view from the arenaceous fields of the mainz sand dunes towards a 23-storey housing complex.
the big sand dunes of mainz are a protected landscape on the edge of mainz city, and a very unique and special one at that. its origins go way back to the ice age, when the ancient rhein river was a mere remnant of a big sea covering the area. it wasn't embedded in a deep river bed like today, but spread out and therefore created terraces that piled up sands and gravel which were transported via wind into what is now the area of the dunes. that process created a unique landscape that can't be found in our region a second time. strangely, you can find plant species here that you can only find far away, in south russian steppes for example or from the mediterrean. the soil here is very dry, the area looks like a tundra with very little tree population and you have the sense that you are on the coasts of a sea, where sand dunes prevail and wind blows through it, moving sand across the perimeter.
my parents and i visited this little plot of land on my birthday and it was a gift that couldn't have been better - getting to know another yet unseen landscape in the region i live in, exploring its exceptional layout. that's why i prefer going AWOL on my birthdays and ditching celebrations alltogether, 'cause i'd rather like to explore a place than sitting on my ass and playing host & entertainer for other people. i want to see something, experience a place, get a new perspective on life and why it is worth it to stay alive. for some, meeting up with their friends and family and talking and chattering and eating is the non plus ultra of life, with an emphasis on LOVE and FEELINGS and EMOTIONS and that's of course totally valid... it seems for me it's different, though, like of course i would like to experience that, too, but it's discovering the various environments of my surroundings that gives me life and gets me excited. and when such adventures happen with loved ones around me, that can transcend into the experience most people are so keen on: creating connections and memories and learning and growing together. my best memories were actually made on the road, or on site of a new place and they are what stays most present in my consciousness. of course some of the everyday happenings etch themselves into your mind, too ( probably because of mere repetition ) or normal get-togethers with friends turn into something memorizable, but when it all happens on a frequent level i find myself getting bored and craving for more. i love meeting up with friends and family, but it transcends everything if these meet-ups contain exploration and discovery. that's what makes my nerves tickle and stretch and open up for human connection.
well, enough of that, let's move on to this:
this complex is called 'diana am wildpark', and sits at the borders of the protected landscape of the dunes. it's part of the 'elsa' - elsa brandström street - a district that houses 5000 people from 80 countries. a few people say that it's a social hotspot, but after doing a little bit of research it turns out that this isn't the truth. the whole complex is more of a ragtag and peaceful coexistence of many nations, and that probably brings its charm into being. i haven't yet paid a more thorough visit, but maybe will do so in the future, just to get a closer look at these modern high-rises ( which apparently is the tallest housing complex in all of rhineland-palatinate ). the district was mostly built in 1972/73 to create more living space in mainz - which the inner city couldn't provide. the main building, the diana, is an interesting boomerang-silhouetted structure and seems to be a good place to have a breath-taking view on our region, with wiesbaden and taunus mountains close by, but also into the direction of the hunsrück mountain range or rhine hessia.
dad exploring the steppes of the dunes.
gold, green, blue, these colours were the dominant ones while we visited. in the far back you can make out signs of civilization, the landscape is unfortunately not closed off from it. on one side there is the autobahn 643 - which is a serious problem when it comes to the preservation of the area - and on all other sides you have the cityscapes of mainz closing in on it. the dunes are still part of an ongoing traffic policy discussion, as the autobahn actually needs to be extented due to massive traffic problems. but since that would mean that the dunes would probably loose space, the plans are widely under public fire.
digging those soft curvatures ⌢⌣
found some old wall structures and a little bit of flora growing on it!
these are needle sunroses, a plant you can actually find in mediterrean regions. they love rocky and sandy soil, so this was a perfect habitat for them!
there's a path that meanders through the dunes, which you should stay on, as it helps keeping the landscape intact ( which of course doesn't prevent some of our species trespassing anyway ). that path reminded me so much of the dune paths of the north sea and baltic sea regions, which are regions i have a crush on and therefore made me crush on this landscape, too ;)
the path. sometimes it was difficult to trudge through the sandy grounds ( but not as difficult as inside of wandering dunes - which is something i experienced this year on vacation, where we stayed at the polish seaside of the baltic sea - that was an experience of a lifetime 😅)
these interesting looking plants are field eryngo. it's basically a thistle. i loved their star-shaped seed heads 🌟
it may sound a bit strange, but i love plants that are parched or seemingly dead, they look sort of ghostly and spooky! those are the best mood setters i think.
brightly red coloured leaves in an ochre colour scheme. i don't know the name of these bushes, but they were the perfect icing on my own personal birthday cake.
it was just unreal how bright they were!
more curvatures and a little bit of tree growth.
lonesome trees are very attractive ( i should probably not go on a walk here while a thunderstorm is happening, lol ).
it looked like a magical place to me, i can't put a finger on the why, though.
more blood red magic going on here! unfortunately, i have a hard time determining plants in their autumn foliage, so i have to pass on this one, too. it is a plant though that i see quite often.
will i ever grow tired of autumnal processes like the colour changing of the leaves? i don't think so.
jurinea cyanoides - originally from eastern europe and southern siberia. how they got to this german landscape? it's speculated that they got here back when ice covered these grounds in glacial times. there's no english translation for these plants, it's sand-silberscharte in german, which translates into sand silver wort. these violet flowers were so beautiful!
i do these #fromwhereistand photos pretty often?
where there is sandy soil you will find pine trees. this one looked quite sick, though.
there's a little patch of a wooded area in the dunes, which was really lovely!
more of the needle sunroses were found here!
these woods were not only made out of pine trees but sported a wide array of decidous trees - which was perfect for autumn foliage spotting ;)
it seems that a lightning struck this pine once and destroyed some of its crown, which consequently died off, but still stayed attached to the tree. the juxtaposition of living and dead tree really impressed me.
skeletons.
at one point of our walk we reached the borders of the dunes, close to the highway. from there you had a nice view onto wiesbaden territories ( far in the back ).
they keep sheep on these grounds in the summer months to prevent overgrowth and the spreading of vegetation that grows everywhere, but doesn't necessarily belong to the original make-up of the landscape. that's why you can find these fences all over the place. we haven't met sheep on that day, but i would've loved to! guess i need to revisit in the spring and summer months someday.
oh those golden tree tops warm my heart 💛
we approached a little bit closer to the highway to have a better look at wiesbaden. from afar you could even see the 'launch pad of the souls', a brutalist church that looks like the name suggests: a launch pad. you can't see it here, though, and i didn't manage to take good pictures of it.
on our way back ( it was noon and basically lunch-time, we wanted to eat at a nearby italian restaurant ) we heard this fella crying out loud and saw it landing on a barren pine tree. it's a common kestrel.
we could only see it from a distance before it flew away again, but damn, did it choose a dramatic spot to have a little rest on.
after we had our lunch we decided to check out one last place before my parents had to return to thuringia: the rhine beach of mombach. well, technically we didn't even reach the actual banks in mombach, but i'd say we were not far away from it. since we didn't get to the actual place, this will have to stay on my itinerary for a little bit longer. meanwhile, we explored some banks close to the mombach beach. the rhine here is split into two arms because of an island in the middle of it, rettbergsaue. this is the land you can see here.
it was still a scenic little stroll, even without an actual beach. here you can see the schierstein bridge, which is partly new and partly old, consisting of a part from the 60ies and a part that's been built recently. they gradually replace the old bridge bit by bit, which is an ongoing process for a few years now ( since 2013 ) - and will probably end in 2021. we moved into the direction of this bridge, but unfortunately we couldn't move further than that because it was basically closed off due to the constructions. i'm fairly sure though that there is a way to get to the other side where the mombach beach is situated, but like i said, i'll probably have to try again.
the sunlight was illuminating our path so nicely!
passed by a building that apparently belongs to a fishing club, but it looked kind of forgotten and abandoned to me. due to the occasional floodings of the rhine river the club house was built on stilts, which is something that you rarely see around here ( i mean, stilt houses are really rare! )
close to the bridge we spotted an absolute darling, and very close as well! a tiny robin sang a beautiful song as we made our way through brushwoods and attracted us to it. it let us get REALLY close, which was like a dream come true! i never encountered such a fearless robin in my life! it even continued to sing as we approached bit by bit. it gave us plenty of time to snap some awesome shots and here's the product of that! i love these pictures! and i felt extremely blessed to have witnessed this extraordinary behaviour of this bird, letting us humans have a closer look without darting away immediately. that was probably my biggest birthday gift of the day ❤
it is the most precious little bird, isn't it?
a lot of the trees and brushwoods were cocooned in caterpillar webs, which was such a ghastly sight! i wish i had made better pictures of that phenomenon, but i have to say it didn't photograph well. maybe i'll find stuff like this on a different occasion in the future, i'll definitely will be on the look-out for it!
returning to the car - some last pictures of the shore near mainz-mombach.
this little beach was next to an industrial park.
and i found this peculiar broken slab of concrete here! i can only imagine that a cracking like this only happens when a lightning strikes, but the cause of this particular cracking probably is a different one. i think it's safe to say that i really like veining patterns, or how would you explain my mysterious attraction to it?
well, and that's it from my birthday weekend back in october '18! hope you enjoyed the little insight into the tiny preseserved landscape that are the sand dunes of mainz :)
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