A Winey Walk

Is "winey" a real word? If not, I have just made it up for this post, and you'll shortly see why.

Last Saturday was beautiful, sunny and pleasant after a frosty start. O.K. had arrived at my place on the Friday evening, and we had the entire day to go out, until 6:00 pm when we were expected at my parents'.

View from my kitchen window on Saturday morning

There is a blog I regularly read, about walking and hiking paths in the Stuttgart region. It often comes up with attractive suggestions and offers all the information one needs to plan the outing.

For that day, I chose a "Wine Walk" as part of a network of such circuits created in the area near Ludwigsburg, along the rivers Neckar and Murr, covering the towns of Marbach, Benningen and others. 

I'd been to the bakery down the road earlier and prepared fresh snacks for us, plus an extra treat. We set off to Ludwigsburg's train station shortly after lunch time (which for us had been a late breakfast) and took the local train to Benningen. From there, the well sign-posted circuit started, taking us down into the Neckar valley, across the river on the footbridge and into Marbach's picturesque old town.

View from the footbridge between Benningen and Marbach. Can you spot the lone rower?

After doing the loop in the old town, the circuit lead past the beautiful old Alexander church (sorry, no pictures this time - I think I should go back there extra, preferably on a day when the church is open) and up the other side of the valley to the panoramic road winding along between vineyards, orchards and allotments.

A viewing platform has been built there not long ago, with stone seats and metal tables for all to enjoy the view. On this early Saturday afternoon, there was only one other person there, but I bet on a balmy evening it will be a very popular spot.

It was here that I opened my rucksack and brought out the treat I had packed, and we enjoyed a glass of white each in the sun along with the views:

The viaduct is the same one as in the previous photo. It is the railway line, and I regularly travel on it when I work in Marbach.

Benningen, where we've just come from.

Similar to my walk on Wednesday after work, there were many people working in their vineyards; it is the time of year when the vines need to be cut and everything is prepared to help them grow. Several times, we had to stand aside to let cars and tractors pass; the roads are good but rather narrow up there, with stone walls, hedges or fences limiting the possibilities for vehicles passing each other.

The circuit takes a loop to another viewing point above Marbach, called "Galgen" (gallows) - you can imagine where that name comes from. Nothing gruesome about the place nowadays; there is a playground and a stone table with markers as to what is where, in what direction and how far away. 

The plume of steam comes from the powerplant at Neckarwestheim. It is almost always visible in my area.

The benches were all wet and the ground around them very muddy, so we decided to make use of the stone table for our picnic.

After our short break, we walked on, following the signs for our circuit until at one point we weren't sure anymore. I still knew the general direction from what I had read in the description on the blog, and so it wasn't really a problem. Down the hill on the other side, towards the smaller river Murr, which we crossed to get into the town of Murr (yes, it is "Murr by the Murr"), and found the signs for our circuit again. 

Uphill again until we reached another panoramic path skirting Murr before it leads back to the vineyards above Benningen. The view here shows the small town of Steinheim, where my parents used to have their allotment (it has featured often on my blog) until a few years ago.

We crossed the river Neckar for the second time that day and made our way uphill through Benningen to the train station. As we were approaching the station, I heard the unmistakable sound of a train coming in, and we sprinted up the stairs, jumping through the open doors on the train at the very last moment!

It took me a while to catch my breath, and it was good that my rucksack was almost empty by now. Had we not caught that train, we would have had to wait half an hour for the next one; no problem really, but it was good to have made it.

We had enough time at home for a mug of coffee and a little rest before we walked to my parents', where we spent the evening eating the world's best lasagne, drinking more wine and generally having a good time.

Now you know why it was a winey walk!