Recently, we've been exploring our region instead of traveling far away from our place, and let me tell you that we've been having a lot of fun! We've found new hiking buddies who join us every week on our trips. It's a great motivation for me as I enjoy planning trips and showing our newbies around.
Last weekend, we visited Swiss fine wine region around Hallau. I love their wines! I'm not an expert, so cannot talk about their nuances but they are simply delicious!
The hiking trail was 13.4 km long with the ascend of 340 m. It was supposed to be clouded but it was very sunny instead, so I got a sunburn and my husband told me I look like something between a zebra and a radish. I'm not so sure what I should think about it 🙂
We started our hike at 11.30, and the trail led us through colorful fields. We've seen farmers working on their fields, so many varieties of wild flowers, dozens of falcons, countless vineyards, and the landscape was just like from a postcard.
We thought we would enter the forest at some point but we only walked through endless fields. There was almost no shade but we didn't mind. I was wearing my hat which unfortunately only protected my face and my ears. I must admit that I didn't know if I should cry or laugh when I saw myself in the mirror later that day. It even hurt for a day or two! But I didn't feel it at all while hiking. It was windy, so the sunshine didn't seem to be so strong. Lesson learned - wear sun-cream even when you expect it to be cloudy.
After almost two hours of hiking, we reached the point behind those trees in the back. This was the highlight of our trip as there was a great barbecue spot! And it was hidden under the trees! We took some sandwiches with us as we didn't want to carry our barbecue equipment but next time we'll park next to the spot and enjoy some fire too!
And you know what? Next to the barbecue spot was a van with a wine bar! There was a selection of 6 local wines and they were so cheap! We stayed there for more than 2 hours 🙂
This was the view from our table...
I could have stayed there all day!
After we finished our sandwiches and the second glass of wine each, we continued our hike. We couldn't stop giggling! The wine drinking was probably the best part of the trip 🙂
We talked to the seller and she told us that there will be wine tasting in August and September, and we decided that we couldn't miss it! But I guess that this time we will use the public transport, so that we all can enjoy the wine tasting!
We came across several rapeseed fields. I love those! They look like like a sea of yellow flowers...
I'm not so sure which kind of grain this is but it looks like young barley to me. What do you think?
My husband wasn't very happy when I told him that we would not go to the mountains but that we would spend the day in the wine region instead. Around this place, he told me that it was a good idea and that he was really enjoying the views. It made me feel proud.
We started at the foot of the hill on the left - we walked a lot already!
We crossed a few villages, and were wondering how people live there. They are so tiny and peaceful. I can imagine waking up in the morning, bringing my breakfast to the terrace, enjoying my time, slowly getting ready for working in the garden, cooking lunch from my home grown vegetables, going for a walk, talking to my neighbors and I could go on and on and on. Sounds perfect to me!
This region is also known for its ticks. Every year there seems to be a huge population of ticks, and therefore there is a large vaccination campaign going on. We don't like getting vaccines, so need to be careful, and we weren't that happy to see that the trail turned to be more grassy. Luckily, we didn't get any little 'friend'.
The vineyards are so clean and organized. We also saw a farmer who was manually removing some small leaves one by one! So much love goes into these grapes and we can indeed taste it in the wine!
How charming is this church in the middle of vineyards?
I loved those colorful fields in the back. We could see so far away...
This was my favorite field. I love purple and pink, so this was like a paradise to me 🙂
Can you see how far we are from that mountain on the left? I was already confused as we were changing the direction all the time but I still believe that somewhere there was our starting point.
What caught my attention here was the dark shadow on the hills from the clouds. I liked the contrast of colors.
Oh no, more grass! But everything comes with pluses and minuses, and from here we entered a small forest, so could enjoy some shade for more than a few seconds.
You cannot see it very well on the picture but the wind created pretty little waves. It was so calming to look at it.
What we didn't know when we were standing here was that the village below will be our finishing point. We were so happy to reach it after more than 6 hours (including 2 hours of wine tasting 🙂)
When I saw this tree I was thinking about series of photos which you take every day for a year. It would be so nice to see it changing over various seasons.
This was not a circular trail, so we left one car at the starting point and one car at the finishing point, so that we wouldn't have to use public transport. It was a bit challenging to find the cars back but we managed at the end 🙂
It was a great day and I can't wait to share more adventures with you!
Thank you for reading!
Cheers,
Martina
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Wow Martina that is some beautiful country you got to explore. The yellows, greens, purples and that blue sky. Simple gorgeous. Yes that church looked idyllic.
Thank you, my dear :) It's the best time of the year! :)
Beautiful photos. I love it when the wind creates waves in the grain fields. I think that grain is wheat, but I'm not an expert by any means. Barely is a fair guess as well. The guy moving leaves individually at the vineyard sounds funny.
I want to go back to Switzerland and hope to do so this year. We are thinking about going to Stein Am Rhein and Appenzell. If you had any other recommendations to check out I would love to hear them :)
Thank you for stopping by!
Stein am Rhein is only about 20 minutes drive from where we live, and we are there almost every weekend. It's such a charming place! It's quite small but there are still many things to see. You cannot miss Hoheklingen (castle on top of the hill), monastery island Wert, promenade along the Rhine and if you like hiking there are many hiking trails in surrounding forests too! If you come in summer you can swim in the river or you can also take a boat from Schaffhausen to Stein am Rhein. You will love the place!
I cannot even start talking about Appenzell as there are so many things to do there! :) It's in the mountains, so make sure to take good shoes with you.
Let me know when you will be coming and I can check for you if there are any special events/etc around your dates :)
Wow thanks so much for the info. That all sounds great. I'll definitely look into those suggestions. I don't know when exactly this ill happen because of covid and such but I'm thinking august. things will be mostly settled by then???... I hope Lol
By August, I believe Switzerland will be somehow back to normal. They are even planning some events with large audience in July, and I read somewhere that they are going to lift the face masks rule in summer too. We'll see but I'm sure you'll be able to make it in summer :)
Nice! Thats good to hear
Krajinka jak malovaná, nádhera :) Jsem rád, že sis zase udělala po čase udělala chvilku na článek.
Dakujem :) Snad sa mi podari pisat castejsie :)
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Thanks for sharing your hiking experience in your place. The place is beautiful and relaxing. I love how you took picture of the tree in the middle of the meadow. It is so stunning.
Thank you for your kind words :)
Wow all the photographs are just stunning and amazing @delishtreats😍. And the place is beautiful too. I also post things related to nature and adventure do drop by when you have time.