Hiking the Apolloweg

As Magda's school year is winding down and we had a nice sunny but cool day yesterday, we decided to head out for a hike. We decided on the Apolloweg near Valwig. Valwig is a wine village on the Moselle just a couple of kilometers up river from Magda's old stamping ground, Cochem. The Apolloweg is a relatively short loop trail, about 7.5 km. You can make an 11 km hike by cutting off the loop after about 5.5 km and taking a side trail to Cochem and walking back to Valwig on the bike trail along the Moselle. Which is what we did.

Apollo Butterfly

The Apolloweg attracts many people this time of year due primarily to the butterflies that can be found along the way. We saw several on this trip including Painted Ladies (Europe's version of the Monarch), a Brimstone (so we think, a neon yellow butterfly), as well as assorted whites and yellows. We also saw a couple of butterflies that are the main reason that the Apolloweg has its name, Apollo butterfly. The Apollo inhabits steeps banks of the Moselle above Valwig and can be seen this time of year. It is a fairly large butterfly, mostly white with some black highlights and four red dots. It has rather restrictive dietary requirements and so can only inhabits only certain areas in central Europe. One guide book called it one of the most beautiful butterflies in Europe and noted that in some areas it has become so rare that collecting is now prohibited.

Last Station of the Cross

Of course this is not the only reason to hike here. It is a very pretty trail over the Moselle with wonderful overlooks and several interesting sights along the way. It begins, as almost all Moselle hikes do, with a climb. This time for about 2 km. Along the way, you pass the stations of the cross. This is a series of stone reliefs along the trail depicting the Passion of Jesus. You find this often on a trail leading out of a village along the Moselle. I guess that the churches in the villages want to remind you that you aren't the only one who has suffered, as you are trudging your way up the hill. The interesting thing about this stations of the cross is that the last station is a small chapel that sits atop an earlier Romano Celtic shrine to Apollo. The shrine was used by the Celts to determine the beginning of summer based on where on the horizon the sun appeared to rise.

Collected Steinpilz

Not long after reaching the top of the climb. we noticed a large beige mushroom. On closer inspection it was in fact a Steinpilz (boletus), one of the favorite edible mushrooms that are found here. This one was a little past its prime, but certainly a reason to keep an eye out for more. A few steps later, we found some younger ones. We filled my backpack with about 2 kg of them. It can be Steinpilze, wild raspberries, abandoned fruit trees, walnuts or a recently harvested potato field that can be gleaned, the opportunity to fill a backpack with some sort of edible prize is one of those nice surprises that you can have on a hike in Germany, even if it does mean carrying around a much heavier pack

Chior of St. Maria and Maria Magdalena

Not long afterwards we passed through Valvigerberg where the church of St. Maria and Maria Magdalena. In the 14th and 15th century, this church attracted pilgrims due initially to a picture that was suppose to produce miracles and later due to a papal letter that forgave the sins of anyone making a pilgrimage there. At its height, the church was welcoming 2000 visitors a day.

Hiking through the vineyards

After Valwigerberg, the trail passes initially through woods and then through the vineyards on the way to Cochem. In this case, I do mean literally through the vineyards. We had grape vines on both sides of the trail as we walked along. The vines cultivated in the traditional Moselle style, attached to stakes 1 meter apart. It's not often that you have trails that close to the vines.

We stopped for a drink in Cochem at a hotel directly across from the 19th century castle that looms over the city. Then covered the last 3 km back to the car in Valwig by walking along the river. Once back in Koblenz, the mushrooms were cleaned. Some were used for dinner, the rest were frozen. The ones used for dinner were sauteed with onion and bacon, then added to a Béchamel cream sauce. The sauce was served over pasta. A heavy pack can have its rewards.

Burg Cochem

Frannie's 10 Favorite Things about Germany

Frannie cracking a walnut

Frannie has settled into life in Germany. In point of fact, she has now lived in Germany longer than she lived with us in America. If you could ask her, I think there are some things that she obviously likes about life in Germany. From my observations, these seem to be her top 10:

10. Her kibbles - The kibble we feed Frannie come from a company called BritCare.  Their Lamb and Rice kibbles seem to have the right percentages of fat and protein. Plus there is no corn. Frannie seems to like the taste. We use it for her a normal feeding and from time to time as treats. There is no faster way to get her to come than to rattle her kibble container.


9. Walnuts - We're beginning to wonder if Frannie is part squirrel because somewhere along the way, she has picked up a taste for walnuts. We have have been finding walnuts around the house this winter, and the broken shell of walnuts on Frannie's cushion. Initially, we think she had been secretly taking them from a dish on a low table in the dining room. But now she is more open about it. Whenever we are cracking walnuts, she will come and sit next to us. If a nut were to fall and is not picked up right away. Frannie will casually stroll by the nut and without stopping, dip her head down, grab the nut and trot out of the room. In a couple of minutes, presumably after storing her treasure, she is back in position for the next opportunity.

8. Hundewurst - both of the butchers that we use make a hundewurst, a sausage especially for dogs. I'm not sure I want to know what it is made of, although the same can be said about the meat product in any dog food. In any case, Frannie is a big fan of hundewurst.. Sometimes we give a bit to her in her kibbles. The hundewurst always is eaten first.

7. Butterbrot - Put some good German butter on a piece of German bread, what's not to like. It is one of Frannie's favorite things about Germany as well as mine. Every breakfast, she lays quietly between us waiting for one of us to cut off a small piece of bread for her and butter it. She has a second sense about when we do this. Not sure how she knows we are doing it, some movement on our part gives it away. But Frannie will immediately get into a sit and wait to receive her treat.

6, Fleischwurst - When we go to the butchers, Frannie has to wait out in the car for us. Dogs are allowed in most stores and restaurants, but grocery stores and butchers don't allow dogs. But she doesn't mind, because she knows that her patience will be rewarded.  The butcher will always give us a small piece of fleischwurst for the dog (they do this for young kids that come into the shop as well, trying to get them hooked while they are young). Frannie has learned to expect this treat when we return and enjoys her part of the bounty (as do we).

5. Cheese - I don't think Frannie will every go back to Koger cheese again. Especially the Kroger "Swiss" cheese with the drilled holes. The Emmentaler that she gets here is just so much better. The fake Emmentaler and Gouda from Holland are also pretty good. Her favorite Swiss cheese is Appenzeller. However, "cheese one" for her is French. We're talking the gooier, the riper, the smellier the better. Open up a nice ripe Camembert, and you have Frannie's complete attention.

4. Hikes - When we start to collect our boots and get ready to head out for a hike, Frannie's eyes widen and ears perk. She won't let us out of her sight, prancing from one of us to the other, occasionally touching our hand or leg with her nose to make sure that we are aware she is there. She absolutely does not want to be left behind because hiking is one of here favorite things. When we arrive at the trail, she is ecstatic. She starts by prancing proudly around the parking lot, waiting for us to get our boots on. On the trail, if Magda and I are walking together, she will be out in the lead. If we are separated, Frannie will station herself between the two of us, trying to keep us both in sight. I guess that is the collie in her. If we walk through a field, Frannie will take off  running in a big circle as fast as she can. Then she comes prancing back with a big doggie smile, happy as can be to be out.

3. Ike - Ike is Frannie's boyfriend, or at least Frannie thinks so. Frannie is normally a very quiet dog that doesn't care much for other dogs. However, there is something about this Belgian shepherd that changes her whole attitude. When she see Ike, she runs over to him barking and inviting play. If there is a field, she will start running around the field in circle, hoping Ike will follow. One time she was so involved with her running that she ran right into a light pole. It startled her so, that she forgot about Ike and run back to me looking for protection from the pole. For the next week, she would not walk near one of those light poles. I literally had to walk her or sit her near those poles to make her deal with her fear.

2. Boiled Pig's Ears - When we were doing obedience training with Frannie, the instructor kept insisting that we needed to find some treat that will get Frannie excited. We found some that she found interesting, none brought real excitement. That was was until our housekeeper brought a bag of frozen pig's ears. We boiled them and refroze. Now whenever we bring them out, Frannie will jump on us wanting a piece. It is the only thing that we have come across that will make her jump on us.

1. Magda - there is no doubt what is Frannies favorite thing in Germany. When Magda is at work, she lays around waiting for her return. While she will walk with me, she is hardly excited about it. About an hour before Magda is expected home, Frannie turns into a doggie radar, ears perked for any sound from the stairs. And when she hears the right footsteps on those stairs, she will run back forth between me and the door. If I open the door for her, she scurries down with her tail flying to meet her number one thing in Germany.

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Real Switzerland, Experiencing Heidi Moments

Peg, one of our friends from Columbus, visited us in late June. Peg has wanted to see Switzerland for sometime and wondered if it was possible to combine the visit to Koblenz with a trip to Switzerland. Magda and I said sure, but what is it that you want to see or do in Switzerland. "I'd be happy sitting at a cafe with a view of some mountains while having a cup of coffee" was her response. This became known as our search for a "Heidi Moment."

To be honest, driving 6 hours to reach the Swiss mountains for cup of coffee and then driving back seemed a little extreme. Then there is the "vignette" or the toll for use of the Swiss autobahn that would increase the cost of that cup of coffee. And in point of fact, everything is Switzerland is pretty expensive.

Figuring that we were in for a penny in for a pound, we started looking for something more that a Heidi Moment, more of a "Heidi Experience". We came upon a offer from Ameropa for a 4 day trip that included train from Koblenz to Davos, 2 nights in Davos in a 4 star hotel, free use of public transportation in Davos, first class reservations on the Glacier Express to Zermatt including a 3 course meal for lunch, one night in Zermatt also in a 4 star hotel, and the train back to Koblenz.

While Davos it self is not the prettiest town, its setting near a small lake in a high valley surrounded by mountain peaks is hard to beat. The breakfast room at our hotel with its floor to ceiling windows looking over a small park to a near by peak and snow-capped range of mountains took full advantage of this setting. Enjoying this view over breakfast realized a Heidi Moment for Peg.

Davos has a Museum containing a collection of works by the German expressionist Ernst Ludwig Kirchner. Magda and I became interested in Kirchner after attending a exhibition of his works in Frankfurt. However, as I was not feeling well that morning, Peg and Magda went to the museum while I rested for hiking in the afternoon. Magda was very impressed by the collection and still mentions this as a high point of the trip.

The free use of public transportation in Davos included the use of "Bergbahnen". These are the cog wheel trains or cable cars that go up and down the mountain. In the afternoon we took the cog wheel train to Schatzalp on the north side of the valley, returning by foot on a short trail through lupines, mountain orchids, and other wild flower, past a waterfall, and that was guarded by carved wooded figures. Later we took a cable car up the south side of the valley to Jakobshorn. From here we had a fantastic 360 degree view of the peaks and mountains. Really did not want to come down from here. Talk about a ultimate Heidi Moment.

The next day, after another breakfast with view (or view with breakfast), we boarded the Glacier Express for Zematt. The Glacier Express bills itself a the world slowest express train as it travels 7 hours between St. Moritz or Davos and Zermatt through untouched mountain landscapes, delightful valleys, 91 tunnels, and across 291 bridges. While the Glacier Express uses the same tracks as the regular Swiss trains, it offers panorama wagons with large glass windows that allow a more complete view of the landscape. While great for viewing, these windows cause reflections in any photos taken along the way.

While the whole train ride was beautiful, my favorite part was the first part from Davos to Chur. During this part the train travels through forests, crossing several deep gorges using stone bridges. In Chur, the train changes engines to one with a cog wheel to climb and descend the Oberalppass (2033m), the highest point on the journey. Descending to 650m at Visp, the Glacier Express then climbs approximately 1000m to Zermatt (1604m). Really stunning scenery the whole way. But to be honest, it is hard to concentrate on the scenery for that long. Which is to to say that we didn't enjoy the trip, and we were certainly able to add several more Heidi Moments along the way.

What can you say about Zermatt? I suppose it is a place that people will either love it or hate it. Once again a wonderful setting  in a high valley surrounding by high mountain peaks. A walk to the end of town to see the Matterhorn made the stay worthwhile for me. What a mountain. Like Davos, I only wish we could have had more time to do some serious hiking in the area.

The town itself is another story. While Zermatt has banned automobiles on its streets (autos are parked in about 5 km away and then people take a train into the town), it is hard not to call it a tourist trap. Almost every storefront is a restaurant or shop catering toward the tourist. Even the grocery store is stocked more for the tourist than an inhabitant. But some people love rummaging around shops like these. Even for me, the collection of outdoor shops was interesting to see.

Our hotel in Zermatt was the Hotel Alex. A wonderfully run hotel, with a great breakfast (although without the kind of view we had in Davos), but with the most eclectic decor I have ever seen. Peg thought it was the most interesting and beautiful hotel that she had ever stayed in. Magda had a more negative impression or the decor. Once again, love it or hate it.

Around noon on the fourth day of our trip we boarded the first of our trains to Koblenz. The second leg of our journey was interesting because it was in one of the new Swiss high speed trains. These really nicely designed trains. The third leg was on a German ICE, so we could make a direct comparison with the Swiss. The ICE is showing its age in the comparison. Of course it didn't help that the ICE broke down just before Mannheim causing use to miss our connection. The DB (the German train company) did give us 12 euros to help with a dinner while we waited 3.5 hours for the next connection. And later, they refunded 10 euros each. Of course, the extra 3.5 hours did mean we got back pretty late, and needed to get Peg to the airport early the next day.

Rheinsteig - Koblenz to Braubach

Last week, Frannie and I used one day for a 20 km hike on the Rheinsteig. The short story goes something like the following:

First 18 km mostly through woods with 2 good climbs and one steep downhill. Felt good to be out, Frannie seemed to enjoy it as well. But I didn't need that hill between 18 and 19 km. Still after getting to the top, the reward was some great views of the Rhein and the castle Marksburg.

The longer story is a bit more involved. The previous week while looking at the map of Rheinsteig, I noticed that the trail passed Koblenz directly on the opposite bank of the Rhine. So is seemed like a good idea for my second hike on Rheinsteig to walk across the bridge and follow the trail up river.

So one morning last week found Frannie and I crossing the bridge over the Rhine. When we dropped down from the bridge on the other side, we were on Rheinsteig. The trail follows the river for less than a kilometer, then turns up through the villiage of Pfaffendorf. pass the church and into a valley as it climbs 300 metes over the next 5-6 km. At the top is Lichter Kopf, a tower build in WWII to allow German troops to watch over this part of the Rhine. That was until the heavy winds at the end of February that blew the tower down. Now all that is left is the twisted remains of the base of the tower.

The next 4.5 km offered views of the Lahn river that flows into the Rhine. At this point the trail begins a 145 meter drop in a 1/2 km called Ruperts Klamm. In Ruperts Klamm, there are places where the trial disappears. You just follow the flow of the water and scramble over any rocks in you way. It really looks more dangerous as it actually is. And there are covered steel cables that can be used in some of the tougher spot. Of course, those didn't help Frannie. There were a couple of spots that were difficult for her, but she managed to get through the Klamm without incident.

The trail continues down to and across the Lahm, then climbs the other side, passing by a hotel. Then we head down to that 18 km mark. At this point, I was feeling OK. but I was out of water, so the climb between 18 and 19 km was a bit harder than I would have liked. Frannie and I took a rest at the top, not knowing that if we had walked another 80 meters, we would had had a wonderful view of Braubach, the Rhine and Marksburg setting on the hill over the town.

Marksburg castle is one of the best preserved castles in Germany. It is certainly in the top 5 of castles to visit. Unlike the glamor castles built to satisfy 17th and 18th century egos, Marksburg is a true medieval fortress castle that claims to have never been over-run by invading armies. Well worth a tour.

The last kilometer was all downhill, depositing us in the middle of Braubach. Frannie and I found the train station and took the bus back to Koblenz. This was Frannie's first bus trip. But I don't think she noticed much. All she wanted to to was find a place to lie down and sleep.

Traumpfad - Booser Doppelmaartour

Magda had a holiday last Monday, May 24. Monday holidays are great for Magda because one third of her classes are on Monday. So not only does she get a day free, but one third of her prep time for the week is freed up. With this freetime, we decided to tryout another of the Traumpfad hiking trails that we have been hearing people talk about.

Traumpfad or "Dream Hike" is a project of Rhein-Mosel-Eifel Touristik, an organization whose purpose is to increase the tourism in this part of Germany. The Traumpfad project involves setting up well marked, circuit hiking trails in smaller villages in an effort to entice people to get out of the major tourist areas and see some other parts of the region. What is nice is that some of these towns have taken a sense of pride in their Traumpfad and have made efforts to make the hikes even more interesting.

Such is the case with the village of Boos. It is about 5 km from the Nürburgring, the famous race track in the Eiffel. Largely a farming community, the only indication of tourism is the motorcyclist attracted to the Nürburgring that race around the roads in the area. But the Traumpfad does help bring a little tourism to the area. To make their Traumpfad distictive, they has set up information stations along the way to explain the geological and natural features of the area. Also they have build a tower at the highest point in the hike that offers panoramic views of the Eiffel landscape.

The trail is a nice one even without these additions. Just under 10 km, in winds its way on the edge of the woods through the Eiffel. This means that most of the hike is under shade, while still allowing views across the hills and fields of the Eiffel. There is only the one major climb up to the tower. Other than that, the hike is mostly level or slightly downhill. The hike starts and ends at the double "Maar". A "Maar" is an small lake formed in the crater of a volcano. The Eiffel has a history of volcanic activity, the potential for which persists even today. These two "Maars" are mostly filled in, however the bowls of the craters are clearly visible and some water still exists. Some rather rare plants have found a home here, including Germany's only wild orchid and a plant with yellow follows that is only found in marshes (see the pictures below).

Reinsteig - Lorch to Kaub

Rheinsteig is a 320 km hiking trails that follows the high banks along the Eastern side of the Rhine river from Bonn to Wiesbaden. As the trail follows the high banks there are plenty of wonderful views of the Rhine as you wander pass the castles along the way. But it also means that every river or stream that feeds the Rhine requires a decent and a climb. Thus the name Rheinsteig that translates to "Rhine Climb".

Magda's school wanted to have a fundraiser for UNICEF. So they chose May 20 as the day that the school would walk the entire Rheinsteig. That is to say, Rheinsteig would be split into sections that would be assigned to homerooms in each grade. Each homeroom there would walk there section on that day and the school would have then covered the entire Rheinsteig. UNICEF would receive the pledges that the students got for doing the walk.

Magda attached herself to a grade 11 homeroom and said that Frannie and I could tag along on their 15 km hike from Lorch to Kaub. So in the morning of May 20, Frannie, Magda, and I along with half of Max von Laue Gymnasium boarded a train heading south along the Rhine, while the other half of Max von Laue got on a train heading north.

As we traveled south, different homerooms would get off the train to hike there section of the trail, always hiking in towards Koblenz. The idea was that each homeroom would complete their section in about 5 hours meeting up with a single train North traveling back to Koblenz. The homerooms that went north would do the same, meeting a single south bound train. In this way, the entire school would end up back at the Koblenz train station at about the time.

It took about a hour to reach Lorch. The train station there was a little over 1 km from the trail. Once the trail reached the end of the town, it began climbing. It was a pretty steep climb, and the homeroom teacher for these 11th grades had a cold and was not feeling well. As a result he lagged behind as some of the boys in the group raced ahead. Magda, Frannie and I stayed towards the back, making sure that everyone was making it OK. Still, the walk was pleasant enough. There were some muddy sections that gave the students in their flat bottom shoes some problems. After all, what self respecting 11th grade girl could be seen in a pair of hiking boots. But the views of the Rhine and the castles on the other side were really wonderful. And soon enough we saw the small castle (toll booth really) in the middle of the Rhine that is the landmark for Kaub.

We reached the point where a trail headed down 1.8 km to Kaub, but Rheinsteig followed the trail up to a peak and then down pass the castle hoovering above the town of Kaub. That direction would be 5.8 km to Kaub. Which trail do you think the students racing ahead took? Yep, they were on the short trail almost to Kaub as Magda, Frannie and I reached the trail junction.

Unfortunately, since Magda was their in an official position, we had to follow the the students along the shorter path. So I didn't get to see as much of the Rheinsteig as I had hoped that day. But I'll certainly plan to see more in the not too distant future.

Walking Frannie - First Spring Hike

What with the weather and vacation, it had been a few weeks since we had Frannie on a hike. So we decide to take a Easter hike today and I got a couple of videos of Frannie enjoying herself. Hope you like as well. Just click on the images to see the videos.

From 2010-04-04

From 2010-04-04

Arm Chair Hiking

Been hoping  for a break in the weather, but it doesn't look like it will come soon. In the meantime, started to think about some hiking trials that I heard about and, in the process, discovered how easy it is to be an arm chair hiker around in Germany.

For example, I've heard some nice comments about two long trails, Reinsteig and Eifelsteig. So I thought I could check them out by picking up a couple of guidebooks about these trails. The bookstores here are filled with such guides for trails all over Germany. And they are nice books designed to fit in your rucksack and filled with color graphics, all the important logistical information (directions to the trail, location of parking, where to get a beer after the hike, or along the way), and readable descriptions of the trail. One great feature is the graph showing that elevation changes on the trail (see picture). Some guides also include GPS-coordinates for the important landmarks on the trail.

A second avenue to satisfy the winter hiking-lust has been TV. The other day, Magda and I watched a 4 hour program produced for German TV about through-hiking the Appalachian Trail. They focused on this one's couple's attempt to through hike. But in doing so you met a lot of other folks attempting the same thing. As someone that had had this desire since boy scouts (and haven't yet let go of it), it really made me want to get out there and go.

Another avenue for arm chair hiking has been the internet. There has been a couple of parties where folks have expressed their pleasure hiking one of the Traumpfade (Dream Trails). Traumpfade are a set of 19 trails that were opened last year (7 more are opening in June). Each trail meets a set of criteria that includes the following:

• The hike is a day hike, meaning that the average hiker should be able to complete the trail in 3-5.5 hours. That makes each trail 10-18 km in length
• The hike is a circuit hike, so a hiker can park their car, walk the trail and be back at their car
• this is a parking area at the start of the hike
• The hike is in the Rhine, Moselle, Eifel area (i.e. within 45 minute drive of Coblenz)
• The hike has interesting landmarks and viewing points. Also is mostly off of paved roads.

So I checked the Traumpfade website (www.traumppfade.info) and discovered the ideal feature for arm chair hiking. For each trail, the site offers a 3D animation of the hike. You can try it yourself. Click here to go to hike 3. Then click on the "3D Flug" button followed by "abspielen". After you tried one, the "Übersicht" button at the top right can give you access to the other 18 trails. Someone had fun with this site.

Golden October, make that November

The Germans refer to the time of year when the leaves of the trees and grape vine have changed to yellow as "Golden October". Unfortunately, It didn't come in October this year, and it isn't as brilliant this year as I've seen in the past. We're not sure of the reason. It has been dry this summer and fall. And while it has been cool, it has not exactly been cold. Some of the trees seem to just go from green to brown. And the vineyards still are showing some green in their leaves.

In any case, we are seeing some glimpses of it this week.

Hiking in Schwarzwald, October

We decided to hike a little in the Black Forest, but as there was snow above 1000 meters, we were a little concerned that the snow might be a little deep on Belchen (first picture) at 1415 m. Our compromise was to drive up to a pass at 1080 m called Kreuzweg. From there is a pleasant loop hike over Kälbelescheuer and Heldenhof and back to Kreuzweg.

As we suspected, the hike was right above at the snow line. The snow added to the beauty of the hike, covering the trees and the ground with a couple of inches. But the spectacular thing were the views of Feldberg (third picture) and Belchen. These are Germany's second and third highest peaks.

Frannie was quite enamored by the snow. She doesn't get excited by much, but this was special. She was running in circles, jumping up and down, back and forth, grabbing mouthfuls of snow, just generally wanting to play. It was a joy to watch.

She also got to visit another resturant as we stopped a the Gaststätte at Heldenhof before the climb back to Kreuzweg. Here she met a Münsteränder for the first time. Both showed impeccable resturant manners.

Hiking in Markgräflerland, October

Are hikes when we are in Badenweiler tend to follow a progression. Starting with a hike in the hills around the town, becoming gradually more difficult, then on the last day taking a hike that involves a relatively steep climb to one of the peaks that are near by.

The first day hike also follows a pattern. It's about 9 km and begins by accessing a trail across the street from the apartment. We climb about 100 meters in the first 1.5 km to a rocky area with views of Badenweiler and the surrounding vineyards. Then ridges around through the woods to the small framing community of Sehringen. From there it drops down through a valley of cow pastures and orchards to the picturesque village of Lipburg. There are nice views down the valley towards the Rhine river on this part of the trail. After passing through Lipburg, there is a short walk through more pastures and then back into the woods to Niederweiler. We then ascend under Badenweiler's castle into the town and back to the apartment.

The added attraction of this hike is October is the opportunity to collect nuts along the way. Earlier in the month, apples and pears would also be available to collecting from abandoned trees along the path. But we were a little late for that this year. However, the trails does pass by chestnut trees as we leave and re-enter Badenweiler. Also through walnut trees entering and leaving Lipburg. We concentrated on the walnuts on this walk. The walnuts here are English walnuts, so they don't have the thick skin of the black walnuts in Columbus. Rather, the walnuts pop from the skin as they ripen, making the easy to collect.

The walnut trees tend to be on private property on either side of the trail. You'll never sure if the owners collect the nuts or not. But the rule is that the nuts that fall on the trail are fair game. We managed to collect 3 kg before deciding that was enough. The limiting factor being how much we were willing to carry up the hill to Badenweiler rather than the availability of nuts on the trail.

Frannie is certainly learning to love these hikes. On the trail, she is investigating every smell and every hole on either side of the trail. 9km hike for us is likely a 12 km hike for Frannie as she goes from side to side with her investigations. She also loves romping in the fields, racing around in circles, comming back to Magda or I to be petted, then doing it again.

In Niederweiler, Frannie discovered another reason to enjoy being in Germany. There is a small resturant in Niederweiler that caters to locals and hikers. called Klemmbackmühle. The restaurant is filled with antiques, including a suit of armor. But for Frannie, the important thing she discovered is that dogs are allowed in restaurants here. She really is a good restaurant dog, setting quietly under the table, observing everything happening, and occasionally being petted by a customer as they enter to leave. She thought that was pretty cool.