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I woke up too early at 6:15AM. A fly was annoying me. I'm sure I woke Dagmar up too. Oops. But she went quiet again until 8:45AM. By the time I went down at 9AM Dagmar had vanished. Renée got up at 9:15AM and I had breakfast and tea. Dagmar soon returned from her parents' house with printouts. We were ready to go by 10:40AM when we set off for Herbstlabyrinth cave. It was cloudy and misty but drying out. Certainly it was a murky day with low cloud lying on the hills. After a drive along an Autobahn for a while we followed a nice road to a small village where we parked up at 11:15AM.
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| Low clouds hug the hills as we drive North on interstate 45 then off onto local roads to the village of Erdbach. | ||
It started to rain as we arrived, so it was out with the umbrellas. We walked up a steep woodland path in the rain. Renée struggled but we had time and we arrived (to our relief) at the cave entrance at 11:35AM. I was boiling after that climb in 95% humidity! But my fan cooled me down again. Dagmar got the tickets. Then we waited for the start while the shower cleared away.
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| The path through the woods from Erdbach to the cave. | A funky bridge over a stream. | Walking up through the woods under umbrellas. | Arriving at the cave. | |
We had to leave our bags in the office in a container but that was ok with me. The previous group emerged just after 12PM gasping for breath and Renée cringed! That was quite amusing. Soon after our group was gathered for a briefing. Then around 12:05PM we headed in a large door and down a steep staircase that took us down a tourist friendly access shaft. Then we went through another door into a spectacular cavern with stalactites and stalagmites, and big and intricate calcite drip formations. The guide said it is 9C down here although I didn't feel cold. The set display started with darkness before revealing sections of cave with lights as we walked along walkways. It started with the hole through which the explorers came and discovered the cavern. The finale was a massive organ like rock face encased in calcite. Once back to the entrance of the cavern we were shown samples of stalagmites to hold as well as bones and fossils found in the cave. This included bones of a cave bear and the remains of a weasel that fell into the cave never to be seen again. This large cavern was only a tiny fraction of the whole system of caves which run for kilometers. Soon it was time to head back up the way we came to emerge at 1:05PM.
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| Waiting for the start of the tour while resting after the damp uphill slog. | A panorama of the entrance. The big door on the left is the way into the cave. | A map of the cave system. | The tourist friendly shaft leading us down into the show cave. The drop in temperature was quite remarkable. | The entrance through which the first explorers discovered the cave system. |
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| There were stalactites everywhere. The thin ones look like drinking straws and are even hollow, hence the name 'maccaroni'. (They will become stalagtites once the tube blocks up with debris.) | A panorama of the wall near the entrance. | |||
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| Looking around at the different and varied drip stone formations, from thin straws to cathedrals of rock. | |||||
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| Yet more interesting and varied formations. | This one looks like a pair of alien claws are trying to force the crack open. | A wider view of this part of the cavern. The cracks in the ceiling are quite prominent. | ||
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| Sparkly formations with a hint of a face and ones that look like beehives. | This section of cave is low and has a whole forest of stalactites and stalagmites. | Some rocks have taken on delicate and intricate coral like formations. | ||
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| Trying to capture the sparkle in this rock. | A matrix panorama of the finale, a huge cathedral formation surrounded by other marvels. It was impossible to catch in a single photo. | Focussing more on the finale cathedral. | Another nearby lofty large formation. |
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| Another pretty and varied stalagtite and stalagmite formation. | Now all the lights are on I was able to capture this matrix panorama looking right across the show cave from the finale area. | Above me is this amazing natural banner. | Another cave view as I descend from the finale area. |
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| Back near the entrance, this panorama consolidated the view incorporating many of the above pictures. | The guide showing us samples of stalagtite sections highlighting with a torch their structure. | One last pretty panorama. | Returning back to the surface as the tour ends. |
The downhill walk back the way we came in the dry was very nice and much quicker. My camera had cooled in the cave and misted up when it hit the humid warm surface air. I took pictures of the woodland with my iPhone camera and with the main camera once my lens demisted as it warmed up. The stream at the bottom of the path had emerged from the cave system and was very pretty. With picture stops we got back to the car around 1:45PM.
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| The misted up lens added an atmospheric haze to the shot. | Walking down the woodland path in better weather. | 180 degree panorama from downhill to uphill. | Dagmar and Renée enjoying the downhill walk. | A pretty path. |
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| This looks like a fairytale. | Mike, Renée and Dagmar on the fairytale path. | The logs here formed a whole ecosystem of their own. | Panorama of the plant covered log section of the path. | ||
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| Views of the biggest plant covered log as my main camera almost finishes demisting and the iPhone panorama creates a scenic bend. | One more iPhone panorama before we exit the wood. | Lens fully demisted, I am able to capture a pictoresque view of the stream at the bottom of the wood near the wooden bridge. | |
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| Exiting through a car park below a cliff. | Returning to Erdbach and back to the car. | This building looks like it's seen better days. |
After briefly getting lost we headed back the way we came. The hills were now clear of cloud and the sun was breaking through. I must admit the patchy hill fog was pretty earlier. Soon enough we were back at Dagmar's place at 2:25PM. After I had some food Renée had a shower and then nap, and I went out into the garden where Dagmar was catching up with some gardening. After looking around I spotted a nice German butterfly (later identified as a summer brood Map butterfly). I went and grabbed my camera, and managed to photograph it.
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| Views of 2 different summer brood Map butterflies. | |||
I also helped Dagmar pick raspberries and gooseberries. Then at 4PM I went in for a tea break and toast and switched to jeans. Renée was asleep so I woke her up at 4:45PM ready for our evening excursion.
We left at 5PM for the station and caught the 17:09 train to Giessen, arriving at 5:37PM. We walked to the Mama of Africa restaurant, getting there at 5:55PM. We were glad that conditions were refreshingly cooler than last time we came to Giessen. Mathis arrived after a minute by bicycle and we went in together. Inside was rather nice decor that gave us the African / Ethiopian feel alright. Based on Dagmar's recommendation we all went for the 'Mama of Africa Maadi' dish. It was an all you can eat vegan dish where we had chickpeas, lentils, aubergine and spinach dishes with potatoes and salad served on a flat bread. We used the bread as our cutlery to scoop up the dishes and eat them. It was very tasty although the bread wasn't to my taste. When we had our fill (only one refill needed) we ate the bread plate. We were full by 7PM when the dish was cleared. After paying up (Renée kindly bought to treat us and say thanks) we left at 7:20PM.
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| Mama of Africa restaurant from the outside. | Renée, Dagmar, Mathis and Mike enjoying Pre-meal drinks. | ||
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| A view of the restaurant decor. | Food is served! | Renée, Dagmar and Mathis preparing to tuck in. | A quick panorama inside the entrance before we depart after the meal. |
It was a 10 minute walk to the Dach Café entrance where there was a queue for one small lift to take us to the roof terrace. We soon got up there though. It was really nice up top in the sky bar. I took some pictures and we ordered drinks. Mathis had a cider beer, Renée had a Lychee Martini and I had a chocolate milkshake. Dagmar skipped as she was stuffed. Then after plenty of chit chat we decided at 8:45PM to pay up and then left for another bar by the station.
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| Approaching the Dach Café. | Renée, Dagmar and Mathis settling down at the sky bar. | Looking around the sky bar. | |||
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| Looking South and Northeast from the sky bar. | Some views of Giessen and the surrounding area from the sky bar. The hill with the mast is to the South. | ||
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| Two spired buildings in Giessen. TODO: Identify | Enjoying sky bar drinks. | |||
We arrived at 'Mr Jones' at 9:15PM. It was right next to the station so it wouldn't take us long to catch the last train home at 10:21PM. It was hot and stuffy inside but we found a much nicer table outside. Dagmar had a Pretty Woman mocktail (Pineapple, grapefruit, lime, almond and sugar syrup). Renée cheekily had an Orgasm (Sambuca and Baileys shot), while I had a diet coke and it was another cider for Mathis. We had plenty more chat, especially as Mathis and Renée became more jolly as the alcohol sunk in. We were running out of time as we had to catch the last train home so we paid up at 10PM, said goodbye to Mathis and then went to the station to catch the 22:21 train home.
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| The Stadttheater. | Johanneskirche. | Another view of the walkway over the ring road. | Mr. Jones. |
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| Dagmar's Pretty Woman. | Enjoying drinks and chatting. | Renée having an Orgasm! | |
After locating the train we got on with 12 minutes to spare and relaxed until we got back to Stockhausen at 10:55PM. We were back inside getting ready for bed by 11PM. I also checked in online for the flight home. Soon after we retired for the night.
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