Big surprise: Sun is shining today. Everybody's positively giddy, and we enjoy the hike through forests and meadow. I take time to finally snap a photo of the lily of the valley, that I've so enjoyed seeing in the Frankenwald.
Also a photo of Schlehe (Prunus spinosa or blackthorn). They make a strong Schnaps and a delicious wine that is served hot or cold from the fruit, and it looks as if the pollinators get a chance today to do their job so the blue berries can ripen later in the summer.
And a field of raps, source of rapeseed oil which is used for biofuel. I was pretty amazed how many fields of raps we saw, even more in north Germany than in Franconia. One wonders what was not planted to make room for this crop - but these are difficult choices and it certainly looks more cheerful than a nuclear power plant.
We're moving from Catholic to Protestant villages and back to Catholic. While Upper Bavaria and Lower Bavaria is Catholic, Franconia is much more mixed. Nuernberg, for example, was Protestant - which meant Lutheran at the time. Bamberg was Catholic and had its own bishop and cathedral. When it comes to picturesque, the Catholics certainly win hands down...
Thomas planned a short day for today to give our legs a rest, so we arrive in Kronach around lunchtime. It's a very picturesque city, and we have some time to explore before we all meet at the Festung (fortress) for a very interesting tour in English.
It's fascination to hear about the arms race between better attack weapons and better fortifications, and sobering to learn about the many decades of rebuilding, when everything was immediately destroyed soon after.
After the tour, we have a little more time to explore the city - here a view toward the town square.
Here a view in the other direction. These two pictures were actually taken the morning of Wednesday May 29, as the city crews were unloading small birch trees that will be put up to beautify the path of the host on the day of Corpus Christi. The procession always ends up back in the church after the host has been carried through the town, with services at different altars, usually in the four directions.
Where the altars are, the ground will be covered with flower petals, and little girls will have baskets of petals to beautify the path. But we'll miss all that, and will instead be on our way to our next destination.
