Where's Bertie? He's still in the Stellplatz at Leichlingen.
Weather: A murky morning before the sun broke through this afternoon, when it warmed up to 20 degrees.
Yesterday afternoon I Googled 'Things to do in Leichlingen'. Item number 2 on the very short list was the Obstweg or, in English, the fruit path. Leichlingen is the centre for apple and berry growing in the region, and this 6km circular route was generally well reviewed. Whilst I didn't expect to be able to understand the information boards along the way, people had commented on the views, and it seemed to me to be worth a look. Mick wasn't so keen, so when he went for a run along the river this morning, I went off to do the Obstweg.
At the top of the first climb I looked back for the views, and could only see trees. Half an hour later, just before I started the descent back towards the start, I was contemplating that I'd been missold, when suddenly I found myself out in the open and could just make out (on a hazy morning) the skylines of both Düsseldorf to the north and Köln to the south. Had I been up there this afternoon, once the weather had cleared, I'm sure those vistas would have been impressive. Maybe not justification for doing the whole route though - too much tarmac for something billed as a 'hiking route'*.
To the naked eye, the Köln skyline was visible.
We headed back out this afternoon, having decided to defer today's original activity until tomorrow, for a walk around the town, starting with the old town that I'd discovered this morning and felt deserved a slower perusal.
The timbered frontage was a minority look here...
...most of the buildings are slated, either their frontages, or in their entirety. We've seen this style in lots of places, but not so many oldy-worldy buildings all together in one place.
Love the patterns created by diffferent shapes of tiles. I wonder if they're still created by master craftsmen, or whether you can now just order kits of tiles that are machine cut in bulk?
It had been market day in town, but it was just in the final throes of being taken down by the time we walked through the square, on our way for a stroll along the river.
Viewed from Funchal Bridge. Funchal is one of the twin towns, as is Henley-on-Thames. We didn't find a Henley Bridge.
Back in the town, having paused to read a pizza menu, a passing woman started talking to us. Explaining that we didn't speak German, she was intent on getting her message across: if we wanted pizza we needed to go to the best pizza shop in Leichlingen. She couldn't find the English words to explain its location, so she took us there. We didn't have the language to explain that we often stop to read menus**, and weren't actually after a pizza, so we just thanked her kindly and duly read that menu too.
There was only one more stop we needed to make before coming back to Bertie:
Excessive cake purchases. The server pointed out that they have a special offer if you buy three pieces, and we succumbed. We went sharesies on the raspberry one with afternoon tea, and it was the best cake I've had in Germany so far this year.
Weather: A murky morning before the sun broke through this afternoon, when it warmed up to 20 degrees.
Yesterday afternoon I Googled 'Things to do in Leichlingen'. Item number 2 on the very short list was the Obstweg or, in English, the fruit path. Leichlingen is the centre for apple and berry growing in the region, and this 6km circular route was generally well reviewed. Whilst I didn't expect to be able to understand the information boards along the way, people had commented on the views, and it seemed to me to be worth a look. Mick wasn't so keen, so when he went for a run along the river this morning, I went off to do the Obstweg.
At the top of the first climb I looked back for the views, and could only see trees. Half an hour later, just before I started the descent back towards the start, I was contemplating that I'd been missold, when suddenly I found myself out in the open and could just make out (on a hazy morning) the skylines of both Düsseldorf to the north and Köln to the south. Had I been up there this afternoon, once the weather had cleared, I'm sure those vistas would have been impressive. Maybe not justification for doing the whole route though - too much tarmac for something billed as a 'hiking route'*.
We headed back out this afternoon, having decided to defer today's original activity until tomorrow, for a walk around the town, starting with the old town that I'd discovered this morning and felt deserved a slower perusal.
It had been market day in town, but it was just in the final throes of being taken down by the time we walked through the square, on our way for a stroll along the river.
Back in the town, having paused to read a pizza menu, a passing woman started talking to us. Explaining that we didn't speak German, she was intent on getting her message across: if we wanted pizza we needed to go to the best pizza shop in Leichlingen. She couldn't find the English words to explain its location, so she took us there. We didn't have the language to explain that we often stop to read menus**, and weren't actually after a pizza, so we just thanked her kindly and duly read that menu too.
There was only one more stop we needed to make before coming back to Bertie:
Bertie all by himself this afternoon, after having two neighbours last night. The motorhome spaces go right along the end of the car park and the cars along the side, but can you spot the problem with this lay-out?
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A short while after typing the above (and below) we went back into town and this happened:
(*Not for the first time in my experience in Germany, the path ran adjacent to a primary school, with no fences or gates between the path and playground. The kids, of about 4-6 years old, were out playing with only one teacher supervising. I couldn't imagine such a situation in the UK where, aside from the danger of kids wandering off (including into the road), the perceived risk of paedophiles would be too great.
**Trying to read menus and information signs is, I find, a good way of gently absorbing new words into our vocabulary. Unfortunately, based on past experience, it seems likely that by the time we come back to Germany, at least 90% of this year's learnings will have been forgotten.)
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