Obereisenbach to Vianden: Day 126

A strenuous, sweaty day in which I had almost reached my destination before I found an open café (which did however have gorgeous apple pie and a great view).

Last night, with every café and restaurant within 13 kilometres closed, I ate most of the remaining food in my rucksack, a strange combination of tortilla, salami snacks, dry roasted peanuts and a packet of fruit and nuts. Breakfast was a repeat of the same except for the tortilla, as the packet said they should be refrigerated and eaten within two days of opening. I managed the two days... 

As is becoming a habit, today began with a very steep climb, from my campsite close to the river, right to the top of the valley and onto the farmed plateau beyond, an area of cow pasture and hay fields. The trail then descended down to the river again. It rose up the valley side and dropped down to the base of the river a number of times today. With the temperature in the mid twenties sweat was soon trickling down my face and neck. Repeated wiping of my brow with my handkerchief was required to avoid a mixture of sweat and sun tan lotion getting into my eyes causing them to sting. My tee shirt was wet with sweat and my trousers sticky, resisting the bending of my knees. While trees provided some shade, under them a cloud of tiny insects swarmed around my head. As my knees were not too happy, I made an effort to use my trekking poles, pushing them backwards on the uphills, using the strength of my arms to drive me upward. On the steep downward paths I put the poles in front of me, pushing down to take some of the weight off my knees.

Climbing up the valley sides did have two advantages. A good cardio workout, my watch telling me my heart beat was 122 as I struggled up the slopes (though with the amount of effort I was putting in I might have expected higher). There were also some views across the wooded valley of the Our and the green fields above. A haze prevented any really good photos of it.

View from plateau of Our valley, haze whitening the distant trees..

Our River.

Wooded slopes of the Our valley.

In the latter part of my journey I passed a reservoir which unusually I had to climb up to. Perched high above the valley floor it was a pumped storage scheme. Despite my tiredness I climbed the observation power to have a look at the water with the concrete banks. After the reservoir the path dropped down to river level before (inevitably) rising up to a small chapel on the hillside. 

I had been disappointed that the two cafes that I had passed were closed as I was missing my coffee today (caffeine addiction). However shortly before arriving at Vianden I walked under a chair lift. I immediately thought it must go to a café, and so it proved. Indeed it was a café with a view. Below was Vianden bisected by the Our River, above it was the Castle, a grand affair with towers with pointed roofs. 

View of Vianden.

Vianden Castle.

One coffee and apple pie later (full of apples with a bit of lemon somewhere in it) I was making my final descent to the Youth Hostel. Once booked in l returned to the castle to have a look around. The original fort was Roman and was rebuilt several times since then. One room had a display of landscape photos of Luxembourg. I was envious of the photographer's skill although in addition to playing with exposure he or she had obviously got up early some mornings to catch the light. It also helps making the photos really large.

After walking down the cobbled streets of Vianden to the river I had diner at the Youth Hostel. A real experience as there was a group from an International school. The kids were really excited, chatting away to each other, however the teachers had them under control giving real clear (and helpful to me) directions on where to put your dirty cutlery etc.. The teachers kindly shared a bottle of red with me. One of the them had an E-type Jaguar and he approved of my wife's choice of classic car, an MX5. Funny how you forget the tiredness of the day with wine, food and good company.