view on schneidhain, a small village in the taunus mountains.
on a rainy april sunday i headed out for a walk in the taunus mountains, namely a little valley called braubachtal. it's situated near one of königstein's districts - schneidhain. i didn't make a foray into the village, though, but instead chose one of the many hiking trails closeby to explore the valley. when i started off, the rain was pretty prevalent and the clouds hanging low, which created a special kind of sacred mood. seeing the clouds pass by and shrouding the hills above the valley is something i utterly love to see, there's something magic about that, don't you agree?
especially when you get such a nice backdrop with königstein castle! an additional detail i loved was the little train traversing the valley, which is operating on the königstein railway that brings people to frankfurt and back! it gives out a hoot when it crosses a railroad crossing, which echos throughout the valleys so you can always hear it coming!
the LINT41 is a small train produced by alstom coradia - a french railway car producer. they can only build it due to the acquisition of the german linke-hofmann-busch company, though, who developed the actual plans for it! LINT stands for 'leichter innovativer nahverkehrstriebwagen' ( light innovative local transport rail vehicle ), which is quite a mouthful, so LINT is definitely the better name for it ;P
i think it fit well into the surroundings, it added a certain kind of charm to the valley! i could vividly imagine an oldschool train bringing spa guests from frankfurt to königstein as well, but this modern cutie was equally nice to watch making its way through the landscape!
btw, the blooming of the cherry & blackthorn trees was the bee's knees, cherry on top to the whole scenery 😘
gloomy königstein castle! i haven't been to this castle in a long, long time ( i think i only visited it twice in the 12 years i am living here, and the last time must at least have been like 5 years ago or such ). i probably should change that and return someday soon, the whole of königstein is actually a great place to visit, not only for its castles, but also for the whole medieval town center it still showcases and the general spa vibes!
the castle's origins are not clear, but it is said that it was first erected in the 10th or 11th century. some say it was even earlier, there's a legend that tells of one merowingian king chlodwig building a castle on the grounds of where he had once met a virgin predicting his victory over the alemanni. if that is true, the castle's origins might date back to the 5th or 6th century!
i actually couldn't get enough of this vista from the edge of a field near schneidhain village! i really wanted to try to capture the mood of the clouds shrouding the valley, but i personally think i failed 😂
but thankfully the castle and the train provided nice additional motives to focus on :D
the railroad tracks cutting through the valley...
eventually i'd continue my hike and plunged myself into the woods, finding wonderful forest textures and patterns, such as the ones that tree mushrooms provide! this turkey tail mushroom was outrageously gorgeous 😍
so hypnotic, these details!
good rainy spring forest! all the new greens were making me happy! and the forest probably was, too ;)
every once in a while i could hear the trains tooting and hooting, and seeing them pass me by through the trees!
i discovered baby leaves and tried to capture their delicate details! see the tiny hairs on the top of the leaf? so fuzzy and feathery!
even when the beech tree leaves were unfolded, you could still make out the tiny border fuzz 😚 oh, and the raindrops rolling off the leaves - so freaking juicy!
i love water-repellent surfaces so much! this maple leaf seemed to be happy about it, too, it was glowing freshly green!
on the grounds i found some exquise wood sorrel growth - look at these intricate patterns, aren't they amazing? 😍 i am actually not sure if it's really wood sorrel we are looking at here, i have never before seen such patterns on regular wood sorrel 💁
so gorgeous!
broom blossoms! in germany you can often find broom in mountainous woods, and when they start blooming, its gorgeous sunny blossoms are spreading a delicious fragrance and brightening up the new green growth everywhere! it's a rather thorny plant, though, and seems to have proven toxic to humans and some animals, so it's definitely a 'don't touch - just watch' plant. in older times it was used as a colouring plant and to wattle baskets with its sturdy branches.
fresh green, and very edible may shoots of a spruce tree! their taste is a very strange one, but not unpleasant, sort of sour/bitter, very aromatic. i read up a little on spruce tree may shoots, and apparently they can be used in an expectorant tea also, and it helps against tiredness & vitamin c deficiency! quite a health booster tree, isn't it? i hear, that they also serve well as a mean snack, especially when dipped into chocolate. yum, makes me wanna try it at some point 😋
not spruce needles, but those of the larch tree! they're more bunchy than other conifer needles. the may growth can also be eaten, i haven't tried it though, so i couldn't tell you the difference in taste between the spruce and the larch.
and then i went overboard with shooting these delicate blossoms...
... which belong to a little blackthorn tree. this exemplar was actually not standing upright anymore, it must've been uprooted at some point not too long ago before i made these pictures, as it was still blooming!
and it bloomed beautifully! blackthorn is a very interesting tree, with many benefits actually! not only for humans, but also for insects and birds, who love the blossoms and fruit the tree produces!
speaking of which, the tiny plummy fruit are what we humans love about the blackthorn, too, they taste best after the frost went over them, and are used in jams & for liquors as well. when you eat them raw you will notice that they are first sweet, then sour and then bitter, which is why people don't like them raw, and instead of turn them into further developed foods. the bitterness can make your tongue feel numb after consuming a lot of them 😁 i personally like that somehow, i don't even know why.
the blackthorn is also very medically useful, its blossoms can be used in an anti-flammatory tea infusion, and is also antifebrile and stomachic.
i also like the white lush blooms a lot, we have hedgerows of blackthorn in a lot of places all over germany, and it is always a wonderful sight!
are you bored of these blossoms yet?
'cause i sure ain't :P
the fallen tree.
some more interesting facts about the blackthorn tree: its bark was used to extract ink in the medieval ages in a very elaborate process. you had to beat the bark off the tree and then soak it in water for three days, then that water needed to be cooked, poured over the bark again and that happened so many times until the bark wouldn't give off any colour anymore. the leaves of the blackthorn also served as a tobbaco alternative! and also, i didn't know that blackthorn was often planted around meadows and farms to ward of witches, which is kinda sad, if i had been a witch, i would've loved these places :D
after indulging in the blackthorn beauty quite a while, i made myself continue my path further. i crossed the traintracks of the königstein trailway and took another few minutes to wait for a train, but none came. this spot certainly would've been a great one to take a nice train image!
winding railroad tracks 😍
and blackthorn and cherry trees all abloom! plus additional fresh greens from other trees!
i loved this lane that was scattered with cherry tree blossoms! it was quite romantic to walk on it, too, as with every wind that blew through the trees, the blossoms were raining down on you ❤
and then i stumbled on a very early blooming canola field! what a brightener 😍
so much goodness in one image! spring galore!
these gorgeous cherry trees were absolutely majestic, too, i was pretty much overindulging in their sight as well, but it was hard to take good images of them against the bright grey sky.
but, please, what is not to love about the lush white splendor of these trees?
the tiny braubach river that gave the valley the name. wood anemones were also opening up their white little heads and added another spring detail to the woods!
braubach valley into the direction of schneidhain.
solitary trees are my favourite trees, and this willow was extra special as it also sported some wonderful fresh foliage!
and then i discovered an old magnolia tree, which was super out of place in this landscape! these trees usually are not very common outside of urban areas, they're not native to german landscapes. so it was doubly exciting to see one thriving so well out there! i am pretty sure there's a story to the magnolia tree, but i couldn't find anything online, though i feel like i have read something about it on my hike somewhere. i swear, i probably should take images of information i find along the way for later perusal.
it had just drizzled a bit, so the blossoms were covered with tiny rain drops 😍
soft pink deliciousness!
the magnolia in all its glory!
i heard a hooting from afar, and lo and behold, there was the train again that i had been waiting for at the crossroads :D
i passed by another crossing, but the train was already gone again. this is right at the edge of schneidhain village!
i kinda feel that the train tracks really elevate the landscape, it adds a nice contrast to all the nature around it.
after walking for quite a while back into the woods, i came upon a little settlement and discovered this little typically german hut. it's probably a kiosk in summer times.
this little scenery was shot into the direction of a restaurant nearby, which i failed to photograph ( i think there were too many people around 😂 )
loved the long shadows on this street and how it was framed by these hilly undergrounds.
a really gorgeous sign to the aforementioned restaurant.
a conifer alley par excellence. incredible, how straight these trees went up!
i actually really liked the wood stacks on the left sort of building a fence.
finding violets always makes me really happy 😍
they're just so delicate and sweet and i adore their scent!
my little hike around the braubach valley came to an end soon after i discovered these and it was a short and sweet hike indeed! the taunus mountains are such a heart place for me and i keep discovering new gems even in already known places, it never gets boring! i can only recommend checking the mountains out in rainy spring weather as well, nothing beats the low hanging clouds racing over your head and touching the hills - it's a mystic experience! softly falling rain pitterpattering on freshly growing leaves and blossoms is also one of the best experiences when you're out for a restoring little walk. there's so much that nature can give you, most of all an awareness for what is around you and its correlation to you as a human. for me, it is always a realization of sorts, an understanding that nature should be a vital part of our life experiences. but we also should never forget that it's us who need the natural world, not the other way around.
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