4 October 2008 - Neustadt to Kaltenbrunnen

Our first trip of the Autumn was undertaken in the most traditional way. We got on a train and rode to Neustadt an der Weinstrasse. At the station in Neustadt we were surprised to see that a funfair/winefest was in full swing. It's the season for new wine (known to outsiders as "Federweisser", but to the locals as "Neuer Wein").

We had been a little late getting away and train travel takes longer, so it was as good as lunchtime when we arrived. The smells of roasting chestnuts and the new wine, sausages frying and coffee wafted temptingly past us, but we had our sandwiches in our backpacks and set off without tasting the delicacies.

We crossed over the railway lines and started off up the hill. The first kilometre or so was still on pavements through the town, but after the school at the top of the hill, we entered the forest. The first time I walked in one of these German forests, as an au pair back in the 1970s, I understood why so many fairy tales were written about them. They really are magical, particularly at this time of year.

This autumn the leaves turned colour very late. We had wonderful views and light effects all the way, as the trees were still in full leaf, but now in their autumn attire. We decided to do the steep part right at the beginning and set out on a wide path towards a house in the woods at the "Kaltenbrunnen". (A Brunnen is a spring.) Basically, we were following the route of the stream which leads from the spring into town, but we were parallel to it, further up the sides of the valley.

It was an uphill climb and my feet and Achilles tendons really hurt. The path, as I said, was wide, and we frequently had to take cover when mountain bikers whizzed by on their bumpy way downhill.*Note to self: don't choose routes which are steep and wide.+ There weren't any mountain bikers about twenty years ago!

The woods in the Palatinate are mainly deciduous - hence the lovely colouring. The ground is full of awkward bits like tree roots and is very rocky - the local red sandstone is almost invisible among the leaves and soil, and there are great chunks of it hiding under fallen leaves.

However, this particular bit of path was wide enough for vehicles (we saw one, later on, transporting logs) and easy going to walk on. A few hundred yards into the woods there was a little memorial to a local chap who had done much to make the woods accessible and enjoyable for ramblers in the 1950s. All around the little clearing in front of the memorial, the ground was ploughed up - the earth here was nearly black and had all been turned over. We soon worked out that this was caused by wild boar. Only that morning in the local paper there had been an article about what a plague they are becoming - straying into towns and rummaging in people's vegetable gardens and dustbins. They had certainly found plenty of acorns or whatever to dig for there, and, as we were to discover later, at other patches along our way.

Pickings en route

The little plastic bag I had with me for our lunch wrappings and other debris was soon re-designated for collecting sweet chestnuts, as we couldn't help ourselves picking them up as they lay shiny - albeit prickly! - at our feet. I had some turkey fillet waiting in the fridge at home to roast for our meal when we got in - so the chestnuts would be the perfect accompaniment. Other people were collecting edible fungi, which grew in proliferation, but we don't feel knowledgable enough about that to join them.

Kaltenbrunnen

We reached the hut - rather a large house, actually, probably with a dozen or so rooms to let and the obligatory restaurant-cum-winery.(Wine, including the new wine, in this part of the world is served in half-liter glasses - a very rustic affair. So calling something in the middle of the woods which serves drinks like this, accompanied by chunks of bread with liver sausage or a thick, hearty soup, a "wine bar" doesn't seem quite fitting.)

As we had plenty to eat and drink with us, I only wanted to go to the loo there, but there was a big sign outside saying "Toilets only for the use of patrons". Hmmph!

We sat in the sun and enjoyed our sandwiches and vegetable broth for a while, right next to the spring which bubbled out into a little pool before babbling along its valley through the woods - leading back the way we had come.

The return journey

For the return journey, we walked at the bottom of the valley, right alongside the brook, which was idyllic, despite the ground being quite muddy. Little bridges took us back and forth across the water, while the light shone from directly above through the red and yellow leaves. We still didn't feel like stopping at the "Weinfest", so we didn't tarry, especially as we arrived at the station we were just in time to jump straight on a train home.