The weather predictions for today are awesome. Sun, blue skies, gentle breeze so time to go for a nice long walk. Elgar could not wait and is test-driving our GPS (see picture on the right).

This time we opted for a walk in Het Gerendal of about 17 kms (at the end we had walked 20 kms), the track we downloaded from GPSwalking again.

We have taken a lot of stunning photo's which, as usual, can be enlarged when clicking on them. So.... be patient while loading this page. Hope you enjoy it!

The plant world in the valley Gerendal is differently than elsewhere in The Netherlands. This is due to the fact that the soil is a rare mixture of materials like loess, lime and zinc. You therefore find an enormous mixture of plants in this valley.

It was the first sunny and warm day of this year so time to put on our walking shoes and to go for a walk. Since a few days we are in the possession of a GPS and Topo maps so this was also an opportunity to see how the GPS works. We downloaded a GPS-track from the Dutch site GPSWalking and transferred it to our GPS. Most pictures can be enlarged by clicking on them.

We opted for a 10-kms walk in De Meinweg National Park. De Meinweg National Park is a park of terraced landscape caused by fault lines below the surface. The four terraces bridge a height of about 50 metres and feature woodland, health land, bog pools and streams.
De Meinweg is the only nature area in the Netherlands where a population of wild boars is allowed to roam freely. The adder also occurs here. De Meinweg National Park forms part of the German-Dutch Cross-border Park Maas-Swalm-Nette

After a couple of 100 metres an Anguis Fragilis or better known as slowworm/blindworm crossed our path. In Dutch this creature is called a Hazelworm. It is a limbless reptile, which is active during the day (diurnal) and occasionally basks in the sun, but is more often found hiding beneath rocks and logs.



Slowworms are often mistaken for a snake, but have some distinctive features which differentiate them from snakes:

In January we haven taken a short break and decided to go to the historical town Rothenburg ob den Tauber, situated in Germany, about 80 km under Wurzburg.

We did several walks in the neighborhood. For that you need the "Wanderkarte Rothenburg" which one can buy at the Tourist office.

It contains about 13 walks with different lengths. It is definitely worth it to buy this map as it will also show you Rothenburg from outside it walls. A part most tourists visiting Rothenburg o.d. Tauber do not see, unfortunately, cause the views towards Rothenburg are just amazing.
To get a map of the region with this specific track highlighted please click on Google Maps: Rothenburg o.b. Tauber

This walk is numbered W7 (to Leuzenbronn and back), but we also did a part of walk W8. And ofcourse......not without taking Elgar the Hiking Moose with us.
Oh...some pictures can be enlarged by clicking on them. Don't forget to click!



We did not start this walk in Rothenburg itself as we had our overnight stay at a lovely old mill outside of Rothenburg, which can be very crowded during high season.
Pension Fuchsmuehle, here you can see the B&B on the right handside (blue colored house), is ideally situated: it is quiet and peaceful and Rothenburg is at walking distance (15 minutes). From the windows you look up to the walls & towers of Rothenburg o.b. Tauber.




The rooms are clean and spacious and the owners are very friendly. We can truly recommend this Pension (B&B). Information about their pension can be found at: Pension Fuchsmuehle.

Press the Read More tab if you want to see more of this walk.

Here some lovely pictures of the Rogie Falls during Autumn in Scotland. The colors are just amazingly. Yellow, red, orange, soft green, dark green, and everything in between .



The pictures underneath are taken around the Falls and can be enlarged by clicking on them. We had seen the Rogie Falls in Spring but we like it more in this specific time of the year. Just enjoy!

On an early morning in August when the sun was already up and most people were still in bed (and even Elgar the Hiking Moose was enjoying his comfy blankets), we opted for a walk which started....straight from our frontdoor.

It is a part of the walk with nr. 176 (15 km’s) from the website Wandelgids zuidlimburg. Due to the foreseen heat that day we were not able to do the whole track. Just too hot to be out there actually.
As always all photo's can be enlarged by clicking on them.



The first kilometer goes through cultivated farmland and at a corner there is the "Waardekapelke", a chapel originally constructed in 1913. After World War II it was renovated and it is being looked after very well by the locals. Fresh flowers, burning candles, just as it should be in a chapel.



Then the track goes through a forest and one encounters this huge tower. It is a so-called watertower which was used to provide water for the surrounding villages between 1923 - 1974. Since that time it has fallen into disrepair but there is a project on the way the restore the watertower in all its glory. The view must be breathtaking from above. Hopefully one day everybody can enjoy that.



Meanwhile it was getting warmer and warmer. Just look at the bright blue sky and the bright green colors of the meadows. It also triggered a few buzzards to practice their flying skills. As you can see clearly on the picture, the buzzard on the righthandside is a youngster. He/she was 'shouting' of joy the whole time. His father/mother was watching him very carefully.



Then the walk goes up a little hill and there is yes.......again another chapel. In the middle of nowhere actually. It is the St. Jozefkapel (St. Jozef chapel, Rimburg) which was erected in 1951 by ex-warriors, for the occasion of their safe return home after World War II. Rimburg has been a battle zone as it is situated exactly on the border with Germany.



Finally we leave the forest and arrive at the little township Rimburg. The oldest record of the castle which still can be found in this village (Castle Rimburg) dates back from 1278. Excavations also have shown that the Roman Army have crossed the bridge over the "Worm", a small river which now acts as the border between the Netherlands and Germany. Near that bridge, at the spot where now the castle is situated, there used to be a Roman fortress, all being part of a "Heirbaan" (or Heerbaan), a so-called long distance road, stretching from Cologne, via the Wormdal to Heerlen, Maastricht and Tongeren (in Belgium). So a very historical and picturesque village.



As you can see, the white colored house dates back from 1718. Further along we cross the bridge over the "Worm" to Germany. Just imagine that in past times Romans have walked here as well.




The picture on the right shows a very old water wheel, obviously no longer in use.

In the meantime the sun is burning very strong and it is time to slowely get back home. We cross again some agricultural farmland and yes........the farmers are working very very hard to get everything done today before the heavy rain, predicted for this afternoon/evening, comes pouring down.



Although we walk in this area a lot, and have seen all the chapels and buildings before, we never really did have a good look at them. So in that respect this weblog teaches us to look with different eyes to things than we normally would do.