Blautopf, A Cave, Two Castles, and I Tarnish My Driving Record

After some time off from our usual travels, our long awaited group of visitors from the States ventured to Deutschland.  Five of our friends would come in two separate waves, the first of which arrived and the second would touchdown on German soil later in two days.  We graciously welcomed our new visitors, however, we would be pushing the maximum occupancy of our home.  With weekend plans set to travel to the Czech Republic, we needed to find some activities to do in the meantime.

Arriving to Blaubeuren

Walking around

Blautopf

The triumvirate of girls that landed had traveled to Iceland and Spain - so combating jet lag was not necessary.  However, inasmuch excitement that our hometown offers, Julie and I thought we should go see some of the quaint German countryside and throw in a few castles.  Our day's plan called for an overzealous road trip through Baden-Württemberg, starting with Blautopf.

View of town from the other side

Didn't think I'd bring Rayleigh scattering into this

I did...knowledge is power!!!

The vibrant blue spring found in Blaubeuren is a unique body of water that gets its distinct color as a result of the sun's interaction with the water.  Due to a high quantity of limestone particles, the light reflects off the limestone and scatters the short wavelengths of the visible spectrum, or blue light (also why the sky is blue, Rayleigh scattering).  We continued to walk explore the town and Blautopf itself, but it we were ready to move on to the next destination, Tiefenhöhle.

Descending into the earth

At the depths

Looking up at a stalactite

We soon learned the area had as many attractions below the surface of the earth as it does above.  A vast array of caves had been discovered over the years and we were fortunate to have the opportunity to explore one.  The Tiefenhöhle, or Vertical Cave is a system that descends 55 meters (180 feet).  The cave entrance resides in a small building, a park sits to the right of the main entrance, and open fields surround the rest; an underwhelming sight from the surface to say the least.  Once we paid the admission, we walked down a small staircase to a room where we read information placards about the cave system.  Conveniently, we arrived just in time to escape the summer's heat, plus, our descent 18-stories below - landed us in a more temperate climate.  The stairs and well lit path made our visit easy and enjoyable.  When we returned to the surface, it was time to get back in the car and continue westward.

More cave features

The surface is up there somewhere

On the way to our next stop, we got distracted by an alpine slide we could see from the roadway.  An immediate request was made to stop and I obliged.  While the slide caters to the amusement of children, the five of us adults were undeterred and joined the line for the ride.  Our short detour was a success.  And it should be said that the alpine cars can fly down the hill; Julie could be heard screaming her head off for kilometers in every direction.  Once we were back on track, we swung by for a quick visit to Schloss Lichtenstein.  A larger castle awaited us, thus, we briefly walked around the grounds before returning to the road.

Circumventing the grounds

Schloss Lichtenstein

As we made our way to Burg Hohenzollern, somewhere along the L230, the road offers stunning views of the picturesque castle - high on the hilltop.  Wanting to get a picture from a distance, I heard a request to pull over; I spotted a park bench and decided that was a perfect spot.  However, as the car veered off the road, a ditch swallowed our car immediately once it got hold of our passenger-side tire.   Sadly, we would not be making it up to Burg Hohenzollern, rather, we needed help.  At first, we tried to call AAA, then ADAC (the German AAA), anyone who would listen.

Bummed we aren't going to visit the castle

The earth swallowing the ADAC guy

Sadly, the majority of people who drove by, snickered with snarky smirks or a starred with non-empathetic stone-faces.  Although, a few cars stopped to ask if we were okay.  Julie and I have had car troubles abroad once before when our rental car key in Costa Rica magically bent 90-degrees. Once again, we found ourselves having to make the most of a difficult situation.  Eventually, an ADAC serviceman showed up with a tow truck an hour later.  We were set free, but too much time had elapsed to visit the castle and we had to make our way back to Homburg.

The view, and why we ended up in a ditch.

When life gives you lemons, build a human pyramid

My pristine driving record has now been tarnished.  For the record, I claim little to no responsibility for our car being engulfed by the earth, and it will always remain a mystery as to how we ended up in that ditch (queue the Unsolved Mysteries theme).