Bike Day on the Wine Route

One day a year in late August the wine route is closed to cars so that cyclists can take over and have it all to themselves. Lucky us, that day was today. Without realizing that it was today we had planned to bike a few towns south to eat lunch at a little restaurant we found a few weeks ago. Though it turned out we could have eaten at all sorts of places today as every few hundred meters along the road there was a tent set up serving wine and sparkling wine and sausages. And they were all filled with people too.

Here's where we ate lunch, at a little table in the middle of the vineyards. I really like the light bulbs going down the row above the tables ... it was a nice touch today especially since it was cloudy. We got here just in time, a few minutes later all these other tables were filled up too:

Here's Martin with his enormous glass of wine:

As you can see, they filled it a little over the 0.25 liter mark:

We both ordered the classic Flammkuchen, which is a really thin crispy bread topped with a thin layer of creamy cheese, onions, ham (pancetta), and chives:

We always knew a lot of people around here biked and when you get everybody out on their bike on the same road at the same time it turns into quite a crowd. Here are some pictures of the streets filled with cyclists:

And all the bikes set aside while people enjoyed the live music and booths in each town:

And no event would be complete without a horse meat stand (yuck):

Göttingen

This past weekend we made another trip to Göttingen to visit with some of Martin's family's friends.

I'm really just writing this blog to show you what we had for dinner on Saturday night:

So many sausages, so little time. We managed to eat them all. There were three different kinds - the classic white sausage, a sausage called a Krakauer, and a sausage that had cheese in the middle of it. They were all awesome.

And since this blog is supposed to be about Garmisch's travels, here are a few pictures of Garmisch in the yard:

And here's Martin playing with the new kitten, Mimi:

And here are our hosts, Fritz and Antje, in the middle of explaining something to us over brunch:

Hardenburg Castle Ruins

After our bike ride yesterday we decided to visit some castle ruins that are only about 10 minutes away by car. They are due west of Bad Dürkheim, nestled in the hills of the Palatinate forest. And these ruins are quite large and you can walk around in the old castle and read what some of the rooms were used for.

First we had to walk up a path through the woods to get up to the castle. There also seem to be lots of hiking trails in this area but thankfully the path we took was mostly paved because I was in my sandals:

Walking along the outside walls:

You got to climb up several floors and then up to the top of the tower and you got great views from every level. No shortage of stairs in this castle:

A Sunday Morning Bike Ride

It's another beautiful day in the Pfalz so we got on our bikes and went exploring some little towns hidden in the vineyards. Our first stop was Friedelsheim, which is southeast of Bad Dürkheim, and has a little church:

And it also used to have a nice castle though we didn't poke around it but we found the moat that used to belong to the castle ... this might be the first moat I've seen that is still intact and still has water in it though Martin is now telling me that most moats never had water in them to begin with but he's a liar:

Here's Martin reading a big sign telling about the history of the castle. I was too excited about the moat to read it.

Next we started to bike through the vineyards to another town south, Gönnheim, but got distracted taking pictures and turned right before we reached the town. This is looking back towards Friedelsheim:

This is looking back towards Friedelsheim too, after we turned off the main road and back into the vineyards:

We managed to find some grass paths to bike on in the vineyards, which is rare as almost all the paths are paved:

Then we found our way to Forst, which is a few towns south of Bad Dürkheim and we've always thought it was cute. This is the first time we took a few pictures of it and we also managed to find a good restaurant there that we plan to get back to for lunch or dinner:

Then we passed by the Wachenheim castle on the way back home and got a picture of the castle from the south side, which is its good side in my opinion:

Heidelberg

Yesterday my dad and I took a day trip to Heidelberg. Of course when we set out it was a gorgeous sunny day but an hour later when we arrived in Heidelberg it was overcast and gloomy. And the pictures reflect that. I think the clouds just make the castle look spooky, which I like. What's the point of a castle if it's not haunted.

Heidelberg has a castle that looms over the town. Here's a pic of it up on the hill, taken from the town. In order to get the good picture of the castle and the town all together you have to cross the river and walk up the hill on the other side so you get a view of the whole town from far away. Of course we did not do this.

Here's a picture of the town as seen from the castle:

Dad enjoying the view:

Some more of the castle:

And here's dad with his döner kebab for lunch ... no trip to Europe is complete without a döner kebab:

And here are some more pics of the town. LOTS of shopping in Heidelberg, plus churches and other historical sites to see. We of course didn't have time to do everything but hopefully I'll get back here with Martin at some point. Here's the main church in town. It had neat stained glass in it, some of which was super modern and abstract:

I love how each house is painted a different color:

Dad's Rainbow

We had a little downpour here on Monday night and it produced a bright rainbow. My dad was pretty excited about it and so he took some pictures of it. Just thought I'd share them here. Just try to ignore the cell tower in them.

Speyer

My dad flew in for a visit on Saturday so we decided to take a little drive on Sunday to Speyer, which is a town southeast of Bad Dürkheim. Speyer has a cathedral that is a UNESCO World Heritage site and since Martin loves churches (seriously) it was a must-see for us. In the crypt below the cathedral are buried 8 Kings of Germany, 4 of which were crowned Holy Roman Emperors (4 uncrowned due to strained relations with the Pope during their reigns). And the crypt is the largest Romanesque columned hall crypt in Europe, with an area of 850 sq meters (9,149 sq ft) and a height of approximately 7 meters. You can wander around in the crypt and see the tombs of the kings and a bunch of bishops. Kind of creepy.

Anyway, on to the pictures. Here is a bit of the main street of Speyer with the cathedral at the end (under construction, of course):

More cathedral:

And here is the town hall which is right next to the church:

And here's another church in Speyer.

I took a pic on the inside of this smaller church ... it had lots of wood and paintings and gold. Sorry the pic is a bit dark:

And another shot of the main street of Speyer, looking away from the cathedral:

Here's me and my dad at lunch. We had some nice salads with tuna.

And here's my dad at dinner Sunday night, back in Bad Dürkheim. Enjoying a wheat beer: