One of the most popular volksmarch events in Europe is rapidly approaching. The medieval town of Rothenburg ob der Tauber is hosting its 33rd annual weekend of walking through the city and around the neighboring countryside. Taking place Feb. 26 and 27, this walk is still a month away, but we mention it now so you can plan for it.
There are plenty of quaint, little guest houses in Rothenburg for spending the night, but they will fill quickly as the date approaches. We already have made our reservations at our favorite spot, Gasthaus Zum Schmölzer, and look forward to a busy weekend of walking.
The Heidelberg International Wandering Club is putting together a very nice weekend trip for this walk. After attending the Rothenburg walk on Saturday, they will spend the night there. Sunday, they will walk one of the permanent trails in Creglingen before returning home. If you would like to join them, contact Rob and Cath Floyd at thefloyds@t-online.de. They will answer any questions and give you information on how to pay. The cut-off date for registration is Friday, Jan. 21, so hurry.
This week there are two walks in towns named Kappel and they are 200 miles apart, so be careful. The first Kappel is in the beautiful Hunsrück region, not far from Hahn. The other is just outside Freiburg. The Freiburg-Kappel walk offers a witch with a broom as its prize.
Also this week, the walk in Jebenhausen, Germany, is a Stammtisch walk for the Stuttgart German American Wandering Club.
In Italy, the walk in Murelle di Villanova di Camposampiero has a choice of prizes: either a plant with a vase for 3.50 euros or a bottle of wine for 5 euros.
There are two notes of interest about the Monteforte d’ Alpone events. Saturday afternoon’s walk is a guided walk that includes a tour of a local winery. It is limited to 120 walkers who pre-registered. However, if you are one of the first 10,000 walkers Sunday, you will receive a gift bag with a towel, wine, yogurt, rice and lactose-free milk
.• We have just learned of a new development for volksmarches in Germany. If you like to walk any of the permanent volksmarch trails, you can now get event credit for a walk each calendar quarter. You can walk it as often as you want for distance credit, but now you can get your event book stamped four times a year. Thanks to Bob Gambert and “Pat” Patterson for bringing us up to speed on this new development. If any readers know of this going into effect in any other countries, please let us know so we can pass it along to readers.
• Kudos to these folks who contributed fliers for this week’s column: William Castro and Maureen McHugh-Castro; Cath and Rob Floyd; Bob Gambert, Richard and Donna Glenn; Tim and Luchi Lynch; “Pat” and Cheryl Patterson; and Wayne Henry, Rick Sciascia and Nancy Shawley.
E-mail volksmarch information to two.walkers@yahoo.com. Mail brochures to Bob and Lorraine Huffaker, CMR 460, Box 278, APO, AE, 09752.
