Click here for this week’s European Volksmarch schedule.
This is the weekend that Europe switches to daylight-saving time. Don’t forget to set your clock ahead one hour Saturday night before you go to bed or you’ll be late to your favorite volksmarch on Sunday.
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There are several nice prizes being offered at volksmarches this weekend. We are tempted to add "for a change" because it seems that fewer clubs are making the effort required to provide new prizes. The first, and the one "traditional" prize, is a beer mug being offered by the Wanderfreunde Lahm. It has colorful Bavarian crests on it and would make a great souvenir and conversation starter. This walk is convenient to the Schweinfurt and Bamberg military communities.
If you want a functional prize, head to the Geltendorf walk. Its prize is a kitchen timer that looks like a chef. Our kitchen timer just broke, so it’s a shame Geltendorf isn’t a little closer for us.
If you want a prize with an Easter theme, the town of Mossautal-Hüttenthal is offering a pair of Easter lamb figures. It’s hard to tell how big they are, but if you are in the Heidelberg area, you might want to check them out.
Two stuffed animals are available this weekend. The first looks like a chicken and is available in Freistadt, Austria. The second is a polar bear with a scarf at Jettingen. The Jettingen walk is close to Stuttgart, and has been designated as a Stammtisch walk by the Stuttgart German American Wandering Club.
All of these clubs are offering nice prizes. We suggest you get to them early because we have a feeling these prizes will go quickly.
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Here are more walks to mark on your calendars. All are in Germany, except where noted. We still have not received fliers for the volksmarches in Hohenfels and Bamberg. If you see any, please mail one to us so we can spread the word.
April 26: Larochette, Luxembourg
May 2-3: Limburg
May 21-22: Montabaur
May 23: Speyer
May 27: Otterberg, near Ramstein and Kaiserslautern communities.
May 30-31: Reichweiler, near Baumholder, with a nice beer mug as the prize
May 30-June 1: Beaufort, Luxembourg
June 13: Vianden, Luxembourg, beautiful countryside and castle make this an excellent walk.
June 13-14: Bad Kreuznach
June 21: Malmedy, Belgium, history buffs need to check out the World War II museums in the area.
June 21: Ehlenz, near Bitburg
June 21: Hoscheid, Luxembourg
Aug. 22: Eben-Emael, Belgium. Before May, 1940, this was home to one of the most formidable fortresses in Europe.
Aug. 23: Consdorf, Luxembourg
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"Merci" to the following people who sent fliers this week: Maya, Tom and Petra Casarez; William Castro and Maureen McHugh-Castro; John and Evelyn Golembe; Ramona and Horst Kechelen; Tim and Luchi Lynch; John and Patty Marsh; "Pat" and Cheryl Patterson; and William Collins, Manfred Dahl, Bob Gambert, Wayne Henry, and Nancy Shawley. And an extra tip of the hat to Walter Dietz of the Wanderfreunde Lahm for sending fliers for its walk.
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Miscellaneous short notes about this week’s events:
• Good luck to the Heidelberg International Wandering Club as its members take a bus trip this weekend to Berchtesgaden and Königsee. Let us know how it goes.
• For the past few walks, the Wandelclub WSV Crescendo has been using the Café Bie Laurengske in Puth, Netherlands, rather than its usual place in Oirsbeek. We’ll probably be there Sunday.
• The Belgian walk in Montzen is close to the American Cemetery at Henri-Chapelle. While in the area, stop and pay your respects to the Americans who died in the liberation of Europe. The walk in Noorbeek, Netherlands, is also close by. It would be easy to do two walks in two countries on Sunday.
• The prizes at the Bonavicina di S. Pietro di Morubio, Italy, walk are a pound each of fettuccine and bigoli.
• The event in Meduno, Italy, is a very popular mountain walk. If the snow on the mountain has melted, the 24k route has a gain of about 680 meters in the early part of the walk. The 12k trail gains about 380 meters. If they can’t go over the mountain, they have an alternate route prepared on the lower mountain paths.
E-mail volksmarch information to two.walkers@yahoo.com. Mail brochures to Bob and Lorraine Huffaker, CMR 460, Box 278, APO, AE, 09752.
