it was still cold outside, but when the sun is shining and a hike promises new perspectives, the coldness melts into warmth. we drove to bingen and took one of the many hiking trails around this charming little city. old vineyards, signs of an upcoming spring, valued family time - ingredients for a beautiful day.
the middle rhine valley and surrounding regions are known for their perfect winegrowing areas. literally everything revolves around wine here. i'm not an excessive wine drinker ( occasionally i love to drink the best of the best: auslese & riesling wines ), but i can attest that the wines from here belong to the best in the world, really. for people who work in this profession it's the elixir of life. they are really committed to it.
the vineyards are also the oldest in the world. they've been growing wine here for hundreds of years - dating back to the dark ages at least.
opalescent stones.
i had a hard time catching this fella, but i'm proud that my picture turned out like this.
the nahe is one of the many rivers that empties into the rhine, practically feeding it.
a part of bingen. bingen is made of quite a few districts, it's scattered all over the place. this is a view onto bingen-büdesheim.
the winter is not gone yet, everything is still in waiting mode.
i love those bare twigs and branches.
another view - this time onto bingerbrück. the bridge over the river nahe is called drususbridge, it's an old roman bridge. have i mentioned that i love the fact that a bridge so old still exists in modern times?
variegated shingles.
hiking parents :)
and the views go on: this time you can look over the rhine and see the vineyards of rüdesheim in the background and also the niederwald monument. in the foreground you can make out klopp castle & the inner city of bingen.
examining the vines.
musical notes.
we marched by some cows.
we hiked around the rochusberg and ended up on the highest point for a fantastic view onto büdesheim & kempten.
of course i needed to test out the panorama function again.
found some burnt wood.
they're really religious in this region, you can find crosses everywhere you go.
klopp castle. hildegard von bingen operated here. she was a great personality in medieval times, a writer, composer, medic, mystic and more. an allround talent.
i don't know how old these vines are, but they sure look vintage.
castle klopp reminds me of english castles a lot. must be the gothic revival look.
it's now a civil registry office.
by the rhine.
where the nahe flows into the rhine.
the beginning of the rhine gorge with ehrenfels castle.
water mouth of nahe and rhine.
i don't know how this happened, but i really like the outcome. photographing your own lens is kind of funny.
basilica st. martin. what was remarkable about this basilica was the fact that it wasn't like all high-gloss cathedrals and churches i've seen lately. it looked a little worn and i really liked it. spiderwebs were everywhere and it actually really looked old and kind of sacred, maybe a little bit sleepy.
this golden guy was a bit silk-wrapped.
i guess, you could still say that the interior was nothing to be ashamed of.
in the evening we met up with a friend of mine in mainz and i showed my parents the rhine bank. it's full of modernist elements and even though i prefer nature, sometimes modern sculptures and architecture can be worth seeing, too. this one could be found near the town hall.
the town hall. it's quite ugly, but in its ugliness there is something that's eye-catching.
twisted ballerina.
winterhafen ( winter dock ) in the evening. it was recently rehabilitated with appartment houses.
interesting tree lights.
the mainz cathedral in the evening.
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