How do you say ‘stinky pee’ in German ?

Forty four years ago, about this time, I was coming to the end of my exchange year in Germany. My German had gotten pretty good but there were still a lot of holes in my vocabulary. On Saturdays school ended early, before lunch so I would be home and frequently helped in the kitchen. Friday night, Klaus, my host father, had announced that we would be having ‘spargel’ for lunch the next day. I had no idea what spargel was and Klaus’s description of a white vegetable that grew underground didn’t help. Adding to the confusion was Klaus’s general aversion to any food that wasn’t meat, potatoes or boiled to a light grey color.

According to Klaus, spargel was expensive and had to be carefully prepared. After school the next morning I realized that spargel was just plain old asparagus that had been grown in hilled up soil to keep it from turning green. I said that we grew spargel at home and that I knew how to test it for tenderness by moving a sharp knife up the stalk until it easily cut thru and so I was left to prepare the asparagus. I washed it and cut off the tough end and cut it into bite sized one inch pieces. That was a mistake; for asparagus was to be kept whole, in long stalks other wise it didn’t ‘taste right’. My host mother said it was fine and that Klaus would calm down after a bit. I kept my opinion of over cooked, bland asparagus to myself.

Anita coming through a flooded underpass on the Upper Danube.

Our first day riding along the upper Danube valley was beautiful. It rained but the valley scenery was beautiful.

We took a rest day in the town of Sigmaringen. It was recommended that we visit the castle overlooking the town. 11 generations of HollenZollerns have kept the castle in the family, the current Prince is into finance and start-ups and soaking tourists 15 euros for an audio tour of the old parts of his house. It was interesting to see the seat of a kingdom and how it changed over a millennium.

The sun setting on the HollenZollern Castle. The stables were under the church which also belongs to the Prince.

The ride downstream thru the upper Danube valley was striking. Tall spires of rock and steep cliffs stuck out as we meandered back and forth following the river. It was certainly not the shortest distance between two points. Wednesday and Thursday the valley opened up, the path straightened out and we had some very nice cycling, some sun and a nice tailwind.

Anita cycling in the upper Danube valley. The path here is hard packed gravel but it’s been mostly paved.

The asparagus beds are mounded up with dirt and then opaque plastic is laid over the top to ensure pure white stalks. The self-propelled cart lifts the plastic off so the asparagus can be cut with a long bladed knife then the plastic is laid back down as the cart moves along the row. Green asparagus still tastes better.