Finally, a post specifically about Aachen! I took a long walk the other day through the edge of the city, planning to walk all the way to the Dreiländereck at Vaalserberg, but I didn’t quite make it there.
I love how, as you get to the edge of Aachen, the countryside starts mixing with the city. Huge plots of open land border streets crowded with townhouses and apartments. As the path diverged from one of the major arteries into town, I turned a corner and saw these horses:
But that was nothing compared to the herd of cattle (including an adorable calf!) that wandered past as I got a little farther toward Friedrichswald.
At this point I was walking on a small, narrow street. I kept thinking about what would happen if a car came driving toward me. You can see the tire tracks at the bottom of the previous photo—the road was barely one car-width across, and beside the road it sloped sharply upwards. No cars came, though, and I was focused more on watching where I stepped. Water from the melting snow and rain was washing down a stone gutter on one side of the road.
Finally I got to a point where I couldn’t imagine walking any farther. Besides being covered in mud and rocks, the road seemed to become a small stream with water pouring out of the gutter and across the pavement. Maybe when it isn’t so rainy I’ll try this path again. (Haha, just kidding! There is no dry season in Aachen.)
Actually, it looks like this is part of a fairly beautiful path to walk in the spring: Philippionsweg. I guess now I will have to come back and check it out!
Expat Linguist 