Driving out to Hainich I apologised to my wife, "I think I have gone too far with this one." The calm non-vocalised acceptance indicated I had indeed probably overstepped the mark a little.

By this time our car was weaving on the deep snow atop the single track road outside the village of Craula and I had already started budgeting for how much the recovery vehicle would cost to haul us out. But we made it to the small car park at the entrance to the WHS core zone parked up and hoped that we would be able to get out again.

A thick white blanket wrapped the whole landscape as the deep snow blended seamlessly with the heavy skies when I jumped out of the car and donned my coat, scarf and gloves.

"It's ok you go do your thing, I'll take some photos around here and stay warm." said my wife, again cementing her role as the sane one in our relationship.

So off I trekked, not really planning on getting far, just hoping I could find something that I could comfortably identify as being a beech tree. It didn't take me long, as a few hundred meters from the car park were the tall thin black stalks of trees. Snow and ice clung to the dark wood of the leafless trees which were set against powdery grey skies and made the whole scene a glorious monochrome tableau.

There was utter silence as I gawped at the spectacle, broken only by the crunch of snowy footsteps behind me. I turned and saw a familiar beaming face, as my wife had been sucked further from the car by the highly unique surroundings. Almost a year to the day after we had shared the same gleeful, uncomprehending glances at the Monarch Butterfly Reserve in Mexico we were repeating them in front of a clump of trees. A most unexpected outcome, even a few minutes beforehand.

That was about it, we tried in vain to capture the scene in photographs, but nothing could really do it justice. Feeling cold and not really sure that another half hour of walking would provide us with anything to top the experience we decided to head back to the car, after a swift but magical visit.

I started up the car and was exceptionally relieved to make it out of the thick snow and back on the main roads for the short drive to Wartburg.

Unexpectedly magnificent and utterly stunning. The specific weather and timing of our trip made this a rather magical visit to what may otherwise be a slightly underwhelming site but for us it was one that left that indelible imprint of a really special location that we only visited because of its place on the list.

Site 6: Experience 9