Christine in Heidelburg, Germany

Germany is full of hiking trails.  German people love to be outdoors.  This is why there are so many festivals all summer.  They spend the winter inside trying not to freeze, and all spring/summer/fall outside at various festivals, know as fests.  But I'm getting away from my topic.  I traveled up to Heidelburg to go hiking last Sunday.  We took the regional train, which means it's a 1 1/2 hour ride.  The walk was around 12 kilometers (7.4 miles) and took about  4 hours.   Now, you may be thinking, Christine, that is way slow for you.  Yes, I agree.  But it was all uphill and rather steep at times.  Most of it anyway.  And I walked with 2 other girls, Erin and Tamara, who's legs are not as long as mine.  So we walked slower.  It was a great afternoon activity on a sunny Sunday.

Like a lot of Europe, there were some ruins.   The ruins in front of the tree were Roman ruins originally.  Then some monks built a monastery over them.  Yes, they repurpose in Europe.  There is also 2 Celtic rings from 400 bc in this area.  But I couldn't see them.  I think it would have to be winter to see them.  And someone pointing out where they think the rings are.  Just sayin'.

Also, the Nazi had a rally point there:

View from the bottom:

You can see the Heidelburg castle from the hike as well:

Blogger Note:  I forgot my camera and used my blackberry for these pictures.  So that's why you can't really see the castle.  I sucked for blogging this time.  I'm sure I'll visit Heidelburg again and take pictures of the castle then.  You can google Heidelburg Castle and see what it looks like if you're really interested now.

Christine

Christine in Bastogne, Belguim

The Battle of the Bulge occurred at Bastogne, Belgium, beginning 16 December 1944 and lasted until 25 January 1945.  This is a fascinating battle and I recommend you read up on it.  Others have written more eloquently about it than I could ever.  The show Band of Brothers renewed interest in the battle.  So you can also watch that.  But I would like to point out that Easy Company were not the only ones to participate in the battle-far from it.  Many brave Americans gave their lives or were injured during the fight.  I believe around 16,000 Americans died and 64,000 were injured.  The Germans knew they could not win this battle with just fighting and their weapons.  They struck when the weather took a turn for the worse, so American planes could not support our troops.  The weather improved on 23 December and the bombers followed the tank tracks in the snow to take out the tanks.  Also, they dropped much needed supplies.

On December 10, 2011, the USO offered a walking tour of the battlefield.  And since it is around the anniversary day of the battle re-enactors were there.   The troops had to face snow (with little to no snow weather gear) and Germans.  We had a sunny day with no precipitation or enemies (as best I could tell there were no German re-enactors).  This made hiking much easier (or so you would think).  In many areas, the route was covered in black ice.  Not fun.

You had the opportunity to participate in an 8km, 18km, or 23 km walk.  I walked the 18km hike.  (This is *just* over 11 miles.)  I hiked through the woods, mud (yes, this city girl walked through mud-it's good I purchased hiking boots prior to my move), and water-logged clay.  I am fairly certain the entire hike was uphill.  Around the middle of the hike, I slipped on icy cobblestone (my slipping on cobblestone actually is a frequent occurrence around Europe).  I believe this is when I hurt my ankle.  And so I walked in pain for about 4 or 5 miles.  PSA:  Do not wave at buffalo.  Yes, the buffalo was looking at me.  And then I waved.  Then he charged.  Luckily, the electric fence stopped him.  There are no pictures of this event.  I was too busy moving out of the way.  And you would do the same thing.  Thanks to Joe for the camel pack-it came in handy on my walk through the woods.

Mud that I crossed over.  

3 German soldiers were buried in each grave (2 Unknown soldiers, 1 Known)

Me on the clay road-one of the more walkable parts

Veterans of WWII

Christine

Christine in Bad Urach, Germany (or the Swabian Alps)

I'm an urban dweller, building loving, pavement kind of person.  But the color of the leaves on the trees in the Swabian Alps are breathtaking.  I enjoyed my hike this weekend.  With a group from the MWR (Morale, Welfare, and Recreation) on base, I visited Bad Urach, Germany, which is 45 minutes to an hour away.  First, we hiked (well this was more of a walk) to a Wasserfullhutte (waterfall).

I heard that the waterfall freezes in the winter and looks like Luthor's lair in Superman.  How cool is that?  Return in January or February to see more pictures.

Then I hiked up to the ridge line (shown below):

A different view:

The view from the ridge line:

The tour guide practiced force protection on the way down to the beir garden for lunch.  This means we took a wrong turn and walked 10 minutes out of way and then back.  Thanks for the extra exercise.

We then hiked to 11th Century Ruins, Hohenurach.  This walk was relatively flat, until you got right before the ruins.  Then it was practically straight up:

The Ruins were originally a fort.  Later, they were used as a prison.   This time, I took a picture of the ruins information, so there is no need to retype it for you.

I took a picture of the English side.  You're welcome.

After hiking for a couple of hours, we visited a Thermal Spa.  This time I hung around the pools instead of the spa.  They had wonderful heated pools, outdoors.  Reminded me of hanging out in the hot tubs outside after skiing.  Skiing...  Soon it will be ski season again!  Can't wait.

Christine