Where has January gone?

Contrary to previous years January flew by just like a blink of an eye. On weekends I continued my project of section hiking the Alemanni Trail (Alemannenweg), which is marketed as a panoramic roundtrip through the Oden forest (Odenwald). Needless to say that it had been a very cold and muddy experience.

I have no clue to why the trail name is hinting at the Germanic tribe because so far I haven't encountered any significant historic sites or artefacts of the respective era.

Heading westwards from the trailhead at castle Erbach towards Reichelsheim.

Over the hights and through the valley of Mossau.

Castle Reichenberg

From Castle ruin Rodenstein over the hights of Neunkirchen, at 605m the 2nd highest "mountain" in the region, a view on Frankfurt skyline and a mighty rock chaos waiting at the end of this section.

Back another day: Now in the wine region, at the summer residence of former sovereigns (Fürstenlager Auerbach) I have almost reached the halfway point.

Together we revisited the Heidelberg area: A moated castle at Handschuhsheim, the tower on Heiligenberg (All Saints mountain), the abbey ruins of St. Stephan and St. Michael and the infamous Thing place, a dunning remnant of the Third Reich. 

Last but not least we climbed the mountain Königstuhl (at 567 m not really a climb though) and enjoyed the views over Heidelberg and the Rhine flats.

Good news on the job front: My supervisor liked my work and put a word in for me. I am happy to report that my contract at John Deere got renewed.

Not so good news on the virus front: Some non-vaccinated family members contracted Corona. So far it seems to be a mild form of Covid. Let's keep fingers crossed that it stays that way.

Looking back on 2021

January started with a cold snap, and it actually snowed. While Germany went into lockdown we went hiking.

Same in February, while I fasted and continued with the program (hiking...).

March saw the lifting of lockdown restrictions, shops and services opened again. Roland's e-bike got delivered and I tested my new outdoor equipment at freezing temperatures.

I got a new job in April, and put in some more hiking.

In May we ventured out for some regional urban adventures. Life was almost back to normal.

June had some road trips and sightseeing with our camper van in store for us. Good times! Needless to say that I did hike some more, while Roland played with his e-bike.

Würzburg

A vacation in the Ahr valley was already booked when desaster struck the region. Many homes and the complete infrastructure got destroyed, ten thousands were rendered homeless, hundreds of people injured, 134 died, some are still reported missing in the big flooding of July 14/15th. 

Ahrweiler valley before the flooding (Feb 2021)

Although August had some more hiking and biking in store for us it became a sad and stale memory. Roland's mom had passed away.

In September we needed to get away for a bit and went on a camping trip to Austria and Switzerland (hiking and biking included).

San Bernadino Pass road

River Lech (Austria)

A golden October offered some more opportunities to play weekend warriors on foot or on two wheels.

November weather basically sucked but we managed to snug out for another weekend trip.

December had some indoor activities in store for us: We visited museums, and went to concerts and standup comedy. And my mom came to visit (and to spoil us with her cooking, of course). 

2021 wasn't the best of years in our books but it had been a lot worse for many others. Let's keep living the best life we can while we're at it.

Happy New Year!

Visiting the Pharao and first snow - Besuch beim Pharao und erster Schnee

Mannheim, square city on the banks of river Rhine, home of John Deere, my current employer, and many other major corporations such as Daimler, Siemens, Caterpillar and many big pharma companies, host of several US Army installations during the Cold War. A diverse city with 45% population of foreign descent and therefore offering a great variety of culinary options. But also a place one will only fall in love with on second or third sight due to architectural nightmares, horrible traffic and never-ending construction. On the other hand... cultural options galore.

Recently we visited the Tutankhamun exibition and excavation documentation which was quite impressive.

Zeughaus Museum

And we also did some more hiking:

We live between two low mountain ranges, Odenwald stretching to the east, and the Palatinate Forest to the west, both regions offer plenty of hiking opportunities all year round. 

This time we visited Kalmit, with 672m the highest 'mountain' in the Palatinate Forest. The edge of the mountain range offers a unique pinewood forest as well as a rock chaos (I had to look up the technical term for this specific geological rock formation).

The weird year is coming to an end, a year dominated by lockdown rules. We have coped, continued living and working and traveling (a bit) while doing our best to protect our loved ones. I am sure you all did the same. Take care and happy holidays.