Waltzing Meurers Archive • Seite 3 von 4 • Die Meurers

Handpainted Hikingmaps

Via @safttante we heard about another rare and unusual handicraft: Painting hiking maps. In Bad Schandau there is perhaps Germanys only hiking map painter: Dr. Böhm. And we visited him. On the first glance the office looks like any other office. Some cabinets with books, shelves with papers, a computer and a lot of drawers. In the middle of the room there is a huge table. At the window there is a desk with an old radio on the window sill. Nothing unusual. Then Dr. Böhm arrived. A little bit chaotic but loveworthy. In the next two hours we pestered him with questions and philosophised about different subjects. But mainly it was about the beautifully painted hiking maps. At the beginning there is and old map. It is copied and divided in smaller parts. With these parts – his field maps – Dr. Böhm walks into the country. He actually

Organic & Bike

For today a bicycle tour has been planned „organic & bike“. But because of the heavy rain we resigned. But took the organic. In Schmilka which is nearly at the end of the world – not really, but directly at the boarder to the Czeck Republic exists for just under one year a bio project. Hard to believe – but true. Old buildings have been rebuilt to a bio hotel, bio café, bio brewery and a bio bakery. We started at the Café Richter. That lies at the bank of the Elbe and at the ferry Schmilka. So it does not matter on which side of the Elbe you are hiking or biking. You can either way visit the bio café. The even offer quite a few vegan things. The view is on to the Elbe and the ferry. And there is a huge terrace. https://twitter.com/DieMeurers/status/652159706283180032 https://twitter.com/DieMeurers/status/652159106153779200 From the café the

To Meißen on the bicycle

We went on a bicycle. For the first time since ages. Seems like 37 years ago that I have been sitting on a bike and now we are at saxony at the river Elbe and here there are very nice cycle tracks. You can borrow bikes at some of the accommodations. So there is no excuse… We got from the country hotel Gut Wilderberg two very nice bikes for a day with a 7 gear shift, back-pedalling, locks and a basket. What else does a woman need? The courtyard is perfect for a test drive: Once around the chestnut tree… To adjust for example the hight of the saddle or to get used to the shift. Unfortunately the handle bar could not be adjusted. But for a trial it was okay. Everything adjusted and stowed away. We could start. Until the to the gate. First stop. We forgot the pictures.

With bow and arrow in the black forest

One completely new experience for us was archery. So far different kinds of sport or moving were ours. And archery was not on our bucket list… So when in Klosterreichenbach a introductory course was offered, we could not resist… The meeting point is the organizing sports shop Frey in Klosterreichenbach and from there you have to get to the target range. We went by car and took another participant with us. Otherwise you would no get there in time. Walking would take much longer. At the target range two target boards and Achim our trainer were already waiting. At first he explained bow and arrow to us and after that explained step by step how to do it right. Each of us got an arrow and because of the different colors we were at the same time automatically put into different teams. Whole introductory course is not only about technique

Doing Laundry while Waltzing

We are now for several weeks on the road and it was quickly clear what I miss very much: a washing machine. Even if you do not like in every day life to do the laundry with all its tasks we are missing those tasks now. With you own washing machine you can do your laundry whenever you want. Sometimes I startet a washing program five times a week though we are only 2 persons in our household. Okay; towels, sheets, curtains and carpets drop out. But still there are clothes to wash. At each new accommodation the question is not only: „Is there a WIFI?“ (that’s another story) but also: „Is there a washing machine?“. Most hotels or apartments do not offer such a service. So it’s is good will that our hosts allows us to use their private washing machine. That worked quite well so far. I could

Barefoot in the park

One important part of our waltzing concept is to do something different and to look beyond one’s own nose. One new thing was the barefoot park in Dornstetten-Hallwang. A car park routeing system leads you to the different parking places. Please don’t wonder when you see a parking ticket machine in the middle of the forest. That’s alright. The park is for example financed through the parkin fees. So please do not cheat, but get a ticket. After you have parked the car, you walk through a wooden gate and stroll over bark mulch. The signs are quite clear. It is a foot. A good start. At the real entrance you will find lockers for your shoes. We were cowards and took our shoes with us because we thought we might need them in-between. So we put them in our bag and used the shoelaces to carry them. And then

About slowing down with a goggomobil and social traveling

We already have referred to other people waltzing. Now we have discovered two more. And one we were even able to meet… Bianca Schäb is Frohlein auf Reisen. She ist traveling through Germany searching for a slow down for her life. She does that with Gretel her goggomobil with caravan. Kind of slow travel… We met her in Tübingen and talked about traveling, letting go and slowing down. There are some parallels between our two different concepts and we really enjoyed talking to her. At the end of her tour there will be a movie or rather a web series. We all squeezed together including all the camera gear and drove a little through Tübingen. And Achim made some shots of Gretel of course in front of a wonderful setting. Honestly! Isn’t it cute??? The second traveler we have not (yet) met personally. He is the Social Traveler and has to solve

Week 6: Quite a lot to do

Though not really completely feeling healthy we started into week 6 of our waltz. We moved to the beautiful Schwarzwald-Chalet. And because the weather was also quite nice we experienced a lot of adventures from Schwarzwald Plus. We visited the Auto- und Uhrenwelt, an exhibition about clocks and cars. But it is not only about vehicles but you can see a lot about the living in the times after the second world war. You should bring some time because a few steps away there is the car collection Steim with very nice luxury cars. So there is quite a lot to admire. We have been to the Subiaco Cinema in Freudenstadt. It is very cosy with some sofas and maybe the most comfortable cinema seats in Germany. The snacks come from the ‚Weltladen‘ and the programme is very wide and there are also some movies in the original language. We

Hintersee Mittersill Nationalpark Hohe Tauern

Hintersee at Nationalpark Hohe Tauern

When you find the junction from Felbertauernstrasse you follow a narrow but beautiful alpine road to the parking place at the Hintersee. (The junction is directly behind Wolfram and the avalanche gallery – I mean directly!!) From the parking place there is a nice nature trail with some explanation boards and very nice view points. Unfortunately there is no round trip around the lake because of the possibility of rolling stones. But the nature trail is also worth walking. Afterwards you can have a drink or a snack at the Gamsblick. On your way you pass by wonderful natural monuments and you can see that nature in the national park is untouched. You will find overthrown trees from an avalanche which slowly decompose. Gentian and other plants you will see as well as interesting insects. Nature is really beautiful at the valley head. But you also get a feeling of

First Day Waltzing

It’s done. We are on our way. Waltzing. The last preparations were once again quite stressy. To give away all our food and spices was very difficult. We should talk about stockpiling… Packing was another challenge. A lot of things had to be left behind. Again big sacks were filled. Incredible! A small comfort is that we did not throw away our things but gave them to very nice people and know that they are welcome and will be used. If this would have landed in the trash… Awful! But finally everything was packed and even stored in the car. Rosalinde was on board… And we started. Our first stop is in the region Salzburgerland. Driving there felt strange and not real. It was not really clear that we will be going on and on and on. Maybe it will finally come to our minds. And maybe our nerves will calm