🇩🇪 Moselle Valley – Wolf Park & Saarburg

 

 

Wolf Park

Nature calling we scurried on to Wolf Park in Werner. A wolf observation park set up by a man called Werner Freund. All the wolves here had been hand raised from puppies. Freund had made it his life’s work to study and raise the image of the wolf. His spirit now lives on at the Park as his wife cares for the many wolf packs that live in the large open enclosure alongside a national hiking path.

We were amazed that it was free to enter. We were also taken back at the height of the wolves with their long hind legs. They looked like much larger versions of a German shepherds but very intimidating! This was the real deal, not a domestic pet pooch!!!

The forest enclosures were set along beautiful forest walking trails with 2 timber observation towers. The park covers about a hectare of forest.

We hiked up a hill to see the Polar Wolf pack. They were lazily taking in the Spring sun’s rays. As we walked down the hill we could hear the wolves loudly howling from high above in the forest tops.

 

We got to learn about the wolves’ body language which was interesting.

 

Saarburg

Feeling a little peckish Rob navigated us to a picturesque water town called Saarburg.

As we headed down through the main area of the town we could hear the stream that flows through the town.

Turning a corner we stood on a small walking bridge and we were taken back by the stream which turned into a 20 meter rushing fall. The fresh mountain water cascaded with power over rocks plunging into the cold pools below. Our eyes moved further along the cliff edge to the huge old timber mill wheels being turned by the force of the flowing water. This is when we realised what a historical gem this town was.

Lured in by the romance of the water mill we snagged a table next to the falls and experience another treasure of this town…….

It was by far the best apple strudel we had tasted on our travels so far. Warm, soft pastry filled with spiced apple pieces and topped with a triple trio of warm custard, chilled homemade spiced ice cream and whipped cream. It was a feast for the eyes and a delicious tasty which warmed the soul.

There were so, so many more treats that we discovered as we explored this quaint historical town. We wandered along narrow streets which lead us to the town church and antique shop. We climbed to the top of Saar fortress and castle which sat high above the town on a hillside. From here we were able to gaze at the ever changing landscape from the river on one side to the high ridge of vineyards on the other side, to the town centre below.

As we walk further back through the town Rob was still on a hunt to find a hairdressers. He spotted ‘Ripping hairdresser’, but he thought this hairdressers may have links back to medieval torture or they may use hot wax so he kept moving.

We ended our day by buying a pack of German pizza bases called Flammkuchen. Back at our apartment we used the huge thin oven sized flat breads to make our own creation of German style pizza. They were so thin they only took 5 minutes to cook and they came out of the oven with a delicious crisp, blistering crust made for thin crust pizza lovers. They were very light and satisfied a low carb craving!!!! No one could get fat on these beauties.

On our third day in Nittel we had a mandatory rest day where Rob really got into Spring fever and decided to shave his own hair. I finished it off! A perfect haircut all ready for what in Germany is called Spring Forward, daylight savings to us. Even though it is not extremely warm it will now not get dark until 8-30pm.

We completed our 1000 piece puzzle and glued it together ready for safe travels, then we headed down for an afternoon walk along the Moselle River where we could view the small villages of Luxembourg on the opposite side of the river.