Yesterday our destination was Zell, the town where the legend of a black cat has made the local wine world famous. Today we passed by a town known for…a space alien.
But first, a bit about the walk.
Today was one of the steeper climbs we’ve had on any of the hikes on this trip. Fortunately, the weather was cool and sunny and the ascent was early in the day. Warning signs suggested the hike was not for everyone. At least we didn’t have to sign a waiver.
Like yesterday, most of the Moselsteig path was along ridges overlooking the Mosel river where we again, looked down on our share of picturesque German villages.
Which brings us to the title of this post: Town of the Space Alien. Laurie and Iived in Germany from 1988-91–the same time as an American TV show named Alf was running. Alf (for Alien Life Form) was a homely, refugee space alien. Turns out that the Germans related to the sense of humor of the show and it was a hit here. And, there is a town on the Mosel named…Alf. The Roman era name for the place was Albis which somehow evolved into Alf. In the late 80s the town sign was stolen so often that they sold replicas to raise money and discourage theft. At the time Alf stuffed toys were the rage in Germany. We never visited Alf during our time here, but I suspect that local stores stocked their share of Alf memorabilia.
Photo courtesy of Wikipedia
We also saw our first snake on this trip. Fortunately Kim missed seeing it or you the residents two towns over would wonder about the scream. I would say that we saw more wildlife but I don’t think we can count farm raised venison as “wild.”
Laurie’s Relive video shows the climb, great views, and the snake encounter. It doesn’t show the last 5 KM of the trail as she opted to take a shortcut into our destination of Neef. She said the wine was calling.
And, pictures from the section that Laurie missed. Fortunately for her, the wine was good.
