grocery store. Financially, it sure is a relief to be out of Scandinavia. Things are much more affordable here. In fact, I thought it was time I treated myself to a restaurant meal, so I had some kind of pork and mushroom dish on bread with melted cheese—hettentost? or something. It was good.

After dinner I walked along the main street, and got a few pix of the castle. As I was headed back, I was offered a lift up the hill by a German (makes sense) couple. I am now sitting outside the castle at sunset, overlooking the Black Forest, and listening to the sounds of Mozart fill the air as a youth orchestra rehearses for a concert here tomorrow night. I like this place.