In the car, I check the map again, to make sure I got the route right. The thing about Nuremberg is, that it wouldn't be that far if there was a regional road leading straight to the city. But there isn't.

So it will be an overland drive today. Passing through towns and villages: Göppingen, Faurndau, Lorch, Schwäbisch-Gmünd, Mögglingen, Aalen. Then, in Aalen, the connection to a highway that leads to Nuremberg. 190 kilometres, about three hours drive. At least that is what I guess, as I haven't been to Nuremberg for ages. So close to where I live, yet so far away, another valley, another way, not the usual turns. Turning of Tides, again.

And coming of winter. The further up the road leads, the more it shows. It is nine, but the sun still hasn't reached the parts of the fields that are facing the West. Frost on the grass, on the trees without leaves. Black they stand, like pencil drawings on blue canvas.

A picture, I think. I need to take a picture of this. But the road is narrow, offering no space for a quick rest. If this was a tourist island, I could simply stop nevertheless. But here, no one would expect a driver to stop at nine in the morning, to take pictures of frozen fields. Definitely not. So I wait for my chance, while my eyes wander off the street again and again, following the sun that is rolling along the horizon like a ball. Finally I find it. The picture spot. The road leading towards the horizon. I take a picture, and then another one.

Wäschenbeuren, Kirneck, Lorch. A monastery, appearing between tree trunks. The monastery of Lorch, my memory tells me. Of course. Seeing it, I remember a walk, through this forest, with views to the roofs of the monastery and the surrounding stone wall on the other side of the valley. That must have been years ago. Long before the time of taking digital pictures, or taking mini diaries on day trips.

Fields follow, bridges. The next villages. Deinbach, Schwäbisch-Gmünd, Mögglingen. Houses with woodwork facades. A church in white. And traffic lights that take forever to change back to green. Next to the crossing, a hotel called Reichsadler. The name is dating back to the era when Germany wasn't a Federal Republic yet. Time ticks slower here.

Wasseralfingen, Aalen - and with it, the Limes Thermals. They are the second reason for taking the overland route - a spa built in Roman style. Waiting to be discovered on the way back. I hope to get a glimpse of it, but all I see in the driving by are Christmas trees, bundled up for December like prisoners of festivity.