Donau-Panoramaweg: Leg 2 - Kelheim to Poikam (18 km)

I wanted to continue the Donau-Panoramaweg, which I started back in 2024. So for a week, I based myself again in Regensburg. And I picked up where I left off.

Berliner Mauerweg: Warschauer Strasse to Schönefeld (19 km)

I continued the Berliner Mauerweg. And this is the leg when I finally get out of the city centre.

Berliner Mauerweg: Wollankstrasse to Warschauer Strasse (18 km)

So I continued the Berliner Mauerweg. This time, I went through the city centre, and therefore, this is the section that is most touristy.

Berliner Mauerweg: Hermsdorf to Wollankstrasse (16 km)

I've actually done the Berliner Mauerweg once, back in 2013. However, I didn't have a habit of bringing my camera with me back then, so more than a decade later, I figured it's a good idea to repeat it, as perhaps things have changed in the meantime. So when the weather started being warmer again this year, I started my hiking season by tackling a section of the Berliner Mauerweg, beginning from Hermsdorf in the north of the city, heading all the way to Wollankstrasse, for a total of 16 kilometres.

Interludes from the Rheinburgenweg: The Luther Monument in Worms

This would be the last post I would make for this trip. The final item I saw was the Luther Monument in Worms. It is actually a large one, and is in fact the largest Luther Monument ever built.

Interludes from the Rheinburgenweg: Worms Cathedral

I had one last full day in Mainz. And since I have been hiking quite a bit already, I decided to use this last full day as a sightseeing day instead. From Mainz, I headed to Worms with the regional train, and while I explored the Old Town quite a bit, nothing much stood out, except for the cathedral.

Interludes from the Rheinburgenweg: Burg Rheinfels

The last castle I have seen on my last hiking day was Burg Rheinfels. This castle is located in Sankt Goar, the last town I saw on the Rheinburgenweg.

Interludes from the Rheinburgenweg: Burg Schönburg

On my third hiking day, I stumbled upon yet another castle. This time, it was Burg Schönburg, in Oberwesel.

Interludes from the Rheinburgenweg: The Churches of Mainz

Mainz gives the impression that it is a very religious city, at least if you look at the architecture. I didn't feel the people to be conservative, however, I definitely noticed that there are plenty of churches in many neighbourhoods. I visited a few of them.

Interludes from the Rheinburgenweg: Mainzer Promenade

I definitely had a positive impression of Mainz. It was a city that was not very large, yet gave a very livable vibe. One of the areas that I really liked was the waterfront, the Mainzer Promenade.

Interludes from the Rheinburgenweg: Der Hohe Dom zu Mainz

While I was in Mainz, I wanted to check out the cathedral. After all, this building is 1000 years old, so definitely worth checking out.

Interludes from the Rheinburgenweg: Gutenberg Museum

After hiking for three days, I wanted to have a rest day. So I spent this day in Mainz, where I was staying. There were quite a few interesting items to see within the city, so I focused on these during this day. And one of them is a history museum, the Gutenberg Museum. This museum happens to be one of the oldest museums of printing in the world.

Interludes from the Rheinburgenweg: Old Town Bacharach

I divided the second leg into two hiking days. It was relatively long, not to mention that there were plenty of things worth seeing along the way. So on my third hiking day, I saw a few interesting things in and around the town of Bacharach.

Interludes from the Rheinburgenweg: Burg Sooneck

On my second hiking day, I saw more castles and fortifications. When I reached the town of Niederheimbach, I stumbled upon Burg Sooneck, a castle that has been mentioned at least since 1271. Like the neighbouring Burg Reichenstein, which I encountered in my previous hiking day, it was managed by the lords of Hohenfels.

Interludes from the Rheinburgenweg: Burg Reichenstein

There were two castles to see on the trail during my first hiking day. This is the second one, Reichenstein Castle. Similar to other castles in the area, it has a colourful history, and it is actually not known when the original structure was built: some say it was between 1100 and 1200.

Interludes from the Rheinburgenweg: Burg Rheinstein

Burg Rheinstein was the first item on the Rheinburgenweg which made me briefly stop. After all, there's a castle on the trail, and so why would I not stop and check it out?

Interludes from the Rheinburgenweg

As I have already mentioned before, I spent an entire week in Mainz in order to hike parts of the Rheinburgenweg. The great thing about this hiking trail is that there are interesting castles and other points worth seeing in between. So even though I would have a hiking day, there were also occasions to take a break by exploring a castle along the way. Not only that, I also took some rest days where I went sight-seeing, primarily in Mainz itself, but also in nearby cities such as Worms. So even though the hiking parts of this trip have been blogged about already, there are still quite a few pictures worth showing, and therefore the travelogue continues.

E10 in Brandenburg: Nassenheide to Löwenberg (17 km)

I suppose it is no surprise that the farther one goes away from the city, the harder it is to reach destinations with public transport. This statement is true with this leg, hence I am not too fast in progressing in my northward progress on the E10. In any case, one Friday, I took the RB12 from Berlin Ostkreuz, which took me to Nassenheide, a village north of Berlin. From here I picked up the E10 once again.

A Birthday Getaway Without a Camera: Jellyfish*

I made an exception for this one, since I had my phone, and phone has a camera. As we were on a short trip for a birthday celebration, we made reservations for dinner in a Michelin-starred restaurant in Hamburg. We had a table waiting for us in Jellyfish*. This would be our second time in a restaurant of such calibre in Hamburg. And it's also been a while since we were in one: the last time we were in a Michelin-starred restaurant was when we dined in Speiseberg*, a year ago in Halle.

A Birthday Getaway Without a Camera

Remember the last time we went for a short getaway because my husband had a birthday? The fact that his birthday is adjacent to a public holiday makes it easy to do so. And so we repeated it this year. But unlike last year, I sort of ignored my camera.