Day 12: Hiking, Hop-a-long and Haxe Heaven! (Thursday, September 1st)

Yup, we have already reached September! Weather forecast for Trier is 25 degrees Celsius with mostly sun and some cloud. Great day to get out early for a hike. I go online and find a loop trail deemed moderate and it is not too far out of Trier. It is called Römerpfad and described online as such:

"Narrow paths with spectacular views lead through forest and corridor. Many traces of the Roman past are right on the way. With the varied relief, the waterfalls and the numerous sights, the path runs through one of the most beautiful hiking areas in the district of Trier-Saarburg. On the ten km long circular route between Kordel and Butzweiler you can experience Ramstein Castle, the Genoveva Cave, Celtic ring ramparts, parts of the Roman long wall and finally the Roman mine "Pützlöcher". Finally, it goes along the stream in the romantic Butzerbachtal over stones, footbridges and ladders. Several waterfalls line the path. The highlight is a 30 m long suspension bridge.

The Roman Trail has been rated 70 experience points of the German Hiking Seal."

More information indicates it is 10 km in length, but does not provide any more details about the actual hike like elevation gain or trail grades. You can find the details of our long hike in this link. Basically, we hike for 13.06 kms with an elevation gain of a staggering 439 metres and a moving time of 2 hours 47 minutes. In terms of real time, we are around four hours total duration. Lots of stopping, having to re-trace our steps as we go the wrong way and taking pictures. 

I did not do a great job of ordering these many hiking photos, but at least they are all posted. Overall, it was a very interesting hike which you could truly describe as undulating and lengthy. We did like the hike and there was even some Roman ruins to view. 

We had to detour early while following Google Maps driving to the trailhead from Trier. We ended up at the town Butzweiler and found parking at Zu Den Wasserfällen beside Klaus-Pauli-Platz. I realized after we starting walking on the trail for a while I forgot my writing journal. I raced back while Lana continued the hike. I caught up in not too much time although partly running. At the conclusion of our hike I realized I did not even enter anything into my journal. 

Always important to follow the signs for the trail although they were other signs as well as apparently these trails are all connected (even to the hike we did yesterday!). Quite a diverse trail as we walk through fields of hay, inside of deep forests, gentle trails in sparse vegetation, up and down the sides of canyons. The path itself was usually soft and easy to walk on. Wearing runners was appropriate for this hike. The hike has everything in terms of environment. Plus, I can't stress enough the elevation gain as it is one of the most elevation gain hikes I have ever done. No wonder Lana was completely gassed about 80% through the hike with yet another steep incline to ascend and another 2+ kms. Lana here--yes, I was "completely gassed" but this was more due to only having eat 3 bites of fruit salad before heading out to do this hike. Someone was on a mission to start early today LOL. 

            Map on the trail that is helpful when trying to find our way around. Lana took this pic which assisted us as we hiked. As you can see it is a loop trail, but very complicated. We have time on our side though plus a bottle of water and an apple.

This is the signage we need to follow to ensure we stay on this loop trail. We wish this sign was located at key juncture points, but it isn't. This means going the wrong way and then realizing there isn't a sign up the trail. Not very German to not place signage where it is most needed. Unfortunately, when we think we have actually ended the loop trail we are nowhere near returning to our car park. 

                                      One of many wooden signs along the trail. In some cases weather has rotted the end of the sign.

This was the first destination feature on our hike which was basically an old Roman mine. In addition, we followed the signage and it took us up the side of the enormous hill to where we properly joined the loop trail. 

                                    Interesting rock piles we found along the main trail. 

Super interesting geology that is very unusual, but found in some places along our hiking route. 

           Very cool geology found at Genovevahöle site. Very huge 'hole' in the rock and quite steep to climb up into it. We need to do some additional research on this site to understand how it formed and why. 

                     Picture taken from inside the Genovevahöle site looking outwards. 

                                                           More cool geology!

This is one of the stopping points listed on the map. All the signs are in Deutsch which is only proper. Fantastic geology!

OK, when we were hiking through farmers fields (mostly hay) we came across numerous hunter's blinds. They use these to hide up high and sometimes in the tree for camouflage and then can pick off the unsuspecting deer.

                             More of the geology. No we are not getting paid by the picture :)

Lana came prepared with her umbrella. When we were exposed to the sun she used the umbrella. This is unusual as nobody else in all the hiking we have done in other countries uses an umbrella. While she gets some strange looks, it does make sense given it protects her skin from the sun's damaging rays and she stays cooler while she's walking. We had a discussion about what "high maintenance" means LOL. 

This feature on the trail was a Roman wall so that was pretty cool for me. I love anything ancient Roman. At this site we ran into another hiker who confirmed we were on the right trail as it began to go in a new direction. 

This was a sign for the other geological feature (Klausonhöhle) that was similar to Genovevohöle feature. They are both located within the same canyon, but both require a steep descent or ascent depending on which direction you are taking on the hiking trail. 

About 2/3 of the way through our hike we were walking on a grooved trail going downhill when Lana went over on her right ankle. She was in immediate pain and had to rest on the side of the trail. Thankfully she was not seriously injured and after some time learned she could manage to continue walking. While she was in pain at least we could get back to the car. Not sure being in the middle of the forest how we would have got assistance for her? She did her best to "hop-a-long" and couldn't wait to get back to the car!

      Picture taken the next morning. Bruised and swollen!

We were pretty tired when we arrived at Ramstein Castle and we thought this was the end of the loop trail and our car must be close? This is located in the town of Kordel which is not near our car which is parked in Butzweiler. We went to sit in the restaurant in order to get some sparkling water and order our lunch. Problem is the lady was super slow and they got quite busy all of a sudden. Eventually, I talked Lana into us leaving with out getting our water and trying to find our car. She relented to my pressure and out we went. I figure it would have taken us an hour to order, get our food and then eat it... 

It was very confusing for the both of us as to where we were relative to our car and this loop trail? Lana used her Google Maps to get us back as she had pinned our car location. Even with Google Maps it was not easy to figure out the direction to hike. We needed to re-trace our steps back up from where we had hiked down and then make a right to head across the slope. Voila, we discover about 15 minutes later we were on the same trail that took us to the Roman mining site so we knew we would find our car. 

Lana was pretty tired so I did my usual and hiked ahead very quickly. I got back to our car and discovered if I drove through the village there was a road that you could drive towards the hike and I could save Lana a lot of effort and time. When I arrived at this point and texted Lana she was already at the car park area! Wow, how did she get there so fast? Lana appreciated the thought though. Anyway, all good news as we were in our air conditioned car and driving back to Trier. We did not have much time to get showered and changed and off to our Weingut appointment. We did get a load of laundry started so we just have to check the dryer on our return. 

As we were making the relatively short drive back to our apartment we decided to get a quick lunch at the grocery store Kaufland.  We parked along the road and walked up towards the store. We were in luck and noticed there was a food truck selling roasted chickens and haxe! Haxe is a Geman pork hock or roasted ham. One of my all-time favourite German meals is Schweinshaxe! Not difficult to convince us that this is an easy and quick lunch to take home. Plus, Lana got us a noodle salad. Very inexpensive at 8Euro for the haxe which was more than large enough to feed both of us for lunch.

This is the food truck and no lineup! The owner was friendly although no English spoken. Lana used her German skills for our order and off we went!

This is our lunch today! Very cheap and the roasted pork was sublime! Even tastier when you are tired and hungry. The meat was perfectly roasted and the pork fat so yummy. The noodle salad was good. We still have our bread leftover and the tomatoes were ripe and flavourful. Randy tried to pull a fast one by telling Lana that it didn't taste right and she shouldn't eat the haxe. Nice try!!

We have some time to shower/bath and get changed for our wine tasting/visit to Hofgut Falkenstein. We are very excited to see these guys again as our visit six years ago was memorable. It is a father (Erich Weber) and son (Johannes Weber) team that own and run their Weingut. They have a very loyal international following. Unfortunately Johannes had just returned yesterday from a trip to the USA so he was in dealing with jet lag. No problem as Erich was super interesting and entertaining. Erich is basically one year older than myself and full of youthful energy and wit!

Only about a ten minute drive from our apartment, but not easy to find their place. We utilize our memory from our visit before and we find parking. Immediately, Erich is out to welcome us with big hugs and a bigger smile. You can tell he is excited as well. We spend 90 minutes with Erich before we get going. We don't want to impose more time on him. He talks about the poor weather this season which is about the fact that until yesterday it had not rained since April. He says he is in God's hands as a farmer. There is a huge vineyard above their home and wine facility and it is not owned by him. The Catholic church owns this huge parcel. As well, he tells us that many of the vineyards are owned by the Church as they would talk the original owners into deeding their properties over once they died as that would guaranteed them getting into heaven! We did know already that the Mosel is predominantly Catholic.

Hofgut Falkenstein is a 100% organic and natural winery. Erich is very proud of this. No chemicals are used on the vines nor in the winemaking process. This was a radical approach compared to his neighbours, but it has resulted in even better Riesling wine. Plus, good for the environment. 

We spent time with Erich in his vineyard right below their property. This picture shows first growth Riesling grapes on the right, second growth Riesling grapes up top and third growth Riesling grapes bottom left. Grape vines typically only have one growth of fruit but due to the hot temperatures, the wines have produced 2 extra grape bunches. Fascinating! For certain they will pick the first growth and then much later pick the second growth. There is a chance at an even later date they may pick third growth if it survives and produces decent fruit. 

These small red grapes are what can occur with the Riesling grapes that are overexposed to the direct sun. They will not be picked and Lana indicated they taste like raisins. Erich verified that ALL their grapes are picked by hand. They have a regular crew of friends that assists with the picking which takes about 4 weeks to complete. We did sample some of the first growth grapes and they were very sweet. 

Some notes:

- 95% of their wine (all Riesling) is exported out of Deutschland

- much of their exports are to Scandinavian countries and the USA

- they do NOT export to Canada, but there is an American importer in Seattle so we will be checking that out back in Vancouver

- the German Spatlese term is used on the bottle only if it uses the very best grapes and this is inclusive of Kabinett and Auslese. No sugar is allowed to be added by the winemaker. 

- their wines are always low alcohol and this is achieved by harvesting the grapes earlier and using less grapes overall and this means less sugar thereby less alcohol results during the winemaking process

- basically they hand pick each grape, very gently press the grapes and then put the fluid into the Fuder kegs for fermentation

- they produced only 80K bottles, but demand for their wine exceeded 200K so their wines were sold out very early

- all their vineyards are estate vineyards which means they own each vineyard ---no grapes are purchased from growers

- Johannes and Erich personally manage each vineyard inclusive of trimming the vines

- the harvest lasts up to four weeks and even a 75 year old woman is working with them

- all their wines can be aged for many years

- they own 15 hectares of Riesling vineyards 

- they have a wine tasting about 3-5x per week with tasters from everywhere in the world including Asia

- we will be able to hopefully find their wines in Bernkastel-Kues at Weinhaus Porn as the owner Inge sells his wines from her shop

Randy and Erich in the Fuder keg room. Erich is a fit guy who ran 20kms today with his running group. 

How old are some of these Fuder kegs? Hofgut Falkenstein has kegs from 1950! Apparently they can last many more years with the right care and attention. Each year after the kegs are drained of their Riesling wine he needs to wash their insides and scrub their outsides. They use no chemicals when washing the inside as it is strictly very hot water. After that they roll the barrel to get more steam rising from the hot water. For the outside it is a matter of scrubbing the wood. The fuder kegs make the very best Riesling wine. Also, this is where the Riesling ferments after the grapes have been very gently pressed. They do not introduce any heat or cold during the fermentation process. 

This is the lineup of Riesling wine we sampled with Erich this afternoon. Wow! Also, Erich provides extremely generous pours. We loved each bottle, but he has completely sold out so no bottles for sale! They sold out a long time ago. At the end of our wine tasting/conversation he asked us which wine we preferred and Lana went with the Ockfener Bockstein Kabinett. Erich then placed a cork on the top and told us to take the bottle with us! We will treasure the bottle and finish it in the next couple of days! 

We both took notes during our wine tasting and all bottles were 2021 vintage:

First bottle was a Spatlese Trocken with only 1-2 grams of residual sugar. Slightly effervescent. High acidity at 12 grams per litre. 40 year old grapes. Good after taste and dry to the mouth. Good with fish and other light meals. Good wine during the summer. 

Second bottle Nidermenniger Herrenberg Riesling Spatlese Feinherb (Onkel Peter vineyard) with 27 grams of residual sugar. Good balance with the acidity. Fruitier and more balance than the first bottle. More body as well. 70-80 year old grapes. Quality better given the older grapes. Acid balances the taste.

Third wine Niedermenniger Herreberg Riesling Spatlese Feinherb (Meyer Nepal vineyard) which is from their very highest elevation vineyard at 420 metres. 28 grams residual sugar and 8.5% alcohol. This is a red slate vineyard and more stone than lower vineyards. 

Fourth wine (that Lana picked) was the Ockfener Bockstein Riesling Kabinett at 60 grams of residual sugar. Lots of top soil in the vineyard combined with blue slate. 60 year old vines. Acidity of 12 grams per litre. Erich was fortunate to buy this highly valued vineyard. He indicated that these vineyards are always owned by rich people so he was lucky the seller wanted someone like him who knew how to take care of the wines and land to own it. 

Fifth wine was the Pet Nat and is organic and unfiltered so full of yeast. It has a bottle cap and taste more like a light beer than a wine. They sell these wines to younger people. They make a good profit from this style of wine. It is made more like Champagne as it is a sparkling wine. Less CO2 used. 10.5% alcohol. Making this style of wine for the last seven years. 

What a visit! The ninety minutes went by in a flash and we are even more enthusiastic about their wines. Yup, we will look in Bernkastel-Kues for their wine and/or drive down to Seattle eventually. 

Lana took this picture of the sheep in a pasture below Erich's property. He said a couple of young women live in their vehicles and look after the sheep. As you can see how dry it is there is no real grass for them to eat. 

We are now getting pretty hungry as it is after 18:00. We park our car and Lana checks Google to find another German cuisine restaurant that is fairly casual. We are in luck as there is a similar place to last night's unique restaurant. Vereinsheim Kleingärtnererein is located not too far from last night's place and in another Schrebergärten! Not easy to find as it is not on a street and you cannot drive to it. Lana finds us parking and we know it is a walk. We find a narrow lane off the main street and after a very short walk we come upon the restaurant. 

We eat outside like everyone else. Lots of customers as very few empty tables. There is only one server and she doesn't speak English, but that isn't a problem for us. She asks us what we want to drink and then returns with our drinks and we want to order, but she indicates she has to take the drinks around. She never does return to our table so I take the menu inside to get their attention and make our food order. The chef is not impressed with me although the server who is busy pouring drinks does now make the time to take our order. There is only the two of them so they are overwhelmed. I figure they are not used to a more assertive approach.

This place is busy and some of the customers ride up on their bicycles. How European. 

                         Lana orders a Lambrusco and I order a Riesling Feinherb.

We order just one plate of food. This is their Schnitzel Cordon Bleu with Bratkartofflen and Salat for 12.90Euros. While this Schnitzel was good it was not as good as last night's meal. Also, last night the service was pretty decent. With the two wine the meal came to less than 20Euros. Again, the food portions are generous. 

 

Walk back to our car and then a short drive to our apartment. It has been quite an eventful day with the long hike, Lana's injury, casual but delicious lunch, Hofgut Falkenstein visit and then more German food. By 22:00 we are both exhausted and time for bed. No way I can finish our blog so it will wait for tomorrow morning.