Hike-on!

The trail is easy going, and involves passing a castle, visiting a Roman quarry, crossing farmlands and orchards (and more farmland) in the Neuwied basin, underpassing a highway bridge and marvelling at awesome views. I get a mixed bag of weather fitting the excellent mix of impressions.

Castle Namedy

In the basin

Meurin - Roman quarry

River Moselle

Moselle view bridge - Highway 61

View on Winningen

I spend the night in Winningen on the banks of river Mosel, and close to the city of Koblenz. The next day comes with drizzle, and with a visit of friends, a lunch in a Spanish tapas restaurant, and a couple of uphill-downhill walking.

While I make a beeline out of town it starts pouring, then the sun comes out again, it's getting uncomfortably hot and humid.

View on Koblenz

Castle Stolzenfels

View on Rhens

A steep switchback trail leads down to the village of Rhens, where today's section hike is ending as usual, at a train station.

Another trip to Volcano Land

While on our recent little road trip, we had the opportunity of visiting one of the filming location for the movie "Indiana Jones and the last crusade" (the flick with Sean Connery). 12th century castle Bürresheim had never been conquered and survived all wars and turmoils over centuries unscathed. Its Disney like features became the inspiration for the fictitious Austrian Castle Brunwald, where dad and junior Jones were held captive, tied up and put in a (miraculously turning) fireplace.

Nice views

Our next stops included several tuff cones (Maar lakes) and crater lakes in the region. Volcanic activities stopped some 20 or 30.000 years ago meaning just a snippet in time in geological terms.

Pulvermaar

Holzmaar

Having a cake break!

The castles in the village Manderscheid weren't as lucky as castle Bürresheim. They stand in ruins today, destroyed and plundered by our neighbours, the French during their revolution.

Kyll creek

Windsborn crater lake

Hinkelsmaar (drained in the 19th century)

Some fine, secluded (and legal for a change!) boon docking at Meerfelder Maar

No sunset but still nice

Swimming is allowed here!

I had to hike up an extinct volcano. Hubby did well, too.

Meerfelder Maar from above.

Camping ✅
Hiking ✅
Sightseeing ✅
Having a good time ✅ ✅

Men on bikes

Roland and and his bestie from childhood days Stephan recently went on a four-day e-bicycle trip through the hilly Eifel mountain range.

Trailhead was in Aachen at the railway station Rothe Erde where I left the two boys to their own devices. The so called Venn-Bahn-Trail is a former Belgian owned railroad track transformed into bike trail with elevation gain of 2000 meters on 250 kms. 

It was sunny and hot so frequent stops for isotonic refreshments were necessary. The e-motors helped with some steep inclines but the ride went smoothly until arrival in Monschau, a medieval village with rich history where they had booked a hotel for the night.

The second day lead through the hills and high bogs of the Venn region until reaching the youth hostel in Prüm, a town with a sad back story. Over 90% of this village had been destroyed in the 2nd World War and if that hadn't been enough, a huge explosion of an underground ammunition bunker wrecked it even further and killed several people in the process.

The third stretch became challenging as the trail went constantly up and down bringing even the e-bikes to their limits plus neither restaurant nor café were to be found to allow for a break or refreshment. The boys where pretty exhausted when arriving at their stop for the night in Adenau.

An Italian dinner that evening and a decent German breakfast plus an easy ride the next day compensated for the strenuous effort of the previous day as the bike path lead along the river Ahr back to the home base. Both riders arrived happy and very motivated to do something like this tour again in the not so far away future.