Paths Above the Marshes
Düsseldorf 2021
May 2021
Diersfordter Forest - The Haard - Hülser Bruch - Schwalmbruch - Meinweg - Heidelberg
Düsseldorf 2021
Itinerary
It feels so strange to write about May now, when it’s August outside. It seems like a whole lifetime has passed. And May was long ago and as if it didn’t happen to me at all. How wonderful that there are photographs. Thanks to them, memories come alive in my head, as if someone had switched on a flashlight in pitch darkness and now I can see the silhouettes of past events.
***
On May 1, we went to the Diersfordter Wald forest. There were a bit too many people there. But you can walk over the marshes on the built paths. All the visitors obediently stay on the trails. I persuaded Volchy to stray from the path and go a little deeper into the forest to have some tea. We scared off a little wild boar :) We saw it running across the marshy area. We ate near the place where wild boars rub against a tree.
Picnic near the place where wild boars rub their backs against a tree
***
We grilled fish and dined on the balcony.
Fishy
Dinner
***
May 9 was very warm. We went to the very beautiful forest Die Haard.
We climbed a lookout tower, and from it there was a view into the distance.
We reached a water-filled quarry (at home, when I was looking at the map, I thought it was a lake :)
There were many people on the shore of the quarry, nobody was swimming, people were just sunbathing. The water is cold, but very clean! Volchiy decided to go for a swim and said it was very cold, even colder than it seems.
After some time, a man came and started driving everyone away from the quarry — it turns out this is a restricted area, not a beach at all. What a pity, I would have liked to come here in summer. People got busy, started gathering their things, and left in a line.
The Haard forest
On the fire tower
Fire tower, it’s hard to see, but it’s very solid, iron, and tall
Quarry
Cold :)
Finishing our tea before heading home on a bench near the parking lot
***
I placed my first order on the Metro website :) I ordered a Kenwood Kmix stand mixer. I had been dreaming about it for a very long time and just couldn’t bring myself to buy it. Our regular mixer broke, and that was the push I needed to make the purchase.
A huge box. And me, with the new little red mixer in the background. I couldn’t find a better photo of the mixer itself :)
***
Piglets behind the fence
Graffiti. The bee looked three-dimensional.
***
Walking along the lake
Our little meadow
Relaxing after lunch
Returning along the canal, we crossed over it on a little log to the islet
***
On May 23, we went for a walk in the forest on the border with the Netherlands, Meinweg National Park. There are beautiful places there, a forest interspersed with clearings where interesting red plants were growing. We had a picnic on the shore of a small lake. Volchiy even didn’t mind and brought us a mat, so we sat very comfortably. When the sun hid behind leaden clouds, it became chilly.
Dutch cows
Red Grass
Picnic by the Pond
The wolf is walking along a log. By the way, that wasn’t easy :) I tried it too later
***
On May 28, on Friday after lunch, we set off on a little trip to Heidelberg. It is 300 km away.
We had already been there, but decided to go again.
We wanted to visit the technical museum Technik Museum Sinsheim and see the supersonic passenger aircraft Tu-144 and Concorde there in person.
Tea stop on the way to Heidelberg
***
On Saturday, May 29, in the morning we went to the museum. The museum is very large. There are many old cars, racing cars, and motorcycles. There is also some military equipment, tanks from the Second World War. And of course the highlight of the museum is the Tu-144 and Concorde — you can go inside both planes and see what the cabin and cockpit looked like.
In the museum
Lots and lots of cars
Military equipment in the open air. A large gray amphibious vehicle.
Tu-144 and Concorde! We’re heading toward them!
Inside the Concorde cabin
Concorde Engines
After the museum, we went to Heidelberg for a little walk. We climbed up to the castle, from where there is a very beautiful view of the city and the river. We thought about sitting down in a little restaurant, but all of them seemed packed with people, so we went home, and on the way bought very tasty sushi at the supermarket for dinner and some white German wine.
View from the castle of the city and the river
View of the castle from the river. We were just there.
On Sunday, on the way home, we walked in the forest along the Rhine. It is hilly terrain, and there are many castles here.
The hills offer a beautiful view of the vineyards.
This is the Rheinhessen wine region, one of the largest wine-growing regions in Germany.
The path runs through a forest with cliffs. There are quite a lot of people, but it is very beautiful all around.
We had a picnic in a picturesque spot. On the way home, we walked through a little forest where strange figures were carved out of the trees or into the trees.
View of the vineyards
View of one of the many castles
Picnic on the Rocks
From the spot where we had our picnic, this was the view
Figurines in the Forest