Sparglezeit in Bad Munstereifel

Cherries and Apricots in Duren

One of our shopping tasks on Friday was to see if we could rent some bikes and get some advice on good routes. We found a bike shop, but they really didn't have any riding advice. So, instead, we stopped by the train station and purchased a Euregioticket to go exploring on Saturday.

The Euregioticket is a one-day pass on all of the trains and buses in the border region of Germany, Belgium and the Netherlands. I found the ticket during a Googling marathon about a week before we left and purchased one online from the Belgium Railway site for Sunday. There is no online information in English, so I had to read the brochures using Google Translate. The best thing is that on Saturday and Sunday, a second person can also ride on the same ticket (along with three children under 12, if you have any available).

After breakfast on Saturday, we walked down to the train station and got on the first train going in the direction we wanted. After about an hour, we got off in the town of Duren to explore. Kathy went into an housewares store and picked up something to heat water in our room (we had accidentally shorted out the one we had). Since it was hot, we stopped and sat in the shade at a cafe with an extensive menu of fruit juices. 

The only uncrowded stall at the market.

After a short break we headed back to the train, stopping off at the Saturday market where everyone seemed very excited, pushing to get in and buy what was on sale. It turned out that all of the excitement was over spargle, the albino asparagus that grows underground and is only available from the end of April to the middle of June. This season is called Sparglezeit.

Leaving Duren with some apricots and cherries, we picked the first train heading further on to Euskirchen, where we would change again for the Medieval walled spa town of Bad Munstereifel. This train had only two cars, was really slow, and had to stop at the road crossings (including dirt ones) while the conductor got out and made sure the cars stopped. 

People along the rural route (think the Central Valley, but much greener), waited by the tracks and flagged down the train to get on. This was pretty uncomfortable until a cyclist who got on at one of these impromptu stops asked us to move, and we found that there were actually open windows at either end of the train.

Outside the Gates of Bad Munsteriefel

In Euskirchen we hopped aboard a faster, more modern train for the 20-minute trip to Bad Munstereifel. Because this was such a backwater, its wall and gates from the time of Charlemagne, are almost completely intact (better than the more famous Rothenburg it seemed to me). We walked around the whole town, leaving me completely out of breath. Kathy was unfazed.

Kathy on the wall, looking out over Bad Munstereifel.

While Rothenburg has transformed itself into sort of a Medieval Disneyland, (with, let's be honest, no small help from Rick Steves), Bad Munstereifel has taken a different tack. All of the quaint old houses lining the main street have been transformed into an outlet mall. It's actually a genius idea. Instead of treking to some unattractive industrial area in the desert, like Cabazon, you pull in people to a historic town and support the traditional economy as well.

Kathy's Sparglezeit Special

I told you yesterday that we were going to be more adventurous going forward. Kathy carried through, ordering the Sparglezeit special for lunch. Me, not so much. I had schnitzel again. (I actually can't get it at home, outside of a German Village in Huntington Beach.)

One of the problems with "get on the train and go," is that you then have to go back. Bad Munstereifel is, literally, the end of the line, so there was no great circle route. It took us almost three hours, chugging along on the same little sweltering rail line to make our way back to Aachen.

Tomorrow, we're using the Euregioticket I printed out at home to visit Liege, Belguim and head to our next stop in Maastricht, Netherlands.