Fun with Muriel and Tony

Monschau - Höfen

Serendipity.  That's how we met.

We met  because Muriel had to jump in - way back in whenever - to become a chaperone for a bunch of girls who were coming here from England for an exchange program with Werner's school.  Great for us because now we have two (relatively) new "life-long" friends!  We just hit it off - lucky us.  We've been getting together pretty regularly now for these many years.  Muriel and I talk about kids and exchange all kinds of needlework stuff, Tony and I can talk about translation stuff, and we all talk about - stuff.  Seems we never run out of stuff to talk about. They have an amazing place in Mittenwald  in the German Alps where we have been a few times, and of course they've been to Bremen and we've been to England to visit.

This time, it was between all those places - a meet up in Höfen-Monschau.

Muriel and Tony often stop there on the way to and from Mittenwald.  Tony has an "allergy" to flying, so they take the ferry and drive the car and take a break along the way.  Hence, Monschau.

Since we really like train travel, we checked that out, but this time it was way too awkward - too many changes, too long a trip.  So: car.

So: STAU (in German that means major, major traffic jam, sometimes many kilometers long).  Around 3 hours into the trip, there was an accident, all traffic both directions was stopped, so we cooled our heels, along with hundreds of others!  Standing on the Autobahn is a funny feeling.

But we finally got moving again, and got to the vacation rental about 90 minutes later than expected and only a bit before Muriel and Tony arrived.  Timing is everything.

It's a nice place, an addition to the original home that was built about 1850, though some of the beams in the house are carbon-dated to about 1300.  That's O L D.

Evening one was just food and catching up, though that is lots of fun.

Next day, the Heckentour:  the walking tour around the village that highlights the really, I have to say amazing, hedges in this little village.

Hedges multi-task.  They mark boundaries.  They keep the cold wind away.  They allow you a bit of artistic expression.  They provide privacy.  And here, these hedges are  H U G E, so they do all of that BIG TIME.  Some of the hedges, they tell us, date from the 17th century and when you peek between the little branches of the hedge, there are some quite large trunks to see.  H U G E.

  Some of them even have windows.  Really.

We were lucky to have such a nice sunny day for our walks.  After lunch around the table in the sunny courtyard, we drove to a nearby area for another walk.  First a peek into a wayside chapel (it is a heavily Catholic area) dedicated to St. Jude, the saint of lost causes - among other things.  Here a plaque of thanks from a young supplicant "Thank you that I passed my exam"  !!

We wiggled in and out of Belgium on this walk, but there were occasional stone markers to let you know where the border was and which side you were on.  D=Deutschland.

 

Lovely views are all over the Eifel,

and we also had a lay-down on the stone where - they say - Charlemagne spent the night once.  Hope he had some cushions. That is one hard, cold stone!

Next day, Werner and I were on  our own.  Since Tony and Muriel have been here many times,  visiting Monschau was our thing.

It's deep in a small valley, sheltered these many years since its founding in the 12th century from much change.  Just about the whole town is a designated historical site.  The castle above the town is from the 13th century, used these days as a hostel for students and a conference site.

A river runs through the valley, of course!

 Interesting slate shingles on some of the buildings.

 It's crookedy.

 And it's very hilly.  We wondered how folks manage in the winter with snow and ice!

A view from the castle.  This was for sure a post for the security forces.

Another chapel where supplicants had prayed and then put up plaques with their thanks.  Nothing quite as mundane here as passing an exam.  Some of the plaques were from the early 20th c.

Yes, we walked the stony paths.

Views of the old town.

Not everything is old - Werner's demonstrating his incredible strength here bending a steel sculpture. Yeah, right. 

Cute,  interesting,  but I would not NOT want to live there!  Steep hills, challenging in summer and I can imagine about impossible in winter. Every day, many hundreds of tourists wandering around and poking into every cranny.  Unless you're have a house overlooking the valley, privacy would be a dream.

They of course have specialties - mustard from an old mill, now in countless varieties, and a special cookie, a twist on a ginger cake that is quite yummy, I have to say.

And last day - a side trip to Vogelsang.  It was a training center for elite officers during the Nazi time, later occupied by Belgian troops, and now houses permanent exhibits about the history of the site and the incredible natural wonders of the Eifel region of Germany.

One of the monumental sculptures there celebrating German manhood and the German ideal of that awful time.  The man was riddled with old bullet holes and the chiseled saying has had the obnoxious name removed.  Nevertheless, reminders are necessary lest we forget.

There was a full-sized sports field for track and soccer, an indoor swimming facility, still in use, and a lot of steps to climb to keep you in shape.  We certainly got our cardio workout that day!

Packed lunch.  We always take lunch with us rather than eating out, and, to tell the truth, there's little I like better than a sandwich on fresh Graubrot (rye bread - no caraway seeds!) a bit of fresh veggie and hot tea.  Especially surrounded by trees in color and good friends.

Ah.  A nice long weekend with friends, a few of good walks, plenty of good food and conversation.  What's not to love??

Looking forward already to our next visit, wherever it is!  Thanks Muriel and Tony.