January
The first hike of the year happens to be in our new home region on the Rotweinwanderweg (Red wine trail), leading 40 km through the vineyards of the Ahr river valley.
Starting the new hiking project with a mixed bag of weather. Römerweg is a 120 km long trail following the relics of a Roman Aqueduct, which provided the city of Cologne with high quality water from the Eifel mountain range 2000 years ago.
March
Römerweg continued, and paying a visit to the first of many wine tasting events in the Ahr valley.
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| Source of the aqueduct |
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| On a guided wine tour |
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| Village Rech and Nepomuk bridge |
A short trip to Lake Constance with a German-Swiss-Canadian Blogger reunion
A short trip to the Gerolsteiner Dolomites, dancing with wolves
May
A short trip to the German Coast with my Mom, where the ocean is almost never there due to an unfortunate tide schedule.
Nahesteig: River Nahe Trail - 60 km along one of the smaller rivers in Germany with the first outdoor overnighter in 2023
First Bulli camping trip to the Palatinate vineyards on a quest for proper white wine
Hiking the Eifelleiter: The Eifel Ladder - A 60 km hike from the Rhine to the highest peak in the Eifel, and second outdoor overnigher
And another wine fest with the family
June
Ahrsteig: Ahr river trail - another outdoor adventure following the river Ahr 110 km from its source to its mound into the Rhine including interesting camp spots
Rheinburgenweg: Rhine castle trail - 200 km through UNESCO world heritage site passing 20 castles and other sites of historic importance
July
Rheinburgenweg: continued, spiced up with a bit of Camino feeling
August
A family trip to Quedlinburg with Mom, Bro and niece
A short trip to Schwetzingen for the final concert of the Indie band Porcupine Tree
Rhineburgenweg finalized and castled-out
Camp - hike - bike, and boldly go where none us had gone before. A two-week road trip to Eastern Germany took us exploring the nature preserve Hainich, an ancient beech forest. We also visited the home of Luther and Bach in Eisenach, and the cities Gotha and Weimar, home of Goethe and Schiller. We paid a visit to the former concentration camp of Buchenwald. After that our journey took us to Naumburg with its famous cathedral. Then we ventured north to the Mecklenburg lakes. From the town Waren we traveled to the Baltic Sea and stopped by the cities Schwerin and Wismar before heading to the marzipan headquarters in Lübeck. Next stop was the city of Lüneburg and the heathen.
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| Wartburg |
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| Gotha |
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| Schwerin castle |
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| Lübeck Holsten gate |
October
A short trip to the Black Forest visiting old friends and familiar places
Back in the Ahr valley for some more local (wine) events
and the beginning of a new section hiking project: Vulkanweg, Volcano trail, one of the oldest hiking trails in the region featuring plenty of geological and historical highlights with 200 km distance
November
Vulkanweg - continued, a cultural and geological gem
Revisiting the red wine trail and other local trails with autumn in full force
December
Vulkanweg: continued
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| First snow |
Wilde Endert - A 20 km hike along river Endert from source to mound into the Moselle River
Visit of several Christmas Markets in the region getting into the spirit
