After a day of rowing and a late night out in Köln, I started by getting up early to meet some friends for a trip into the hills. Turns I got up earlier than I needed to because I thought we were meeting at 9:15 for the train. When 9:40 came around, I was getting nervous. I texted Stuart, no answer. I texted Alex, no answer. I finally called Stuart who said he would be at the station in two minutes. When we finally met up, he asked why I needed to call if he was 5 minutes early. That’s when I realized I had been sitting at the train station for a ½ hour for no reason. It was ok because Köln was hosting a marathon that day so there was a lot of interesting people to watch in the station. Most in spandex that really shouldn’t have been. Now that we were all together, the five of use bought a group ticket. This is quite nice to do if you are traveling on the weekends because instead of being 20 euro each, it was only 6.50. After getting some affelpastte pastry we made our way to the train. The ride was quite nice to go through the countryside along the Rein on a slow train. Most of the conversation related to the fact that there were four languages represented in our group of five. Once we got to Bad Honningen we walked through the center of town. There were some buildings there that were built in the 1700’s. Most of the shops were just opening up. As we walked through the winding main street, most people would say good morning and smile. I think this is do to the fact that we had two Canadians with us who made a point to say hello to everyone we walked past.
After our quick tour of the town we made our way up to the Schloss Arenfels. It was a palace built on a hill over looking the Rein. The first half was built in the 13th Century while the second half was built in the 16th Century. On top of that, it was partially damaged during World War II so it was partially restored and partially remodeled. The result is three distinct styles of architecture juxtaposed into an interesting and surprisingly beautiful home. The walk up the hill is steep and the hillside is perfect for a vineyard. The vines had bee recently harvested and they were beginning to change color. There were still a few grapes left on the vine to taste. Those grapes would have made a very nice Riesling, but the Palace did not offer any. When we got to the top there was a courtyard that opened up to the Rein where they served food and beer. Even though it was a little early for beer, on the menu was a Fiesta Bier in honor of Oktoberfest. Curious, we all decided to have one. The half liter Pilsner tasted quite nice served in a classic etched glass with the family’s crest on it. 
It was easy to imagine the view from Schloss Arenfels had been breathtaking in it’s time. However, as we looked out, we could see the Autobahn, an industrial plant, power lines and a train roaring by. Eager to get further out of the town, we skipped the tour of the Palace and went hiking through the vineyards. The hillside was quite picturesque with the vines in bright green, fiery red and goldenrod. We were supposed to be hiking a planned route along the Rein to the next town marked by blue placards. This route actually goes for over 100km. but that’s a little much for one day. When we got to the top of the hill, instead of following the path, Stuart thought another road looked more interesting. This was a dirt road that went further along the ridge instead of back down to the Rein. We saw some beautiful trees of oak and pine growing very dense around the road. It was quite refreshing to get into such crisp air. However, as we went further into the woods, we lost all signs and could no longer go in the direction we wished. We ended up at a small crossroad where three small trails met. We saw a little wooden sign marker Wanderweg and had a bunch of grapes on it. We decided to start following these signs in hopes it would take us back to Bad Hönningen. We actually didn’t walk much further, but after hiking through the hills for two and a half hours, we ended up on the same street in Bad Hönningen where we started. We walked down to the river bank where there was a little café. I had my first taste of Curry Wurst, which was quite good and another Pilsner. I also tried fries with mayonnaise, which I wasn’t expecting to be very good, but the mayonnaise was different and it actually wasn’t too bad and since the ketchup in Germany doesn’t taste the same as it does in the US, I didn’t mind. We sat at the café for a while watching the sun set behind the hills and looked around and everyone else at the café was local, and elderly. It appeared we had taken the table of a regular who was quite upset with us. We decided to go get some ice cream while we waited for the train. The ice cream ended up only being 0.60! It was the best vanilla and chocolate chip cone I had eaten since being in Germany.
The train ride back was quite quiet as my companions were beat after such a full day. One the way back from the train station, I decided to take a different way back to explore a little before heading home. It was there I found a golden, winged car on top of a building, and a nice modern area filled with boutiques and galleries. I was feeling quite good about the walk when I realized that all the shops were just showing men in the windows. When I past by the gay sex shops I realized I had wandered into the gay part of Köln. I walked through a platz filled with cute little cafes only to find not a single girl was to be seen. I tried to look as cool as possible, like I meant to be there, but I’m sure they all knew I had jumped into the deep end by accident.
By the time I got back to my apartment, I was completely exhausted, but completely satisfied. Getting out of the city for a while and into some hidden gems of Germany was just what I needed.
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