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may: taunus landscapes.

i'm a sucker for all things sea-related, but the same counts for mountains. the taunus mountains are a low mountain range in my area, with the highest peak being 879 metres ( großer feldberg ). these mountains are no less charming because of that. one of the reasons is that they bear a lot of beautiful valleys, such as the wispertal or all the little valleys that lead you to the big middle rhine valley. oftentimes i just start my car for a cruise on the mountain streets, they are really scenic with steep rock walls framing them. what i also love about the taunus mountains are the little villages in the back-country - with much of nature surrounding them. the older i get the more i want to move out of the city again and into the 'wild' - at least back to more remote places which are still attached to a more elemental way of living. my ideal place still would be a little village by the sea, but i wouldn't say no to a mountain dwelling as well. oh, dreams, you are too far away these days.

let's look at some pictures i shot while doing a mini trip with my parents in the rüdesheim region of the taunus mountains - the rheingau mountains.

view onto the mountains near the hunting seat niederwald.

strange little mountain weeds.

the hunting castle niederwald is now a restaurant & hotel, but was actually build - yes, you guessed it - as a hunting residence for the nobility. a remain of these old traditions is the deer park that is right next to it, nothing outrageous, though. we stopped there after a hike through the niederwald woods.


and while we were there we also stopped by the niederwald monument. it is a typical german monument, dramatic and proud. i have photographed it many times before, so this time i only shot a few details of it, so things don't get boring on here.

i really like this relief of soldiers going to war and having to say goodbye to their loved ones.

especially the couple in the middle is so beautiful and sad to me. the young boy on the left seems to be quite proud for going to war, his father as well, only his mother seems to dislike the idea of her son going away.

on the right side of the relief there is this young family with children and it's also really heart-wrenching to look at that. the monument was build on occasion of the franco-prussian war, to glorify the unification of many german states & to commemorate the dead soldiers of the wars that lead to this unification.

from the monument you have the best view onto the rhine and rhineland-palatinate.

my shoes were quite dusty after our walk.

after our walk we drove to the wispertal valley for coffee time. the restaurant we always stay in is the laukenmühle, a former mill. it already exists for over 400 years and has always been some kind of week-end destination for many families in the region. the little castle in the back was never really occupied and always remained as some kind of romantic bonus for visitors. you can buy the famous wisper valley troud here and they also sell coldcut specialties. plus: the restaurant offers really delicious regional dishes and is well known for its friendly staff.

there was a little pond next to the restaurant. it was full of tiny polliwogs!

 i really like how a lawn mower created these circles around the tree :)

rather cute polliwogs! i love how they wiggle through the water.

beautiful peonies and green vines against an otherwise rather dull house wall.

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