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Ten days at the „Pott“

Ten days we have spent at the Ruhr District or at the „Pott“ as it is called in the local dialect. The good old Pott. Everywhere pounding and steaming heavy industries. Coal, coke, gas and steel. Men with blackened faces which work under physical strain. The air is thickened with coal dust and smells awkward. TV-Superintended Schimansky rules in Duisburg and campaigsn for the miners with a famous sentence. Cut! That is history. Today everything is different. We asked ourselves before arriving: „Ten days at Ruhr District? What an earth can we do there?“ The answer: Pretty much. And. It still does have to do with coal, coke, gas and steel. But nowadays it is nice. We stayed in Essen at the Welcome Hotel. From there we drove to the other towns. Here are our experiences: One day in Bochum One day in Dortmund One day in Duisburg One day

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One day in Duisburg

Duisburg. The so called Pott town on the banks of the river Rhine. Heavy Industries. A brash tv superintendent and lots of steel. And coal. And steel. And today? Today there is the landscape park ‚Landschaftspark‘. A former steel-mill became a recreation area. With climbing wall and diving pool, with ways, paths and ponds and with event venues and locations. With beer gardens and trade show halls. And a accessible furnace. Everything with lots of greens and plants. Some planted some wild growing. Good, that you needed always also water for the steel production. So there are already lots of water basins in which water lilies can grow. You can spend quite some time in this area alone. There are always events taking place like festivals or exhibitions. When we were there there was the attempt to break a guiness world record by building the highest sand castle. It is

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One day in Essen

We admit we have been longer in Essen, but, in case that you only have one day we would have some tipps what to do. We knew Essen before only in connection with art and culture like the Folkwang Institution. But what else? A shopping tour? The pedestrian zone is very long and there are wide streets to stroll around and huge places to relax accompanied by cafes and restaurants. If that is not enough there are some shopping centres. Or you go to a ‚Kiez‘. A ‚Kiez‘ is a urban quarter. We have been to Rüttenscheid. There is a wide boulevard with big trees and nice restaurants and pubs. But there are also tiny shops and those typical kiosks. Here you can fiddle away quite some time. You want more than shopping and strolling around? Well. There is Zeche Zollverein. A world heritage and a really really huge area. To

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One day in Dortmund

Dortmund. The town with the illuminated and from far visible turning „U“. With a football team. But what would you do one day long in Dortmund? We did a test for you. First there is „Westfalenpark“. A huge park subdivided in many many areas and subjects. If you would want to walk it all and look at everything you might need a couple of days. So the best is to pick your choice, a small corner and discover it. If you dare you can go up the tower and have a look from above. Or you just rest on one of the large sunbathing lawns and read a book, have a nap or a picknick or watch the clouds go by. There are playgrounds and toilets and beautifully designed gardens, a gallery and pieces of art, workshops and ponds and sculpture gardens, events and a small train and and and.

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One day in Bochum

Bochum. The town who’s postal code has been on a record cover. And where since ages they show a musical on roller-skates. And the town where supposedly you can get the best curry wurst. At least there exists a song from Herbert Grönemeyer about it. We have been there and had a look around. As it has been quite hot, we went to an ice cream parlour first. It was kind of rustic. There have been old used rag-tag furniture and a long queue. The types of ice cream were somehow special like ‚cucumber‘ or ‚pumpkin seed‘. And – also unusual – each type had its own price. So there is no standard price for every scoop. But it tasted very good. Afterwards we strolled through the city. It is very green. There are old trees. Alley ways. We discovered a public book case and a extraordinary tower. If you

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Summer Hiking in Tannheimer Valley compared to Winter Hiking

We have spent some time in winter at the Tannheimer Tal and did some winter hiking. Now we are back in town and tried summer hiking. Here are our results of the comparison: Some cable cars are also working The valley is more green than white It is warmer Some routes are the same At the theme paths some stations can only be used in the summer time There are no hot air balloons but many para gliders There are more hiking trails available to choose from You sweat more but slip less Brooks swoosh like in winter times There are less people around You can also sit outside the huts in summer There are cows and horses on the meadows… and pigs The view is also in summer absolutely stunning There are more flowers and plants along the ways There is now the Tannheimer Tal Card, with which the cable cars are free to

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How to make soap

Already in the winter times I have read, that in Jungholz there are seminars offered from the society of „Kräuterfrauen“ – herb women. Among the courses is also one about making soap. First we visited the herb garden. Sometimes the participants of the seminar first go collect herbs while walking along the ways. Afterwards they use those herbs for the soaps. Soap making needs some ingredients: First you need different kind of fats. But also lye. The natron for that you can get in the pharmacies. In Austria only with your signature though. So that you don’t use it for other or negative purposes. The hard fats have to be melted. And the lye has to be mixed. As we wanted to make lavender soap a lavender tea has been prepared before. The flowers had been filtered. While stirring the lye gets quickly quite hot. That is one of the

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Tannheimer Valley Disport

The weather oapometimes does not allow for a huge hiking tour. Maybe you are scared to be surprised by a thunder storm in the middle of a mountain or to get into a harsh rain… What can you do? In the Tannheimer Tal there are a lot of other things to do: Thanks to the Tannheimer Tal Card you can drive up to the mountain tops and take a walk or just sit inside of a hut, enjoy a drink, listen to the cow bells or watch some para gliders. There on top you can wonderfully relax, even if sometimes a cloud blocks the sunlight. At the Neunerköpfle you can reach the top within some minutes and also in Grän it does not take long to the cross. A mountain climbing quickie so to say. In case of a rain fall you can reach a hut in no time… In case

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Camping at the castle town Kastellaun

Those who know us, also know that we are no camping enthusiasts. But at the campground at the BurgStadtHotel even we would like to spend some days. The facilities are directly behind the hotel and the ground is layed out terraced. Each terrace has a streetname and from the upper places you have a nice view even to the castle, if not one of the many trees is in you way. Among the trees there are several fruit trees. It feels like being in your own garden. The pitches are generous so that you have enough space between you and your neighbor. Each lot has water and electricity connection and the ground is covered with crushed rocks, so that you cannot get stuck. Right beside the sanitary facilities there is a waste disposal station. Washing machine and dryer are also available. If you like you can rent your own bathroom.

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Discover Rhinehesse

We spent one week in Rhinehesse and one thing is for sure: here it is ALL about wine. You cannot get away from it. You will spot wine everywhere. Doesn’t matter whether you drive through the beautiful landscape and you spot vine right beside a cereals field or you enter a village and the vine entwines along and above the street or at the huge gates is a sign saying „bottles of wine“. It is all about wine. The villages consist of only one street with one row of houses. Towards the street they are shielded by a huge gate. Once in a while you get a glimpse into the patio. Otherwise you wish you had a long stick with a camera attached so that you could look over the wall. If the gates are open you will mostly see cosy and nicely decorated places. Inbetween there are wine shops

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