Felsenmeer: A place where giants fought and mythical heroes died.

The Felsenmeer is a graveyard of enormous boulders, some entering the realm of small-house sized. Local legend has it that two giants were quarreling and decided to end the fight by flinging rocks at each other, leaving behind a massive battlefield of stone. A more plausible explanation of the giant sea of granite is the most recent ice age
Either way, you can venture down to the bottom of the mountain and visit the stream where Siegfried, the dragen slayer, is said to have been murdered by his rival, Hagen. If that´s not your fancy, goggle at others trying to scale slippery rock faces.

Situated in the UNESCO Odenwald (a larger area in South-Central Germany), the Felsenmeer is surrounded by hundreds of kilometers of trails, castles, and superb wildlife. Climbing up and over the boulders is a thrill, regardless of the season. Make sure to look out for evidence of Roman occupation; evidence of quarrying marks many boulders. Most interestingly, an abandoned Roman piller (HUGE by the way) lies forgotten on the side of the main trail. Apparently, the pillar managed to stay in one piece for almost a thousand years. However, in 1938, a bonfire (intelligently placed directly next to the pillar) heated the stone to the point where the lower portion broke off.

Visiting on a day trip, from Frankfurt is super easy. The two hour drive takes you through pristine German countryside, with many good restaurants and photo-ops on the way. A lot of the information (online) is in German, however, a central tourist office (ready to help with reservations and trip planning for the entire Odenwald) is open year-round Monday-Friday (10am-4pm) and weekends (11am-2pm). The tourist office is located in Erbach (address: Marktplatz 1, 6477 Erbach), and can be reached by telephone (06062 9433-0), email (odenwald@oreg.de), or online (www.oreg.de – site in German). Longer trips can be arranged – many excellent hotels, of all budget levels, are operating in the area.

One establishment which I can recommend is the Kuraple Kreuzhof (Lautertal, Germany, website: www.kuraple.de). A restaurant and guesthouse, it´s located in the middle of the Odenwald, a perfect home-base for your exploration, or at the very least, a place to get a hot schnitzel and good beer at the end of a long hike.