The Rotweinwanderweg (red wine hiking trail): 20 miles of a beautiful hike winding through the hilly wine country along the Ahr, a small river near Bonn that feeds into the Rhine. Not only is the hike beautiful, but you can also stop every mile or so and taste the local Federweißer, or "young wine," which is opaque with yeast and intended to be drunk within 24 hours. It tastes surprisingly sweet and refreshing, but smells like sulphur farts, which brought back traumatic memories of my flight from Chicago to Berlin (I sat behind someone with some unfortunate digestive issues).
One highlight: a view with several long golden hills, forests, a river, a cute town, and what looked like a slowly-flowing donut-shaped trough of wine down below. Though I suppose it could have been something else. See the panoramic shot below...
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| The Rhine from the train. |
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| The town of Dernau, my starting point. I walked for 45 minutes in a different direction, then turned back and walked from Dernau to Altenahr (apparently the prettiest stretch). |
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| Steep hillside. |
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| An old cloister with a winery inside. |
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| Some kind of a fortress on a hill... or a winery that looks like a fortress, more like. |
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| The hike included stretches of rocky slopes and forests. |
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| What would a hike in the Rheinland be without a ruined castly thing? |
How pretty!
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