My trip to Germany this summer included two really awesome hiking trips. The first was to a spot known as Dreilaendereck (three-country point). There are several of these spots in Europe, and this one is specifically the spot where Germany, the Netherlands, and Belgium all meet. This trip was significant for two reasons: First, because it was my first time stepping into the Netherlands; second, because Rainstorm and I got to meet a mutual friend in person for the first time. The Changeling Sea (CS for short) is from the Netherlands and drove to a small town called Vaals right across from the German border. Rainstorm and I took the train/bus to the outskirts of Aachen, at which point we walked across the border into the Netherlands and Vaals. We were a bit early, so we did a bit of exploring and got an early lunch before CS arrived.

Once all three of us were together, we drove up to Dreilaendereck. It’s a very touristy place, at least right where the countries meet, complete with silly backdrops for photos, playgrounds for kids (apparently both my companions had been there on field trips in the past), overpriced cafes, etc. We waited our turn to get photos at the center, each of us standing in a different country (I apparently represented Belgium, hahaha). Then we broke off from the crowds and went for a long hike through the hills. Periodically, my phone would buzz at me to welcome me into a new country, but there were no “borders.” It was just three of us hiking around three countries without ever really knowing which country we were technically in. Absolutely lovely!

After the hike, we went out to a nearby field and had a mini-picnic with fruit and crisps and cheese. When we’d talked for ages, we ventured out of the mountains into a town (the name of which I don’t even know) and to a restaurant that specialized in crepes. #iykyk We ordered our crepes – it was kinda funny how many different languages were being thrown around our table with our server, not to mention all three of us speak with entirely different accents in English (Rainstorm sounds British rather than German and CS sounds Dutch). We stayed basically until it was absolutely necessary for CS to start making the trek back home. She drove us all the way back to the train station in Aachen rather than dropping us off in Vaals for the bus, and it was so hard to say goodbye. At least we knew we were all going to potentially see each other again in London later in the summer!

The second of my two hiking trips was to Burg Nideggen (Nideggen Castle). Rainstorm always laughs at how Americans are like “omg castles!!” but y’all, we don’t have castles in the US!!! Of course we’re going to be super excited about these castles that were built 600 years before our country even existed! Nideggen is on a tall hill (or very small mountain?? I don’t know the distinction) that overlooks a valley. We took a bus there – and unfortunately, it was on this trip that Rainstorm met the giant hornet mentioned in a previous post. Thankfully, there was a pharmacy halfway between our stop and the castle, so we stopped in to get the right cream and such, but it did mean that Rainstorm spent the trip in quite a lot of pain. It took like three days for the swelling to go down, yeesh.

Excluding the hornet issue, the rest of the trip was lovely. We got there in the morning when it was quite cold because we knew the afternoon would be threatening rain. We walked up steep cobblestone streets, around a church and graveyard, and finally to the castle itself. The views from the castle were incredible! I took sooooo many photos, heh.

Our plan was to hike around the castle (there’s a loop that goes around it) and then head back for lunch as the various restaurants opened up. Then, depending on weather, we’d decide if we wanted to hike down the hill to the next town before taking the train, or go back to the bus stop. As we set out to do this, it began to rain. Early. It was only drizzling and so we kept going, though I had to shelter my camera rather than take a lot of pictures. It drizzled off and on during that first hike, but we had fun. The number of times Rainstorm said, “I could climb this” while we were next to rock walls (and they can! I’ve seen it!)… 😄

The trek didn’t take as long as expected, and the restaurants at the castle weren’t quite open when we got back. Neither of us were particularly hungry, either, and the skies had started to temporarily clear up, so we decided to skip castle-lunch and hike down the hill. That was… an interesting experience. I may have mentioned this in the past, but Rainstorm has a particular eye condition that causes very low vision that relies on pattern recognition (Stargardt disease). With the sun semi-out, there were enough shadows on the ground that it was difficult for them to see the terrain under their feet, and it was in that too-dark-for-sunglasses-but-too-bright-for-light-sensitivity liminal space. So for parts of the hike, I narrated what our feet were going to do, and they watched my feet for where to step rather than the ground. At one point, we also came to a fork in the path that wasn’t on the maps and weren’t quite sure which direction to go, as the map and google maps seem to be saying opposite things. We ended up putting both maps away and basing our choices on the direction of the town, and it was the right choice, so hurrah for us!

At one point, we found an overlook where we took more photos. I wish I could show y’all the one we took of us, but any photos I put up of Rainstorm has to have their face covered. It’s one of my fave photos of us ever, though. And later, we spotted the overlook way, way up the side of the high hill when we were waiting for the train!

Long story short, we made it down the mountain, went into town, and found an Italian restaurant that smelled heavenly. We were both starving at this point, ha, so we stopped in. Despite the chill in the air, we were warm from the hike and chose to sit outside. We did have to move tables about ten mins later, because the skies burst open and swept sideways under the covered patio, but thankfully there was still plenty of outdoor seating that wasn’t affected by the downpour! And by the time we finished eating, the rain had settled into a slow drip, so we didn’t get TOO wet as we trekked off to the nearest train station. Then we had a lovely ride through beautiful towns and countryside before arriving back home.

Nowhere close to me (here in San Antonio) has this kind of hiking terrain/elevation. I have to travel about two hours by car to find hills as big (maybe) as what I hiked on in Europe. I’m def looking forward to having more of this in the future!