The view through the keyhole and a garden full of rocks

What to do when you have an irresistible urge for adventure, fresh air, and new paths on a rainy day?

That's right, head to a forest where you can experience something even with dry feet. Microadventures - short but really exciting, leaving room for all the wonders on the sidelines, as Ms. Kati always says.

And she should know, because we often don't have much time. The young bipeds quickly come home from school and always look forward to not having to wait too long for us. So why go far when the sky - or in this case, the forest - is only a few kilometers away.

Today we are going to the Franconian Switzerland, precisely to Sanspareil.

I admit, I don't really care, as long as there is a lot to discover. Today we want to explore the rock garden. This time we dedicate ourselves to the many forest inhabitants who don't immediately reveal themselves at first glance.

You have to look very closely, feel, and also say a few friendly words to them. Not everyone warms up to you right away, but if you are respectful, cheerful, and polite, they gladly share a piece of their magic with the visitors.

There's a guy standing right at the entrance. He has already spread a umbrella so that we can calmly admire the towering Zedernitz castle above us.

It smells like wood, fresh earth, and deer tracks, I am thrilled. Ms. Kati says we're practicing waiting here - well, I'm trying - and I have to tell you, if you can wait, the waiting passes quickly.

Now we are exploring a staircase that takes us directly to the gate after a short detour on a meadow path - Ms. Kati also wanted to see the castle from a distance.

What a sight, the rocks will accompany us every step of the way today. But before that, I quickly bark at a castle guard in a green combat suit. Ms. Kati looks a bit reproachful, because it seems that he is just a nice gardener and not a knight that should be scared away.

We behold what people used to love doing, cutting nature into shape and drinking their tea in the midst of the oddly geometrically distorted trees.

Ms. Kati says there are always two sides to a coin, and that also has its charm.

As we pass by the many stone faces of these magnificent buildings in the park and they wink at us, we feel the special magic of this place.

Everything seems to be waiting in a kind of wakeful silence for a human or a dog to stroll along the path, so that it can delight them with all its splendor.

But I have to confess, I often rush around here too, most people often don't feel when a slower pace would be appropriate.

So that they can greet this funny guy, Ms. Kati and I call him Karl the ostrich face. Suddenly he shoots out of his tree hideout and throws us a mischievous 'Well, how's it going?'.

Ms. Kati says that now some people probably think we're crazy because we say hello to Karl, but we'd rather be crazy and be happy and content.

We approach a rock crevice, or rather a crack, that looks like a keyhole or the gateway to another magical world.

I want to get through as quickly as possible because it smells good in here and I wonder how it looks on the other side.
But we walk slowly and suddenly we are surprised by a bright light, it shines directly onto us through the keyhole and onto our noses. A somewhat grumpy tree companion stands just behind it on the left, maybe he has no one to chat with.

There are plenty of stairs here too, and we decide to take a mighty one after the so-called stone love bench, which takes us to a beautiful view. You can even see the Fichtel Mountains and many nice treetops at eye level.

Before we head to the turnoff to the rock theater, I still need to refresh myself a bit. What a magnificent water supply, see for yourself, that was a very noble tree, maybe the king here in the forest whom they felled. In his honor, they have built a circular honorary place and now I am allowed to drink from it.

Ms. Kati says that you could do something beautiful here, like singing or dancing.

It's a bit dull for me in the rock theater, but here I can search for many treats among all the stone columns - it's exciting, because there could be one in every crack.

Before it's time to go home, we make acquaintance with a beautiful tree bird who sits majestically on a stack of wood.

What an adventure, and time flew by too quickly, because we were just in time for dinner with the bipeds.

By the way, I got a pig ear,

see you soon on the next adventure!

Yours, Gretl