The place was tucked away in a side street, one of those where it seems like nothing is happening. A wine shop with the lights out, and beside it a small wooden door that must have been installed some hundred years ago, the type that makes a sound every time it is opened or closed. A small window let some light out, just enough to show there was something going on inside.

Autumn vineyards and a white house on a hillside above the Mosel river, with forest behind and birds on the water
Dense autumn forest on the Mosel slopes in shades of green, yellow, orange and red

We arrived at that side street after walking for a while. Not walking around the town, but in the German forest that surrounds the Mosel. The Mosel is a river that starts in the Vosges mountains in France and runs into the Rhine at Koblenz. Along it is a wine region famous for its Riesling, a white wine with fruity notes. It's delicious, and a perfect complement to the landscape around it. Forested hills rise on both sides, the Eifel to the north and the Hunsrück to the south, as if they were protecting the river and the small valleys where the towns sit. The vineyards climbing the slopes are the perfect backdrop. Some of them are so steep that the grapes are still picked by hand, carrying the crates up and down the hill. I guess the freshness of the wine is the reward for all that work.

A hiker on a leaf-covered riverside path under tall trees by the Mosel, with wooded hills across the water
Tall thin trees with bright yellow leaves above a small creek in the Endert valley forest

We walked part of Im Tal der wilden Endert, a trail of about 21 km that follows the Endert stream from Ulmen down to Cochem. Along the way we kept seeing markers for the Eifelsteig, a long-distance route that goes from Aachen to Trier in 15 stages. The goal was not to walk the whole trail, but to be in the forest, enjoy autumn and its colours, and get out of the city for a while. These past few weeks have been a bit hectic. What better way to reset than a day in nature, ending with a glass of wine?

Red, orange and yellow maple leaves piled on the forest floor

And we did. We enjoyed the hike up into the mountains, following a creek upstream, surrounded by a forest that is preparing for winter. Yellow, red, and some still green leaves, the path covered in leaves that make that peculiar clacking sound under your feet. As we climbed, the vegetation changed little by little, from pines to maples. The signs marking the different towns along the route. Mountain huts spread along the way, and a mountain restaurant. An old wooden building, inside it: a warm place to have a meal, drink a beer, recharge, and keep moving. The highlight was talking with the locals, getting their beer recommendation (the local one), and a couple of sausages with mustard and bread, a perfect mountain combo.

A small wooden shelter beside a footbridge over the Endert creek, surrounded by autumn forest
The Endert creek running through a steep forest valley with mossy trunks and yellow leaves
An old stone house with a slate roof and two dormer windows, half hidden by bare branches in the forest
A wooden footbridge over the Endert creek at the bottom of a steep wooded valley in autumn

Down the mountain. There we were, looking at that wooden door and the faint light coming out of the window. There's a certain cosiness to those places, small, hidden from the main path, but completely alive inside. As we opened that creaking door we found what used to be a bread oven some hundred years ago. Now it is a small social hub to sit, drink wine and chat. That's what we did.

We sat down next to a German couple and started talking. They have been coming to the area since they were kids, spending days travelling along the Mosel, picking grapes while their parents went hiking, and now they come to spend autumn days with friends, hiking, and visiting the local winemakers. As with everything, they have noticed changes in the last couple of years: tourists coming in summer hauled in by bus to take pictures and get back on the bus, no contact with the place, no interest in the people. It's like going to Disneyland, getting the facade, taking the photo, moving on, and repeating in the next town. The marks of over-tourism are showing up everywhere.

A weathered wooden shed with an open front and a red lifebuoy on the wall, beside a fence along the trail
Tall conifers behind a moss-covered slate roof with a weathervane, autumn hills and blue sky behind

The value of slow travelling is learning more about a place and trying to know the people, the stories behind it. Connect with strangers while talking about food. Here we are with a German couple being nostalgic about food and sharing a similar experience. Old people are closing down their restaurants, and some flavours are getting lost. It's like thinking of grandma's food: we know its taste, but once our grandmas pass away, we will never taste it again.

When we left, the door made its noise again. Outside the air was cold, and the street empty, as if there was nothing happening. The light in the window was still on.

Cover and page spreads of Regulated Wild, a photobook of walks through an Amsterdam allotment park by Luis Natera

Regulated Wild

My first photobook. Limited edition of 250 copies, 56 pages on Munken Pure Rough. 10% off during the presale until 15 November.

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P.S. Is there a flavour you can't find anymore? A grandma recipe, or a small restaurant that closed down? Hit reply and tell me about it, I read and reply to every email.