What is the worst enemy of a hiker? Not the cold: you can quite easily defeat the cold by wearing an extra layer of clothing – and by pulling your thickest sweater on top. It’s not the heat, either – there is an old and trusted weapon against hot weather, called “taking it easy”. It’s not…
Guest Post Some Tips for First Time Hikers If you aren’t addicted to easy hiking yet, there’s no better time to start now that autumn is here. Blacks, a leading chain selling outdoor clothing, camping equipment, tents and sleeping bags, are now in partnership with The National Trust, and together they are encouraging the nation…
Two Things Defining Easy Hiking 1. It is hiking or walking along a trail where you don’t need a compass and where the wildest animal you are likely to meet is a wild rabbit. (A fox and a boar, in theory, but in practice, you will never see them.) Where you can be confident that nothing…
First Considerations if Easy Hiking 1. How fit do you have to be to go easy hiking? One reason why many people do not pick up hiking is very simple. They are afraid they are not up to it. Let’s be honest: if you have been officially categorized as morbidly obese and are short of breath…
Dirk has a Passion for All that is Wine The German wine-growing season is slowly reaching its climax: Bad Dürkheim’s Wurstmarkt, the world’s largest wine festival, has just broken a new attendance record (with nearly 700,000 visitors over two weekends), while many similar festivities still remain to look forward to. Today and for the rest…
The ZumStein vineyard in Bad Dürkheim is one of the oldest and one of the most modern in the Palatinate wine region. It has a long tradition of producing high-quality whites for clients in Germany and abroad (including some prestigious corporate ones), but owner Dirk Renzelmann makes it a point of offering more. A lot…
Still Day Dreaming of Adventures and Glory? Continuing, in a fashion, from where I left with my last post (the final item on my “Summer reading list about hiking”), here is something which is not directly referring to hiking – actually, quite honestly, it makes no direct reference to hiking at all – but which…
When you read this, we will probably be on our way, exploring the hiking trails, castles and vineyards of southwestern Germany on the invitation of the Rhineland-Palatinate Tourism Board. More of that soon. We will be away all of this week and try to keep you up to date as much as we can, but…
What is a Forest? Hands up everybody who spontaneously said “Something with a lot of trees in it.” Strange, isn’t it, how much we take certain things for granted without ever thinking much about them. Forests are there – because they have always been there, haven’t they? This is an idea that probably still…
Hiking in Germany What is KONUS? Holidays are expensive things. For most families, they are easily the biggest item in their annual budget behind life’s essentials such as food, shelter and transport (such as the family car). Travel and accommodation make up the largest chunk of holiday expenses, but by the time the holiday starts,…
