The HIVE Tour - Episode 44 - Effelsberg, largest radio telescope in EU!

My dear host here at the South part of Nordrhein Westfalen in Germany is care taking enough to have the dinning table half flooded by brochures about the attractions of the area. Among them I see one about the local telescope. I instantly decide to put it as a top priority since it is one of the two largest Radio Telescopes of the world with a diameter of 100 meters! I've never seen anything like this! Have you?

The only issue is the weather which remains questionable. On a cold misty morning that looks like the heart of winter in Athens rather than the heart of summer (early July) I take the short ride up to Effelsberg radio telescope and I leave my bike at its parking lot to have a first walk around:

The HIVE Tour - Episode 43 - Hilltop church SE of Bonn Germany

Weather up here SE of Bonn is still challenging and though it doesn't rain it feels like it can do so anytime so I feel pushed once again to grab any chance given for exploration. And this one doesn't look bad at all:

The HIVE Tour - Episode 42 - Goodbye Rheinland Pfatz, Hello Nordrhein Westfalen

My last day here at Medard has come, world's least known village/town maybe but I find bits of interest wherever I go. Besides, I am not a "Mykonos" or "Ibiza" guy. So now I walk parts of the area that I haven't yet and I must say that Germans have a taste when it comes to road warning signs:

The HIVE Tour - Episode 41 - One tower, one too many exceptional views! (Aussichtsturm Prinzenkopf, Germany)

In the previous episode I showed you around Klopp Castle and its wonderful view to river Rhein. Now I am leaving the castle behind to head West and visit other beauties of this region. After an hour plus ride, I get wowed to the view of the river Moselle and the town of Pünderich in the background:

The HIVE Tour - Episode 40 - Klopp Castle and (almost) vertical vineyards @ Bingen am Rhein

I'm leaving behind Medard village to head for the beauties of Rheinland Pfatz region as proposed by my good Bavarian biker friend Andreas and after some riding here I am looking for some privacy to... pee:

The HIVE Tour - Episode 39 - Walking the least attractive German village (so far)

My first morning here in Medard has just begun and that's what I see as soon as I open my eyes, in other words bedroom view:

The HIVE Tour - Episode 38 - Very Murhpy's Law on my goodbye to Essen and hello to Rheinland Pfalz

I pack my things here in beutifull Wittelsberg and get ready to leave this scenic region of Essen in Germany to move South West in Rheinland Pfalz. The weather is expected to be rainy (if not VERY rainy) so I keep my camera in my bag and wear my rain gear. I hate it but better dry than wet. I'm also low on fuel so I mark the closest fuel station on the map and set my route accordingly.

I want to say at this point that I found less gas stations in Germany than I expected. Though my bike has a very long range ( the pros of a large tank and a very efficient engine) there were a couple of times that I reached my limits as I tend to empty my tank before I fill it up.

I am on the same block with that fuel station here in Fronhausen where I face... this:

The Hive Tour - Episode 37 - Last day at Wittelsberg Essen Germany

What a sweet area this is but my time is running out here. So I take the chance for a last walk around in the woods as there's plenty of such choices. Today I pick this one walking South leaving the village of Wittelsberg behind me:

The Hive Tour - Episode 36 - Touring the beauties of Marburg

I have the luck to be staying just a few km away from Marburg which is the nearest city. Not a big city with a population of 80.000 people but big enough to worth the effort. I'm more than happy to find out that they have parking spots for motorcycles just outside the Philips University which is hosted in the following building:

The HIVE Tour - Episode 35 - One more palace in the heart of Germany

It's an overcast day here in the heart of Germany and as long as it's not raining I find it a great chance to explore the surroundings. You see, this is not just my longest trip (time wise at least so far) but also my coldest summer ever so whenever the weather doesn't really suck I feel obliged to "carpe diem".

So, here I am in my lovely neighbourhood for another walk around: