Winter for a day

Ok, weather had been cold and nasty for a while now but until last week we never got white stuff that stuck around for more than a few hours. Finally we could go on a real winter walk! Even hubby seemed eager to play outside. First we strolled along the river that is the valley's name giver, then we followed the trail into the forest. While gaining elevation the snow got deeper and powdery. And we had this winter wonderland all to ourselves. The path went along the hill crest before leading us downhill again towards the city core. Of course we had to stop at a recently reopened family owned bakery in order to gather some goodies for a well deserved coffee break. Life is good!

The Redwine trail - a walk above river Ahr

The region of Ahr valley is known for excellent red wines, and 50 years ago the so called red wine trail was born in order to promote tourism. The 36 km long trail leads mostly through vineyards and can be done in day, however short winter days demand for a different solution. Thanks to working infrastructure it was easy to manage a split into three sections.

At the trailhead in Bad Bodendorf the trail meets history. The medieval military and trading route from Aachen to Frankfurt had been leading through this village.

The winding path was meandering through the hills, passing orchards and vineyards while offering several views into the valley and beyond into the volcanic mountain range of the Eifel region.

View towards Rhine valley

Bad Neuenahr

Then the trail followed a former railroad track. Its construction had begun in 1910 but due to WWI never got finished. Remains are still to be found, and the tunnels were used as subterranean production sites for the rocket V2 in WWII. During the cold war the tunnels found yet another purpose as crisis bunker for our constitutional organs, which was held top secret for many decades. Today it's a museum, but it was closed at the time I came by.

Ahrweiler

Former abbey Calvarienberg (17th century)

Terrain and weather was getting rougher but the view got more spectacular as I followed river Ahr further upstream.

Above Dernau

The path of destruction of the flooding disaster can still be seen, even from high above. Medival bridges wrecked, timber frame houses washed away, and not to forget 134 lives lost and 2 still missing in the devastating flooding of July 2021.

View on Rech

Castle Sassenburg

Mayschoß

Castle Are

Altenburg

Altenahr

Devil's hole

I had mostly been on my own now that it's wintertime, but it will be interesting to see the turn of the seasons during spring or fall even though I might have to share the trail with other hikers.

Impressions of 2022

Of course many days were filled with dull routine stuff like... work, eat, sleep, repeat. We also had some challenges ahead of us such as moving my Mom into a retirement home (which went pretty well with all involved by the way) and coordinating the final works of our own new place. We are thankful that all our loved ones made it through the pandemic without major issues, and happy to be able to get back to normal socialising with friends and family.

However, as difficult as the world seems right now with a war on our doorstep and the undeniable impact of climate change (+20°C on new year's eve) we appreciate what 2022 has dished:

A wet January was spent hiking the Nibelungensteig (Odenwald).

A cold but sunny February made for the opportunity to take the Alemannenweg (Odenwald) under my feet.

A frosty March had a wellness outing in the Taunus region as well as an outdoor overnighter in the Gramschatzer Forest (Lower Franconia) in store for me.

In April we rediscovered pedal powered two-wheeling and and spent some days camping in the river Nahe region, then snow hit again while on a trip to Bamberg (Upper Franconia).

May saw us venturing south to Italy for a yet another beautiful sojourn at Lago Maggiore.

A time slot in a hot and dry June presented the opportunity to hike the Pfälzer Höhenweg trail. And end of the month we were off camping in the Bavarian Alps for a deserved vacation.

July came with a mixed bag of weather so we moved our camp to Austria for some more hiking and biking.

I left for a spiritual journey in August on the Moselle Camino and came back with a (thankfully fairly mild) case of Covid. 

Recovered from Corona the month of September offered another great camping trip to Bavaria.

In October we got to explore the meteor crater Nördlinger Ries.

November found us hiking the Rhön mountain range, the former border region of East and West Germany taught us a lesson in (cold war) history.

Our new home awaits! So we moved one more (last?) time in December and have now settled in the Eifel, a low mountain range in Western Germany close to the Belgian border.

Happy New Year 2023! Be happy and healthy and live life to the fullest.