Golden October: Returning to Germany
After more than a year away, we found ourselves once again in Germany.
Previously, we had wandered through Munich and the Black Forest; this time we focused mostly on Baden-Württemberg. After circling the globe, would Germany still hold its magic for us?
Stuttgart-Mitte (old town) was alive with conversation spilling out of corner bars all weekend. The streets were crowded with revelers perched behind stanchioned velvet ropes, cocktails in hand, celebrating into the wee hours of the morning. Come Monday, calm again settled over the city like a morning mist.
We met Gitty’s sister-in-law Ut and her family at the Cannstatter Volksfest, a three-week autumnal fair similar to Munich’s Oktoberfest, but more welcoming. We forewent the crowded beer tents, instead wandering among open-air stalls filled with Swabian specialties, the smell of grilled bratwurst and spätzle drifting through the cool air.
We treated Ut’s thirteen-year-old grandson, Harry, to some fairground rides. Harry drove the bumper car while Gitty rammed us from her own vehicle. Round we drove in a jarring encounter I haven’t experienced since spinning out on the autobahn decades ago.
We had arrived in what locals call the “Golden October.” Each day dawned clear and bright, the air warm enough for light sweaters as we drove through the countryside, leaves changing from green to amber, copper, and brown beneath the blue autumn skies. There’s a kind of stillness in this season, a pause before the cold returns, that made every valley and vineyard feel vibrant and alive.
Weingut Markgraf Von Baden Vineyards surrounds the 12th century Hessian Burg Staufenberg
Weingut Laible Vineyards in Durbach
Our reasons to return were threefold. Having signed up for a course about German wines from the Wine Scholar Guild, we learned that the German wine industry has undergone a kind of renaissance. So one reason was to explore Germany’s emerging wine scene. The country’s new classification system, which since 2021 has shifted its focus from sugar to soil, becomes mandatory in 2026. For many years, the German wine industry was a mess of low-quality sweet wines, although a number of high quality producers always thrived. The climate has warmed, grapes ripen more fully, and vintners have redefined their craft giving rise to drier, more elegant wines that more fully represents their terroir.
On top of Schloss Ortenberg with a view to their vineyards
One fine day, as we were in Riesling country, Gitty sampled several varietals from the different vineyards we visited while I served as designated driver. We collected a few bottles from local Weingüter (wineries) for a later sampling. We opened three bottles during dinner at the home of our longtime friends Udo and Angela. We are not Riesling lovers by nature, and neither are they, yet we were determined to taste with open minds. The wine from Schloss Ortenberg proved our favorite with a hint of spice and minerals, but the experiment ended unsurprisingly: we remain steadfastly non-Riesling drinkers.
A surprising evening for all of us
We stopped in Ihringen, in the Kaiserstuhl, Germany’s sunniest region and home to some of its best vineyards. Pure chance placed us there during the Harvest Festival, and we couldn’t resist joining the celebration. We attended a special dinner from Weingut Dr. Heger, featuring a fine-dining chef whose artistry could rival any Michelin star restaurant. Three wineries presented their best Großes Gewächs (Grand Crus), each paired perfectly with the menu. Fortune seated us at a table with vintner Gunter Künstler and his wife. The wines were amazing, the food superb, and Gunter and his wife were engaging and well-traveled. We swapped stories during the evening, and with every course, Gunter shared anecdotes of wine-making in front of all the guests. It was one of those surprising evenings where food, wine, and human connection intertwine into something unforgettable.
Baden-Baden with a view to Friedrichsbad Spa
One of the curvy cobbled lanes in the pedestrian zone of Baden-Baden
We drove to Baden-Baden, the storied spa town on the edge of Schwarzwald (the Black Forest). The Kurhaus stood stately in white neoclassical style, and the Spielbank (casino) glittered with old-world glamour, though I lacked the proper attire to enter and lose money at the gaming tables beneath the grand chandeliers.
Our hotel stood just steps from a lovely pedestrian zone dotted with small cafés and restaurants, and lots of curvy, narrow lanes winding between picturesque 18th and 19th-century historic buildings with pastel-colored facades. Known for its elegant public spas (hence Bad in the town’s name), twelve hot springs rise from two thousand meters below the city, feeding the ornate Friedrichsbad and Caracalla bath houses, waters once believed to restore health. The Romans bathed here, and centuries later, it still remains a popular destination.
Cathedral at Münsterplatz in Freiburg
We reached Freiburg in time to celebrate Aunt Hannelore’s 91st birthday, a milestone we had missed the year before while abroad and the main reason we planned this trip. Gitty spent part of her youth here, and walking through the old town beside her felt like a trip down memory lane. Freiburg’s Altstadt is one of those rare city centers that feels simultaneously lived-in and timeless, its cobblestone streets alive with pedestrians visiting the market stalls beneath the towering central Münster (Cathedral).
Musicians playing in Freiburg
Hannelore had planned her day to perfection: lunch on Münsterplatz, coffee and cake in the afternoon, and dinner at Dattler Schlossberg high atop the hill overlooking the city’s rooftops. Joined by Gitty’s cousin Wolfgang, we stayed late, warmed by food, wine, and conversation, reluctant to let the moment end. We all had a wonderful time and Gitty’s aunt is an amazing woman.
This trip began with simple intentions: to celebrate a birthday, to learn more about German wines, and the third reason, to see if southern Germany might be a place to reside for a bit. After traveling for so long, the question morphed from where next to where to stay?
Our exploration led us through Konstanz, a lively university city on the Bodensee (Lake Constance) near the Swiss border, and then to Reichenau Island, a UNESCO World Heritage site where 8th-century basilicas rise amid vegetable fields and orchards. Both lovely places to visit, but not a place to settle.
Ottonian murals of miracles of Christ in the Church of St. George, unique survivals from the 10th century
Standing in front of Lake Constance
Trading by land would have taken days while using a boat to the other side of Germany’s largest lake, Lake Constance, only takes hours
Later, a car ferry carried us to Meersburg, where we explored the Pfahlbauten Museum, an open-air reconstruction of prehistoric lake dwellings. Wooden houses on stilts, connected by narrow walkways, rose above the still water of the Bodensee. Gitty visited the museum in her youth, like, six thousand years ago when people lived and traded with other Stone-age settlements, carving canoes from single logs to trade wares quickly from across the lake. Okay, so she visited not that long ago, but the museum made an impact when she was young and lived in the area so she was keen to share it with me.
In Wangen im Allgäu, we stopped at Pâtisserie de Pierre, where the pastries rivaled anything in Paris. The café reminded us of Salt, a favorite haunt back in Newton, small, elegant, and overflowing with culinary surprises. The chef/owner was born in Paris and learned his craft in Lyon. Another world traveler, he decided to set his roots here.
Wangen is known as a "city of fountains"
City Hall on one side of town
The Eselbrunnen (Donkey Fountain) in the town of Wangen im Allgäu depict scenes from one of Aesop's fables
Wangen itself was a revelation: winding lanes, colorful façades, and the kind of understated charm that tempts one to remain. The Urban Sketcher in me longed to sit on a bench and draw, but my pencils were packed, and the road still beckoned. Would we return someday?
View from Mount Falkenstein
Our last night before Munich was spent atop Mount Falkenstein, at the Boutique Hotel Blaue Burg, where the view opened onto a sweep of valleys that seemed to stretch endlessly. It was the perfect place to pause before returning to city life. From our hotel room balcony, you could see a small white dot in the distance that was Neuschwanstein Castle.
Back in Munich, the weather had turned. Rain swept through, stripping trees bare and ushering in November’s chill. We enjoyed a week together in a cozy apartment running errands and exploring the restaurants in Schwabing.
Asamkirche is a masterpiece of the southern German Late Baroque style
The church is renowned for its extraordinarily ornate and detailed interior
Munich’s Marienplatz at sunset
Getting some fresh air up on Winklmoosalm
With my Schengen visa soon lapsing, we got lucky with a final few days of sunny weather. Spending our last weekend together before parting for a month, we stayed in Reit im Winkl, a small village located near the German/Austrian border in the southeastern part of Bavaria and scouted the surrounding region for a home base. We wound our way up to Winklmoosalm, pausing at Sonnen Alm, famed for its link to Olympic legend Rosi Mittermaier. The sun shone gently on the peaks, and the coffee and desserts tasted delicious as we enjoyed the fresh mountain air.
We took one looping drive to Berchtesgaden, the crown jewel of Bavaria’s southeast, pausing at several other villages along the way. However, Berchtesgaden felt the most complete. It’s a famous tourist destination for a reason, but is it a place to live?
Stiftskirche Sankt Peter und Johannes der Täufer and the adjacent Schloss Berchtesgaden in the historic town of Berchtesgaden
After so many journeys, so many flights, borders, and oceans crossed, does Germany still hold up? Absolutely. Whether it will be the place we lay down roots still remains uncertain. But as the world grows noisier and less predictable, Germany offers something familiar despite the decades of change since we last resided there.
Perhaps that’s enough for now.
