The Gimmeldingen Almond Blossom Festival

Every year in March or April the village of Gimmeldingen hosts its annual Almond Blossom Festival. The date is set just a few days before the festival as they have to wait for the blossoms to come out before the festival can occur. This festival symbolizes the beginning of wine festival season here in the Pfalz and as the first wine festival of the year it's quite popular. Yes that's right it's called the Almond Blossom Festival but it's really just another wine festival! So, lots of booths selling wine, some game booths and a merry-go-round for the kids, plus the usual sausage, flammkuchen, and crepe booths. With pretty trees all around.

While there are a lot of almond trees in the area, Gimmeldingen has a higher density of them. I think it would be nice to visit here and enjoy all of the trees either the day before or after the festival takes place so you don't have the big crowds and can just enjoy the trees and nice weather (and bring a picnic since you won't have the benefit of all the food booths if you go outside of the festival times). We did have a gorgeous 75-degree sunny day when we went yesterday. Here are some pictures of the blossoms, crowds, and views of the surrounding countryside:





I actually think this is a cherry tree instead of an almond tree. The flowers were a darker pink so I took some pictures of it.







Who the heck wants to deal with all of these people on a hot day? I know I didn't, but my friend Kara and I toughed it out for awhile anyway.

Sekt Tasting at Heim Sektkellerei

Last night I went Sekt tasting with a group of friends. It included a tour of the Sekt cellar, 5 tastings, and a 3-course dinner. I learned a lot about how Sekt is made. This particular Sekt maker, Heim, makes "Farmer's Sekt", which means that the wineries of the region send their wine to Heim and Heim turns it into Sekt and then gives it back to the wineries (for a small fee of course). When a particularly good Sekt is made, Heim buys some of it from the winery and sells it as their own as well.

So, no big oak barrels here or big containers filled with fermenting wine. Instead there were hundreds of thousands of glass bottles filled with fermenting wine. Grape juice is first fermented with yeast in the bottles to form wine, then the yeast is filtered out and more yeast is added along with some sugar which will create carbon dioxide in the bottle and turn the wine into Sekt (sparkling wine). The whole process can take anywhere from 6 months to 2 years depending on what type of Sekt they're making.



These machines shake the upside-down bottles of Sekt very gently for a week. This allows the yeast in the wine to settle in the top of the bottle which is then frozen and broken off, leaving the yeast-free sparkling wine behind.



Our guide, explaining to us how corks were invented and who really invented Sekt and Champagne.



A nice place for a wedding or formal gathering here in the cellar ... there is also an enormous kitchen here where you can take a cooking class.



Starting the tasting with a slightly sweet yet refreshing Secco. Secco is sparkling wine made from prosecco grapes. In Italy, it's called Prosecco but if it's made in Germany it's called Secco because it can only be called Prosecco if it comes from Italy.



Our full group of 15 ladies:



Some of us got to try to open a bottle of Sekt. Some were more successful than others. Deanna actually did an excellent job:

Trifels Castle Success

You might recall my post from a few months ago, "Trifels Castle Fail". Martin and I went to Trifels Castle but when we got there learned that it was closed due to snow and ice on the trail leading up to the castle. Well last week Martin went back with his parents for a little day trip. And it was open! So here are some pictures from it. Most of them are just of Larry and Frankie looking cold as it was quite chilly:

Some jewels. They are replicas of the imperial regalia of the Holy Roman Empire:





Wandering around in the castle (look how cold they look!). Since I didn't go I don't know much about the history of the castle other than that Richard the Lionheart was imprisoned here for at least three weeks on his way back from the third crusade. The castle was first built in 1081 though it has been enlarged, rebuilt, and restored several times over the years as it changed hands many times and lived through many wars. Today it is one of the most popular tourist destinations of southwestern Germany.



And some outdoor pictures and views:

Easter Trees

I don't have many pictures of this but I wanted to share it because I find it interesting. Germans have Easter trees. Like Christmas trees, but for Easter. I think any tree will do it doesn't have to be an evergreen it can even be a plant or a branch that you find in the forest. You bring it into your home or you leave it outside for all to see and you hang eggs on it and other ornaments. If you google "German Easter trees" the resulting pictures that come up are pretty amazing. Germans really get into it! I don't want to steal anybody's pictures but do yourself a favor and google it and look at the pictures. The ones I found in my town pale in comparison. These are just a few from the parking lot of my apartment building:







And no I don't think there are presents under these trees on Easter morning.