„Masks meeting„
The 18th meeting had to be completely cancelled due to the corona pandemic in 2020. Still due to the effects of Corona, our meeting could only take place in late summer 2021, but still with restrictions.
Despite the rainy weather, 14 Merlins made their way to the Palatinate. The meeting point was the Hotel Barbarossahof in Kaiserslautern. We immediately realised that the Americans were not far away. There was no room for us in the hotel car park, but there were at least 14 Tesla fast-charging stations. So we parked in the hotel car park. Unfortunately, the exit was only suitable for Merlin to a limited extent, as you could often hear it touching the ground. Günnie with his low-flying car couldn't park there at all........
Friday we set off for the Palatinate at 8.45 am. We travelled via Hochspeyer and Johanniskreuz to Hauenstein. Valuable oak trees grow around Johanniskreuz, which are highly sought after by barrel makers and are therefore very expensive. In Hauenstein, we were able to visit one of the last shoe factories in the region. I think it's just a show production. But it was still interesting. Of course, we were also able to buy shoes afterwards. (Why does that remind me of a coffee trip). After Hauenstein, we travelled through the Vosges and Alsace to Wissembourg (France) and Schweigen Rechtenbach. Here we spent a well-earned lunch break. We travelled along the wine route, passing countless references to winegrowers, and of course headed for a winery. The Wilhelmshof winery invited us to take a tour. This winery is one of the few in Germany that produces sparkling wine using the champagne method..... but is not allowed to call it that. We continued on the wine route via Neustadt, Lambrechter Tal towards Kaiserslautern to the hotel. Driving through Kaiserslautern in rush-hour traffic with 14 Merlins is not for the faint-hearted.
On Saturday, our departure at 9.00 a.m. was filmed by regional television and later broadcast. We rode past the Mehlinger Heide towards Donnersberg. After an urgent warning about the incline (25%) in Falkenstein, be careful not to get stuck, we took the Panorama Route through the Zellertal valley. After a short break at the Weinrast Mölsheim, with a marvellous view over the valley, we continued on beautiful roads towards Bad Dürkheim. Lunch was served at the Cockpit restaurant, located at an airport. We continued along the wine route across the Palatinate to the Kalmit mountain. There we took a short break at the Totenkopfhütte. This "Palatinate hut culture" is even a UNESCO cultural heritage site. On the way back to the hotel, we drove past the Betzenberg. We had to take a look at the stadium of the 1st FCK and venue of the 2006 World Cup.
As always, we set off on the return journey on Sunday after breakfast together.
Despite cancellations and postponements, we were presented with a great tour. Many thanks to Günnie and Corinna for all their work









