It was going to be a long day as we wanted to go to Maria Laach and visit the Abbey which is about a 1,5 hrs drive from our hometown.
Elgar the Moose insisted on eating a proper breakfast and stuck his nose into the honeypot (mmh…. just like Winnie the Pooh does).
But oh well…... honey is a healthy product so we just let him eat the whole honeypot..



When we arrived at Maria Laach we first visited the Abbey (see our previous entry on the Maria Laach Abbey) and as we had much time left, bought ourselves a book (Kompass, Wanderfuehrer Eifel 2, Vulkaneifel) with walks in that area and opted for walk nr. 45: “Um den Laacher See”. The walk is 15 kms long and goes all around the Laacher see with beautiful views and interesting geological sightings.

The walk starts near the Abbey and took us into the woods with now and then a glimpse of the Laacher see. Not many people tend to take this walking track but this snail did.



After a couple of kms’ we arrived at this viewing point, called Vierduempelhoehe.




Also Elgar enjoyed the view from the backpack. And don’t forget to look up at the clouds as well when you are walking cause often these are spectacular to see.



After enjoying this short break we picked up our walk again and after having some troubles finding the right track cause the description is not always that clear, we finally arrived at the Lydiaturm (Lydia Tower). This tower must be mounted as it provides for an astonishing view over the area.

A lot of steps took us to the top of the Lydiaturm, and yes… one have to admits: the view is awesome.



Even Elgar, who normally suffers from a fear of heights, got out of the backpack. We first spotted a young buzzard in the sky. It was hovering over our heads and we were lucky to make this nice shot.



And then we looked at the Laacher See from above. The great Eifel lake takes its name from the Old High German word "lacha" which in turn is derived from Latin "lacus" as english "lake". Thus the name literally means "Lake of the Lake" similar to the "Loch Lochy" in the Scottish Highlands with the same meaning.

You can see clearly that the Laacher see is a crater lake, or more exactly a caldera lake. The caldera was formed after the Laacher volcano erupted, between 12,900 and 11,200 years ago. The Laacher is still considered to be an active volcano.




After a while it was time to move on again and the track took us right along the waterfront of the Laacher See which also turned out to be a geology path: Mudpools, big rocks, all part of the history of this area.





After about 4 hours we arrived at the parking lot. It was a beautiful day with lots of astonishing views and interesting stuff along the route. One more glimpse to the green fields surrounding this See and off we went ………..for a well-deserved eveningmeal.



We ended up at Hotel Waldfrieden in Wassenach where we had a marvellous fishplate all for ourselves as Elgar was dreaming sweet dreams in the backpack.

Elgar decided it was time to do some walking again.

He searched on the Internet for a nice walk but not too long because it was very hot (30 degrees Celsius). After reading through the itinerary Elgar opted for walk nr. 20 (8 kms) from the website Wandelgids zuidlimburg. Hopefully we can trust our little Moose here.

So off we went with a lot of water, digital camera's, binoculars and of course ...... Elgar the Moose. Needless to say that the rucksack was packed and rather heavy.


The walk starts in a town called Lemiers, just about 5 km's from the German border. We came across a lot of so called "Vakwerkhuisjes". Timber framing is the modern term for the traditional half-timbered construction in which timber provides a visible skeletal frame that supports the whole building.



The first 4 km's where through fields and with the high temperature and this huge ball in the sky called the Sun, it was not as easy as it had looked on paper. First we had to climb up to a plateau.



And then the track slowly made its way downwards through the fields and provided some astonishing views over the area.



Down in the valley again the walk passed along some trees and open fields again, where farmers were working hard to cultivate it.

Elgar had to show us the way several times cause he was the one who had read the itinerary properly. We just merely followed him, although we are still not sure whether that was a good idea or not.



We encountered this plant / flower but don't even know the name of it, nor have we seen it before. Can you tell us what it is? Then please let us know (either in Dutch or in English). We are always eager to learn.



We walked up a small hill where we had a magnificent view over the landscape again. Despite the climbing and the heat, we still enjoyed the view presented to us.

The "Vakwerkhuis" which you can see in the picture on the right is the same as the one we shot at the beginning of our walk, only now of course seen from above.



The last 200 meters of this track turned out to be quite a challenge. The path went through shrubs and it just looked like a jungle. Huge stinging nettles and brambles covered the path. After 50 meters we gave up and made a detour through a field. The only one who did not get a scratch at all, was ...... yes, Elgar. He was hiding in the rucksack, the hero!

After this ordeal we reached Lemiers again, where you can find this old church. This small Romanesque chapel once was actually a true church, used by a parish. It dates from either the second half of the 11th century or from the 12th century, although there are sources that claim that the oldest parts of the building dates from the 7th century.



Well..... we made it back to the car despite the heat, the sun and the shrubs. We deserve a cool drink now. Not sure about Elgar the Moose, though..... he was sleeping throughout this walk for most of the time.

This morning we started off with a strawberry breakfast and our Moose just loved it. And we told him to eat well, because we were going for a long walk in the fields in the area. Luckily he is a very easy going Moose and just does what he is told (sometimes !)

Today we opted for a walk of about 12 km (7,5 miles).
We downloaded this walk (nr. 33 to be precise) from a Dutch walkingsite – Wandelgids Zuidlimburg - which is particularly focusing on walks in our area, the Province of Limburg.
(All photos in this article can be enlarged by clicking on them)

The walk started in a town called Heijenrath (Limburg, NL) and for the first half hour we walked through a forest.



Then we had to make a sharp turn and were presented this lovely panoramic view of the landscape of this area:



The path took us along the wood edges for at least 2 km’s and provided lots of scenic views and of course wildlife and flowers.




We spotted a family of buzzards with at least two juveniles trying to follow their mum. We also saw plenty of woodpeckers (all sizes and shapes), tree creepers and butterflies. But none of them wanted to pose for our camera.


On the look out for birds

And then it was back to the woods again and the route took us to these “holle wegen” as we call them in Dutch. Free translated: sunken roads. Very difficult to walk as they are always steep and the ground is uneven. We also had to watch out for mountain bikers who came bicycling down this narrow path. But it was very picturesque as the photo shows.



But as we all know, walking makes hungry and we decided to have a lunch break. We ended up in Teuven (Belgium) as we had crossed the Belgium border somewhere along the track. We both took a delicious salad at Moeder de Gans. In English the Restaurant is called Mother Goose Inn. If you are in the neighborhood, it is definitely worth a visit.



But oh well, after 45 minutes we had to get moving again cause we still had to walk at least another 5 km’s. We crossed the border again into the Netherlands. Here is the border post in the middle of nowhere.



After going through beautiful fields we ended up on Slenaken where this small church welcomed us at the towncentre.



Slenaken itself was very busy. Although it is just a small town, it now was like peak hour in a big city. Hundreds of tourists where sitting in the pavements of the many restaurants / cafes along the street. We quickly moved on to escape all this and ended up at our car quicker than we thought we would have.

It really was a terrific day, with lots of sun, lots of wildlife, nice scenic views and some good food.
We hope to go for another walk next weekend!

Greetings from Elgar the happy hiking moose!

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