Roadblock

We had visitors today, D & R from Northern Germany. D is a friend from university, and we have always kept in touch, even though they moved away decades ago. 

We hadn’t seen each other since before the pandemic, and it was great to just chat and catch up. We were lucky with the weather, too. The afternoon turned out quite sunny, so we all went for a walk in the vineyards and orchards, and for a meal afterwards. 

On our way, we met this magnificent Aesculapian snake - an adult, about 1.5 metres in length. They are harmless and quite rare, and P had never seen one before. R (a big strong guy who works for the federal police) admitted to be scared of snakes and kept his distance. 

The snake obviously loved to bask in the evening sunshine, but it had chosen a road that is quite busy with bicycles and occasional tractors, and it was not that easy to spot between the long shadows of the fence posts. So we made sure it left the road before we walked on.