You might ask: Is this really your favorite place!? Yes, it is one of my favorte places outside. If you walk along the cart track behind our house, which is confined by apple trees on both sides, you come to this hill with mighty and old beeches on it. Their branches reach to the ground so that you can sit under those beeches as if you were in a hut made of the leafs of the tree. And when you are sitting there you can overlook a wide area.
You can see the apple tree alley and our small village...
... or the rolling hills beyond the valley of the river Diemel....
... or the old, old volcano, the "Desenberg", how it is called and the small town Warburg at the horizon. Nature here is breathtaking, much more beautful than these pictures can show.
I have been loving this place since I was a little kid. Once, when I was 11 or 12 I was there with my friend Elke during a holiday vacation at my grandparents' house (Yes, at that time it wasn't my house, but the house of my grandparents. I sometimes can't believe it myself). We carved our names into the wood of the biggest of these beeches and you can still see our names there. This place was our hideaway and we used to stay there for hours every day. When the church bells were ringing we had to come home, which was at noon and at six o' clock in the evenings. Sweet memories...
I took a closer look for you, Lisa. This is our house (red arrow) and in the center of the picture you see this old volcano. It hasn't been active for a long period of time, since Tertiary to be precise. But geologists found out that there is still magma below the surface and that it can erupt at every time. Well, at every time means perhaps in 10000 years. Geolgists count in different periods of time than we usually do. - The volcano belongs to a system of volcanos which reaches until about Frankfurt south of us. I once wrote an article about the geology and archeology of this area, which you can read here. We also have volcanos near Cologne, which are still active but have been also quiet over a long period of time like the Desenberg. Read my article about them here. - On top of the Desenberg-volcano there is an old Medevial castle, which once belonged to the Knights of Spiegel, who are ancestors of nearly all famous and reigning European noble families with their kings and queens or dukes and duchesses. They lived there in the 14th century. Today the castle is a ruin and looks like this:
My favorite place inside the house is currently this: The veranda. Well, at the moment it's to cold to sit there, but I'm looking forward to the spring sun I can enjoy here sitting in the chair.
The third favorite place is of course my cozy bed! And hopefully it will look in our new old house like it looked like in the other house soon.
Another favorite place is an old graveyeard. But at this time of the year it is too cold to go there, so here is picture I took in summer:
These are the remains of a Medevial ghost town. When people moved away only the church and the graveyard remained. It's a quiet and idyllic place where you can sit and hear the birds sing for hours without a single person coming along.
******************************************************************************************
Georgia,the photos are wonderful:)A little glimpse of your home+surrounding area, including the Desenberg makes me feel I know you like a next door neighbor;)
Posted by: Kitty Long | February 10, 2012 at 07:19 PM
Thanks Georgia! I don't think I've ever known anyone who lived so close to a volcano. Have you ever been to the top of it? Every child should have the opportunity to grow up in a village like yours, full of history and exciting adventures, especially in that cemetery.
Posted by: Lisa | February 11, 2012 at 02:25 AM
I can't believe how beautiful it is there! Even with a volcano in the scene. I absolutely love your pictures and your story telling of your home!
Posted by: ree | February 11, 2012 at 05:13 AM
Aren't we all neighbors since we have got the internet? I love it, because I know such awesome people like you three, Kitty, Lisa and Ree! We never knew of each other without it. - To Lisa: It's not active and I have been there for several time. I'm going to take some new pics in spring or summer from the top of it. It's very steep, the way up to the top!
To Ree: Tank you, Ree. Yes, it's beautiful here and I love this land of my ancestors. I'm not born here and I grew up elsewhere, but this is the place on earth where there are my roots and we all came back to it for generations, sooner or later in our lifes.
Posted by: Surreal Georgia | February 11, 2012 at 09:32 AM