hallgarten fairground. this was a fairly small walk around the little village of hallgarten , which is a part of the town of oestrich-winkel . it is nestled against the mountainside of the rheingau hills , underneath the village's landmark mountain hallgarter zange . i remember starting my walk in the village's newer part, the settlement 'am rebhang', which has direct access to the woods. after walking for a little bit i encountered the local event venue, which was a little hidden, actually and i mistook it first as an abandoned structure. apparently, though, this place is used by the hallgarten people for gatherings, parties, concerts and seasonal events. i actually loved the shadowplay the roof created on the grass. accidental geometrical art! i also remember eating sour cherries here which i found on the trees around the premise. view over freshly hewn hay fields down into the rhine valley. i didn't mess around for long in the woods, though i should probably try
foxglove woods. june is very much foxglove season over here in the taunus mountains, covering many forest grounds with their beautiful pink flowers. but caution has to preside over enjoying them, they are highly toxic plants! touching might not do much at all, but eating even 2 or three of the blossoms might end up deadly. the whole plant is not to be trifled with. however, it is used medicinally for cardiac insufficiencies and is actually said to be helping with basically jump starting the heart again. quite a fascinating plant, really! it's also a protandric plant, which means that the male anthers are there earlier than the female carpels. it's a weird concept, really, but it basically means that the plant is sort of hermaphroditic. the blossoms that you see and that start blooming upwards are the female carpels and on the very top are the male anthers that will bloom last. that seems to ensure that the plant isn't cross-pollinated differently, and only bumblebees will v