Quarterly Review April to June 2024: Between Health Issues and Alpine Magic

Updated on October 21, 2024 by Angelika

The second quarter of 2024 definitely had more to offer than a surprise egg! From aching body parts that were previously unknown to me, to costly car repairs that sent my blood pressure soaring, to a wonderful trip to the far south-east of Germany, it had it all.

In this quarterly review, you can find out how I stayed brave on the road despite my limited mobility and orthopaedic odyssey, why it's wise to visit Berchtesgaden in the off-season and how a car repair just before my vacation added to the excitement.

Sand in the Gears: Aging is No Walk in the Park

Since February, I have had pain in my left leg that extended from my knee down my whole leg, i.e. up to my hip and down to my ankle. It was particularly bad when I went to bed at night. Sleeping was no longer possible without painkillers. I soon tried to make an appointment with an orthopaedist, but I couldn't get through on the phone. So I booked online with a two-month wait - who hasn't experienced that?

Three x-rays at the orthopaedist revealed that my intervertebral discs are slightly worn and are probably pinching the sciatic nerve, which is causing the pain. I also have knee osteoarthritis (a known problem, but this time not the cause of my pain) and no hip osteoarthritis (that's good news!). Next steps: 20 days of cortisone tablets, physiotherapy as soon as possible and an MRI of the lumbar spine.

The cortisone tablets quickly brought relief, but the pain was - contrary to the orthopaedist's prediction - not "blown away". I was really lucky with the physiotherapy: in Sindelfingen, very close to my home, there is the new Momenth Health Center, where I got my first appointment just one week later. The very competent staff at Momenth discovered that a part of my body called the fibula head was responsible for my problems.

With manual therapy and medical training, I can now manage without painkillers, but after sitting on hard chairs or benches for a long time (for example in a beer garden or while driving), my leg still hurts sometimes and it takes a while before I can walk normally again without limping. But I'm making good progress and I'm optimistic that I'll be fit enough to enjoy the trip with my Australian friend Paula by the time I go on vacation to Croatia in September.

A Long Weekend in Marbach

When I traveled to Marbach am Neckar in November 2023 for Schiller's birthday, I missed registering in time for the house tour at the German Literature Archive . This time I went ahead and reserved a ticket via Reservix a few weeks before the open day on May 12. Incidentally, these are free of charge. The public tours of the house are offered on the weekend after Schiller's birthday (November 10) and after the anniversary of his death (May 9).

As the weather forecast for the weekend was good, I stayed in Marbach for three nights and had a look around the surrounding area. I visited the beautiful half-timbered towns of Bietigheim-Bissingen and Besigheim, wandered through the Hessigheim rock gardens,  and went on a circular walk around Marbach. The Schiller National Museum is currently being renovated and is due to reopen on November 10, 2024 with the new "SchillerHochDrei" exhibition. But there was still plenty to see at the Schillerhöhe in Marbach. You can find out exactly what it was in my article 12 of 12 in May 2024: German Literature Archive Marbach - Kafka must wait .

Costly Car Repair Just Before our Vacation

Three days before I was due to set off on vacation to Berchtesgaden and Innsbruck with my friend Jutta, my car's display reported a low coolant level. After taking a look at my Golf's owner's manual, I opened the hood and inspected the coolant tank, which only contained a small puddle. There was clearly a need for action here! I took the car to my garage, where an employee took a look at the situation: the water pump was faulty (estimated cost: €1,200), water had also leaked into my trunk, which was already starting to get moldy, and this problem also needed to be fixed ... I was delighted, so close to the trip, especially as we had planned to drive my car. The garage promised me that it could be repaired the very next day, provided the spare parts were all there in time.

The water pump arrived the next day, but not the required drain valve for the trunk. Fortunately, my friend had come by car (she lives near Bremen) and not, as originally planned, by train. In the meantime, the garage had informed me that in addition to the other two problems, there was also marten damage, which meant that some hoses had to be replaced. In the end, my share of the repair costs - after deducting the partially comprehensive damage for the marten bite - was €1,850, as the dealership informed me the following week while I was on vacation 🙈🙈.

Berchtesgaden and Innsbruck: Rain is Followed by Sunshine

With the broken car and the expensive repair, our trip to Berchtesgaden began under bad omens. So we took off with my friend's car and stopped in Prien am Chiemsee to stretch our legs and enjoy the beautiful view of the lake. We spent just under an hour there until dark storm clouds gathered above us. We made it to the car just in time as a downpour descended on us. Some drivers gave up and simply pulled over to the side of the road. They had my full understanding - I wouldn't have driven on under any circumstances, but my friend Jutta bravely steered us through the storm to Berchtesgaden.

Although there were repeated downpours and heavy thunderstorms over the next few days, we really enjoyed our week in Berchtesgadener Land. We had a spacious vacation apartment in the Sportpension Färbinger* in Oberau, a suburb of Berchtesgaden at a high altitude. There was still room there for my daughter, who joined us from Innsbruck for the weekend. On Sunday it was even dry for most of the day, so the three of us were able to go on a lovely hike from Ramsau through the Zauberwald (literally "magical forest") to Hintersee.

On a largely dry but mostly cloudy day, Jutta and I visited Dokumentation Obersalzbergwhich was only reopened in September 2023 after years of renovation. It was a journey back in time to Germany's dark past, when Hitler and his entourage made Obersalzberg their residence and seat of government for around a third of the year. Part of the bunker complex is also open to visitors today. We left the exhibition deeply impressed and with a lot of new knowledge - for example, I had no idea that the inhabitants of Obersalzberg were expelled and in some cases expropriated in order to turn the area into a "Führersperrgebiet" (Führer's off-limits area).

As we had been here before and tickets for the Eagle's Nest, which is located around 900 m above the Obersalzberg on mount Kehlstein, are sold at a ticket counter next to the documentation center, we decided to invest the €31.90 per person for the trip. The road to the Eagle's Nest is closed to general traffic, and the special bus takes visitors to the access tunnel of the Eagle's Nest in a journey of around half an hour that is full of serpentines and views (weather permitting).

I wrote about our day at Obersalzberg and Kehlstein in detail in the article How to Visit Obersalzberg and Eagle's Nest in Berchtesgaden — Important Tips for Your Visit described. There you can also find out whether the expensive trip up the Kehlstein is worthwhile.

On our last two days in Berchtesgaden, the weather was kind to us and we were able to experience two absolute highlights in glorious sunshine: The boat trip on the Lake Königssee to Salet (the last stop) should not be missed by any visitor to the Berchtesgaden region. From there we walked about a quarter of an hour to Obersee Lake, which is only accessible on foot and offers another famous photo motif in a fantastic landscape. We stopped on the way back in St. Bartholomä, whose famous church stands picturesquely in front of the eastern face of the Watzmann.

In the low season, you can (and should!) buy a combi ticket for the Königssee boat trip and the cable car ride up the Jenner , from the summit of which you have a breathtaking view of the Königssee. With unforgettable images in our heads, we drove on to Innsbruck to spend a few relaxing days with my daughter and take a wonderful trip together to Lake Hintersteiner See on the Wilder Kaiser.

My Blog Figures in the 2nd Quarter: Ups and Downs

It was a little frustrating for me that my page views were down slightly in June compared to May. However, when I look at the quarter as a whole, I'm delighted to see that I achieved 55.46 % more clicks from Google search in the second quarter than in the first quarter (namely 3,703 from April to June compared to 2,382 clicks from January to March).

I am particularly pleased that my blog posts are now being found significantly more often via Google image searches. There was an increase of over 200 % between quarter 1 and quarter 2.

It occurs to me that my article about the sights of Weimar,  was even found more often via the image search than via the normal Google search in June. The Weimar article is now one of my most-read articles. That makes me very happy, because I put a lot of work and passion into it. I even created three city walks in Google Maps which help visitors to discover the city and its UNESCO World Heritage sites.

My Audiobooks in the 2nd Quarter

Thanks to my Audible*-subscription, I was able to listen to a whole series of fascinating novels that I wouldn't otherwise have read in a whole year. Because I can even have them read to me while cooking, vacuuming, showering ... The audio books are also perfect as a sleep aid, which I really appreciate as a sleep-deprived person. None of these novels were easy to digest, and yet I found that I sleep much better if I have a good book read to me before going to bed instead of watching TV.

Anne Rabe: Die Möglichkeit von Glück (The Possibility of Happiness)

Anne Rabe's novel The possibility of happiness* was shortlisted for the German Book Prize in 2023. In her autobiographically tinged debut novel, the author interweaves her protagonist's family history of domestic violence with the (unresolved) social consequences of the succession of dictatorships in the former GDR. As the first-person narrator Stine, who was born in Wismar in 1986 and grows up in the post-reunification era, Rabe tackles the difficult subject of coming to terms with the past of a traumatized generation that was forced into so-called "real existing socialism" after the Nazi dictatorship. In doing so, she analyzes the origins of racism and violence with razor-sharp precision.

Ian McEwan: Lessons

Lessons* spans several decades in the life of Roland Baines, who experiences everything from a lack of parental affection and sexual abuse by a teacher to the loss of the love of his life and a complicated relationship with his son. Looking back, Roland recognizes the connections that have made him who he is today as a septuagenarian. As usual with McEwan, the historical and political context is not neglected. The novel is a profound reflection on the lessons that life teaches us, set against the backdrop of the historical upheavals of the 20th and 21st centuries.

Jenny Erpenbeck: Kairos

Kairos* takes the reader to Berlin in the late GDR era, where the aging, married playwright Hans and his 19-year-old lover Katharina find themselves caught up in the turmoil of political changes and personal conflicts. Jenny Erpenbeck uses the example of this oppressive amour fou to explore the interplay of time, chance and decision and its effects on the fate of her protagonists. This novel made me acutely aware that the fall of the Berlin Wall not only meant the path to freedom for East Germans, but often also to the end of society. Anyone who was still worth something yesterday - like Hans, who as an author was a respected member of an East Berlin bohemian scene I had never heard of before - had to join the ranks of the unemployed after the fall of the Wall. Jenny Erpenbeck was the first German to receive the International Booker Prize for her work in 2024.

Bonnie Garmus: Lessons in Chemistry

Elizabeth Zott is an unconventional chemist in the 1960s who fights against gender bias in the scientific community. In her debut novel, Bonnie Garmus interweaves A question of chemistry The sometimes tragic twists and turns of Elizabeth's life are interwoven with the story of female emancipation with sharp wit. Zott's struggles and her unconventional methods, both in love and in the lab, offer a refreshing perspective on the pursuit of recognition and self-realization. "A Question of Chemistry" is inspiring, touching and entertaining - allied to the question of how far you have to go to change the world.

My Blog Posts in the 2nd Quarter