Miles and Miles of Grapes


Four locks and 90 kilometers after leaving Cochem we arrived in Bernkastel. Sailing almost all day down a quiet river might seem boring, but it was incredibly enthralling. All day long we were captivated by vineyard after vineyard marching up steep rocky hillsides surrounding what are called "wine villages", each with a church sporting a steeple topped with a cross under a rooster weathervane.  Workers cling like mountain goats to the land, working among the vines. We saw on two different occasions a worker glide to the top of the vineyard riding a stand-on rototiller cleaning  between the rows. One of the workers tilled both up and down; the other walked it down and only tilled up the hill. We passed the extremely steep vineyard we heard about during our wine tasting the previous day. Unfortunately my picture doesn't come close to showing how really steep it was. 

Bike paths flank each side of the Moselle and they are full of traffic. As we saw on the Rhine, RV abodes are everywhere some with docks. Many are landscaped and most boast satellite dishes.

We enjoyed our short visit to Bernkastel opting to skip a wine tasting (oh my!) for a walk through the quaint village followed by a refreshing stop at a gasthaus. It was here we experienced wonderful German hospitality. Searching  in vain for an old house (1476) Jan went into a shop to get directions. Ignoring her other customers, the lady shopkeeper said, "Follow me," and led us out the door and down the street until we were standing in front of the building.


Allegedly the steepest vineyard in the world


Vineyard shrine


Enjoying Bernkastel





















Bernkastel market square


Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Castles, Castles Everywhere

Image
Heading north on the Rhine from Koblenz, it seems like there is a castle every few miles, located high on the hill carefully watching us slide up the river. We learned most housed the "robber-barons" who exacted a toll from boats using the river. It was a very expensive trip for 12th and 13th century  merchants. Some protested the extortion by atracking the castles and the French really took castle destruction to heart in the late 1700's. Most of the castles were destroyed and rebuilt in the 18th and 19th centuries. The Moselle (right) meets the Rhine at Kolblenz An exception was the Burg Eltz castle that was actually a family home and is owned today by a 33rd generation family member. We enjoyed  an informative tour of the castle passing miles of farmland and forest to get there. Many of the furnishings were period pieces from the family and the castle contained several original works of art. Burg Eltz Castle On our final day of sailing, we ...
Read more

Rhine - Day 1 Continued

Having some issues with the blog app, but will carry on. In Rudesheim the Lafayette's entertainment director Lea guided us through the packed, narrow streets up to our first stop, Adolf Storzel winery, established in 1647. There Hans put on an over-the-top explanation of the wines to the delight of everyone in the dimly lighted cellar. Hans had clearly entertained many tourists before us. For me the highlight of the day was a fascinating look at the unbelievable music machines at a museum next to the winery. In a house where some of the rooms dated to the 1200's, we experienced music from 100 year old machines that were tecnical marvels even by today's standards. Particularly impressive was the machine that played string instuments. Riding a tour "train" we wound our way through unbelievably sreep vineyards at the top of which we enjoyed the view of Rudesheim and the winding river. More pictures to follow when I can figure out how to add them.
Read more

Salzburg by Day and Night

Image
It was a hard decision but we decided to forego seeing Eagle's Nest in order to spend the day experiencing Salzburg. So for most of the day, after a stroll through the Mirabell gardens, we walked the narrow streets and expansive plazas of the old city. One of the 17th century dwarf statues at Mirabell Gardens Timing is everything and our timing was good this day. It was the first day of some festival and the bands and marchers were out in force. With young boys cracking whips, old soldiers marching and shiny horses pulling colorful carriages, a parade encircled the plaza under the watchful eye of Mozart's statue. Following the Rick Steves Salzburg walking tour, we marveled at the old churches, statues, fountains and plazas. We're talking at least 750 year old stuff. When Columbus reached the Americas, this home was built There was a service at the cathedral (which was packed along with a huge overflow crowd in a tent) so we didn't get to see much there...
Read more