 Let’s be totally honest about this: The best thing about Deutsche Bahn’s Across-the-Country 1-day rail pass (the “Quer-durchs-Land” ticket or QdL for short) is that it’s very cheap. 48 Euros for two people on any regional train in Germany: that’s an unbeatable offer. Journeys take a little longer than on the fast IC trains, that much is for certain, and their trajectories may be slightly more convoluted, but that can be a benefit, too. Side facade of the Hamburg Central Train Station Recently, on our way back from a hike in the Mecklenburger Seenplatte, for example, we took the opportunity to break up what would otherwise have been a very long train journey to make a two-hour stop in Hamburg. Two hours in Hamburg are not a lot for such a big city, Germany’s largest after Berlin, but we had been . . . → More Easy Hiking: Two Hours In Hamburg  This is somewhat of a scoop. Perhaps this is the first time you will have read about this (in English anyway) and seen pictures of it. You’ve seen it first in Easy Hiker! The Women of the Lake in Schwerin This was another pleasant discovery we made during our hike around Schwerin, along the last lake we passed by, Ostorfer Ufer, before heading back to our hotel. The story goes that three trees had to be felled for whatever reason (danger to the public?) and rather than just felling them and leaving it at that, two local associations campaigned for an alternative action: turn the stumps into statues. The commission was given to a local artist named Nando Kallweit. The Women of the Lake An admirer of the statues aptly named it Frauenherrschaft. Translation? Women Rule! . . . → More Easy Hiking: The Women Of The Lake  Mountains provide the underlying theme of most hiking trails: England has the South Downs, France the Massif Central and Germany the gently rolling landscapes of its various Mittelgebirges. Now don’t get me wrong: I have always enjoyed my hikes through this type of landcape, otherwise I would not have done so many of them. But it is also true that, after a while, you are beginning to ask yourself: are there God-given laws which dictate that hikes must always feature hills and dense forests? And, perhaps, is there an alternative to rocks and ridges? Well, there are not, and there is. The Mecklenburger Seenplatte west of Berlin, in fact, provides the perfect contrast to a hillside walk: not only are there no mountains, but the entire area is so low-lying that any arriving water has nowhere . . . → More Easy Hiking: Schwerin – The City of Seven Lakes  We like bringing you scenes not only of the forests and fields of the hiking trails we’ve walked, but also fun discoveries we’ve made in the towns we visited. Meet the little Piggies of the Schweinsbrücke in Wismar Our recent hiking trip brought us to Schwerin in Mecklenburg-Vorpommern. (Read about that hike here.) As is usual, we did a day trip to a nearby town, Wismar, a UNESCO World Heritage site. And these little piggies gave us some moments of amusement seeing them watch over each of the four corners of a canal bridge. These little piggies of the Schweinsbrücke (Pig Bridge) are the works of a local artist, Christian Wetzel. This is the week’s contribution to Nancie’s Travel Photo Thursday. Check out other contributors on her . . . → More Easy Hiking: These Little Piggies  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, they have already been accounted for, if not necessarily fully paid, and have lost their power to annoy. “Extras”, on the other hand, have not. “Extras” are all the things that your loved ones want and that you cannot deny them. After all, you don’t call them your “loved ones” for nothing. “Extras” include that dress spotted in a boutique along the way, the visit to the ice cream parlour as a reward for the long hours of walking through foreign landscapes (or museums), and they certainly include all types of public . . . → More Easy Hiking: KONUS Makes Your Family Holiday In The Black Forest Lighter On The Pocket | |
