As January comes to an end, so does our sixth year as writers of this column. How time flies when you are having fun! We have come a long way since our first article dated Feb. 2, 2006. We have met plenty of new walking friends and have seen beautiful cities and gorgeous countrysides, and shared many happy moments on the trails across Europe.
We are indebted to many people who make this column possible. In addition to our editors, both in Kaiserslautern and in Washington, D.C., we owe thanks to the many readers who send in fliers and emails that advertise the walks. The books and websites we sometimes refer to do not provide all of the information we need for the weekly walks chart, so without the fliers, we would be hard-pressed to put the walks chart together.
As we head into our seventh year, we promise to do our best to get you out on a volksmarch trail near you. We feel that once you’ve been exposed to a volksmarch or two, you’ll love the experience, want to do more and will continue to look for Volksmarches when you get back to the United States.
• Jan. 14 was a beautiful day as we walked in Limburg an der Lahn, Germany. We arranged to meet Tim and Luchi Lynch at the start hall with their friends Mark and Mary to do the old city walk. We happened to run into “Pat” and Cheryl Patterson too, so the eight of us walked together. The 11-kilometer trail — which seemed like only 8 or 9 kilometers — went through the old city and the central shopping area pedestrian zone. We were in awe of all the old timber-framed buildings with the colorful paint. The cathedral was very beautiful as well. The trail then took us up the hill outside town so we could get some panoramic pictures of the cathedral and city. Then it was back to the start for a nice bratwurst before heading home. Good weather, good friends, a pretty city and good food — all the ingredients for a wonderful day of walking.
• Sunday morning we will be in Grosbliederstroff, France, for the walk. Saturday, we’ll drive to Mettlach, Germany, for some shopping at the Villeroy & Boch outlet and then continue on to Saarbrücken to spend the night. Sunday morning we’ll be up early to do the walk and get the French IVV stamp for our Europa Cup I booklets. This event is a bus trip for the Heidelberg International Wandering Club and a carpool trip for the Ramstein Roadrunners, so we’ll be looking for a lot of familiar faces in the start hall.
• Sunday’s volksmarch in Horrheim is a Stammtisch walk for the Stuttgart club. Look for their blue flag at the start hall. Be sure to stop over and swap a volksmarch story or two!
Email volksmarch information to two.walkers@yahoo.com. Mail brochures to Bob and Lorraine Huffaker, CMR 460, Box 278, APO AE 09752.
