Good luck to the Heidelberg International Wandering Club as it loads up a bus Saturday and travels to the Christmas market in Strasbourg, France, followed by an evening volksmarch in the French town of Erstein. The Erstein event is unique in that the start and finish are in different places. According to the map in the walk flier, they are about four blocks apart. The flier also shows more parking locations near the finish at the Salle Herinstein on rue du Vieux Marche, so it would be better to park near the finish and walk to the start hall at Salle St. Martin on quai du Couvent 9. Sunday, the walk at Alt-Hürth, Germany, starts next to the Christmas market at the Pfarrheim at Lindenstrasse 7. Parking might be a challenge, so try to get there as early as possible. The walk starts at 10 a.m. The routes are six and 10 kilometers. If you get wrapped up in the Christmas market, make sure you finish the walk by closing time at 5 p.m. Then you can go back for more shopping.We did this walk a couple of years ago and it was a nice, small-town Christmas market. The big cities of Aachen and Cologne, Germany, are close in case you want to visit a big Christmas market. We visited the Aachen market Nov. 24, the day it opened this year, and it was very nice. We had the usual sautéed mushrooms, potato pancakes and some Glühwein. The market was larger this year, having expanded around the back of the cathedral.If you go to the Sunday walk in Ruhlkirchen, Germany, make sure you visit the Christmas market in the nearby town of Alsfeld. Sunday’s walk in Hamm, Luxembourg, is just south of Luxembourg City. After the walk, it would be easy to visit its Christmas market.Don’t forget, next weekend is the big Bastogne (Belgium) Historical Walk. We’ll be there, so look for us! Brad Crandall of the Ramstein Roadrunners reports that almost 1,000 walkers showed up for their annual Thanksgiving Day Turkey Trot. That is a great turn-out any way you look at it! It was the result of a lot of hard work by the Roadrunners and other volunteers. Congratulations to you all on a job well done!Speaking of the Roadrunners, you might still be able to get in on their Paris trip Jan. 5 and 6. A volksmarch through Paris with all of the Christmas lights is truly spectacular. Paris in January can be very cold, especially after the sun goes down, but it is still very beautiful. The plan is to travel by ICE train so you don’t have to worry about a long bus ride. Contact Gene Behrends at parrotdad@hotmail.com for more information.
This column was written for the Dec. 6, 2012, edition of Stars and Stripes. Email volksmarch information to two.walkers@yahoo.com. Mail brochures to Bob and Lorraine Huffaker, CMR 460, Box 278, APO AE 09752.