Pear trail
The Ahr region is not only known for its red wine, its sugar-beet syrup and headquarters of the world-famous gummy bear company Haribo. Since many centuries pears are also cultivated in the municipality of Grafschaft. And of course there is a pear-themed hiking trail basically at my doorstep which I took the opportunity to explore.
Barbarossa Trail
Another hike lead me into and around the city of Sinzig.
| Sinzig Castle |
| Rhine valley and mountain range Siebengebirge |
| Moated castle Ahrenthal |
| Highest point reached at Koisdorf |
| Back in Sinzig: Basilica St. Peter |
A way of St. James
Many ways of St. James lead to Santiago de Compostela, so why not start at my own doorstep and follow the trailmarkers of the Eifel-Camino? I am not the religious kind but I can certainly appreciate the effort and passion that the makers of the Ways of St. James put into the trail maintenance. Also, besides the excellent waymarking, you get great infrastructure plus a good portion of culture and history.
An Abbey and a castle:
The first section takes me to the monastery of Maria Laach by way of the ruin of Olbrück.
| Abbey Maria Laach |
Three volcanoes:
The second section hike on a beautiful day takes me up and down three mountain peaks and ends in Mayen.
| Just another 2125 km to Santiago de Compostela |
| Permanent changes in weather |
| Castle Löwenburg |
| Castle Philippsburg |
| View on Monreal and Löwenburg castle |
| Snowstorm in Kaisersesch |
150+ km hiked in March, not bad given the adverse weather conditions we had this month. T.b.c...
Happy Easter!