So...the adventure begins.
Firstly we drive to Wiesbaden, which is where Simone lives, to pick up a few items from her fridge that she prepared the day before. Plus get her hiking shoes. I knew there was something else I should have packed!
Its a fantastic morning and promises to be at least 28 degrees today.
Then we walk a few 100 metres to the train station where we meet up with the rest of the walking party - Albert, Torsten and Irmgard. Board the train - us and half of Wiesbaden - and head towards the start of our walk. The train was electric,very modern, clean and quiet. No graffiti. The wide rail tracks make the ride very smooth. On board the train, the people are many and varied. There are several groups of walkers, a 'girls day out' group complete with a half empty bottle of bubbles, couples with little ones and buggies, several people with their bicycles, a man and his dog (I kid you not) and people with shopping trolleys obviously going to a farmers market along the way somewhere. Train travel is very easy and cheap. During the journey we follow the Rhine River (Rhein in German) which is smooth and wide and populated with a lot of very long thin boats carrying freight, as well as several of the 'cruise ship' boats with people sitting on top in deck chairs.
We disembark at a wee village called Lorch. Its a quaint, chocolate box village on the edge of the river. We take the car ferry across to the opposite side of the river. A very cheap (only 1 Euro) short trip where we just stand on the deck and mill around and chat. We are heading for Niederheimbach, another chocolate box village.
Our real walk begins here. We walk through the village, steadily climbing, then veer off to the left and start to walk parallel to the river. All along the walk we have delicious views of river, working boats, rows and rows of grapevines, and the pretty spring gardens. Some flowers we recognise, others we do not.
The walk gradually increases in its intensity as we climb higher and higher through a forest - heading towards the goal of the lookout above the castle. Oh yes, its the castle we are coming to see :) I forgot to mention that!
We arrive at the lookout very hot and weary, but the view......
We all sit down and share a lovely meal with contributions from everyone. There is a beautiful bowl of Spundekaese made by Simone which is like a dip made of philadelphia cheese and red paprika and eaten with Laugenbretzel (a type of bun tied in a knot like a giant prezzel). I have tried to use correct german characters in the german words but the laptop is not having a bar of them unfortunately. Then there is 'handkaese' which translates to 'hand cheese with music'. This was a lovely delicate soft cheese with a very subtle flavour. Simone said its low fat, low calorie, but very high protein. We have such a lot of fun with the translations and everyone is surprised we enjoy the new foods so much. Lots of nuts and fruits and bread and cheese. Great basic healthy food.
We wander around the castle and then decide its time for a beer and sit in the shade inside the castle and reflect on our day. Its magic.
Burg Sooneck (Castle Sooneck)
Then back down the hill to the ferry. Once we are on the other side of the river again, we all head to a small cafe restaurant which is part of one of the vineyards, and drink local wine and eat gorgeous light meals. Everyone has to translate the menu for us and its all a lot of fun. Lovely wine and lovely new friends and a beautiful sunny day. What else is there in life?
Torsten tells us we have walked 12km today. He has a portable GPS which he has used throughout the day to ensure we didnt get lost.
We doze a little on the train back and arrive home very weary and very happy. A truly memorable day.
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