Wednesday August 23rd and Thursday, August 24th, 2017 - Exploits Within Walking Distance of Our Hotel

 

It is always fun to try to catch a sunrise, but it often seems to be overcast in the mornings - takes a while for the sun to cut through the clouds that gather in the valley. However, the birds were busy in the fields anyway,



I was thrilled when I was able to capture the sun lighting up the low lying cloud bank.......



............and here there's a glimpse of the sun on the river. My patience was finally rewarded.



Wednesday and Thursday's field trips had a vineyard theme - a visit to a winery which has been in the same family since 1601! We figured they know a think or two about growing and making wines!



I enjoyed being able to see their vines labeled in the vineyards........



........and the table setting we arrived to for the tasting was colorful. 

Our 'fearless leader' Alison Kunz (on the right in case you didn't figure it out!) interpreted for us - she said it got a bit tough after the third or fourth glass of wine! I have to confess I thought she did a great job throughout and I learned a great deal about wines of this region and wine-making in general.

There is nothing that announces wine so clearly as oak casks. We were told that they are becoming very hard to find and cost about 8,000 euros each. They are used for reds. If a batch goes bad, the whole cask has to be thrown away. Pricey!

The stainless steel vats by comparison are used for whites and each one costs about 3,000 euros for twice the capacity. I loved the ghostly look they gave to the cellar.

In the end, it all gets bottled and we could buy a very nice wine for a mere 6 euros (about $7.50). Sadly the vigneron wasn't able to arrange shipping to the USA, so I just got a few bottles to put in my suitcase. (Sad face!) I couldn't resist capturing the pink glow of this rose in my flash!

Walking back to the hotel, I found this window. I just have to share it with you!

The following day, we enjoyed a walk through the vineyard to a barbecue lunch. As we walked, one of the chefs from the hotel produced a wine which had been grown on the very vines we were walking past. I had to set up a 'before and after ' shot for this.

In addition to the vines, there are many pretty flowers. Notice the small green bee in the middle of
    this one. It was cup-shaped and I couldn't focus on the edges and the middle at the same time.

 I just liked the colors of this one.

We arrived for another taste of wine under the trees with a view over the Rhine and the nearby town of Niederheimbach. The appetizers were colorful.

Our chefs Marc and Florian Lambrich were busy cooking lovely big home-made bratwurst!

Do you think the smile gives it away?!

Rosemary, as were many others, was busy with her camera to capture the best images possible of his lovely spot.

Graham elevated the photographic stakes with a 360 degree photo - it was a great spot for that.

Not only was the river beautiful, but we had a bonus castle thrown in for luck!

It was a happy crew headed back to the hotel. (BTW, Germany gets 12% of it's energy from wind power).

Tuesday, August 22nd, 2017 - A River With a Song

The structure of our week here in Oberheimbach consists of several hours of singing under the direction of Richard Harker in the mornings, followed by outings in the afternoons.

So Rosemary and I, along with the rest of the group gathered outside the hotel for our first outing on Tuesday afternoon for a cruise down the Rhine, between Bacharach and Bopparder - about an hour in all. 

It was quite a large boat - and in addition to our group of approximately 30, there were many others waiting to get on.

It had large dining areas........,

...........but for photographic purposes, it was much better above deck.

We were rewarded pretty quickly with a view of Pfalzgrafenstein Castle, which was a toll castle built in the 14th Century. It seems they were pretty serious about collecting tolls - they would but up a chain across the river and hold recalcitrant mariners in their dungeon until a ransom was paid.

There were numerous other fortifications along the shore and on hillsides - too numerous to spell out here. It evokes a recognition that the river is steeped in history. Most of the hillside was cultivated with grapevines. Along a great deal of the shoreline one sees a row of houses, which cluster together into villages where the landscape provides some flatland. 

One of the famous sites along this stretch of river is a steep slate rock called the Lorelei. According to Wikipedia, the name actually means 'murmuring rock' because of strong river currents and a waterfall nearby.

The rock itself is a rather 'unprepossessing slate', but as we had prepared to sing the famous song about it, I have to show you a picture of it! The lyrics to the song were composed by Heinrich Heine in 1824 and tell of a beautiful maiden who sang like a siren and combed her golden hair here. Supposedly this lured many boatmen into the rock - thus wrecking their boats!.

There is a statue of a the maiden to commemorate the poem. It was actually hard to see and photograph and was almost half a mile past the rock itself, so it was a bit of a let down when all is said and done - although our singing was very delightful!

There is so much loveliness along the shore, that it is too much to log here........ there was something very familiar, it was not as lush or steep as I had expected, but it was a very beautiful experience.

I especially liked these flag displays that looked like ship masts at some of the villages.

Bopparder was a small, touristy village, but quite charming. There were Christmas shops.

This is the place for you if you want to buy a cuckoo clock.......

.......or a beer stein!

There was a busy central square. I liked seeing photos of Angela Merkel around.

The fun treat for the day was 'spaghetti ice cream'! The ice cream is put on a bed of whipped cream, then pushed through a noodle maker to look like spaghetti. The cherry-flavored topping substitutes for bolognese sauce and grated cheese in top is the 'Parmesan'! What will they think of next!

Just so we don't end on food (I don't want to leave you with cravings!), here's a photo near the train station. You can see that they do build new structures. I think the UNESCO World Heritage requirements drive those standards. This building was unusual in the context of this valley.

August 20th & 21st, 2017 - An Easy Addendum to my 2017 Travels

When I got home to Fernandina Beach back in May, I was surprised to find myself quite tired. I was sorry to see my travels end, but happy to rest my head in one spot and just stop a while.

While in Australia I visited a dear friend from high school and college days, Rosemary Porter, who lives in Brisbane with her husband Graham. Here's a picture of us from the Glasshouse Mountains near Brisbane this March.

She invited me to join a group she was involved with, to sing in the Middle Rhine Region, in Germany. It's a UNESCO World Heritage Region and the group would be staying in Oberheimbach for nine days - a small village with no stores or ATM - and would work with an English music director to perform some contemporary songs for a local audience. There was also no audition required!

After a short period of contemplation, I decided this was a fabulous idea - it would give me a chance to visit Rosemary in a different setting and do something I enjoy in a different part of the world. So here I am again - off in a different direction and part of a group called 'Singing in Paradise'!

The is the hotel we're staying at, about a mile from the Rhine River.

I'm aware that many of you are likely to have visited Europe (and Disney does do a pretty good rendition too - LOL!), so the novelty value of my trek here is not as great as my previous travels, but I thought it only fair to give you a brief update and if I do manage to take any decent pics, to share them with you.

So on Saturday, August 19th, I set off from Jacksonville to Frankfurt.

The contrasts with our worlds are not enormous - it's a moderate sized city - but architectural variations inform one that this is a different place. Frankfurt is the site of many global and European corporate headquarters.

Heavy bombing during the Second World War almost completely destroyed it's once popular medieval city center. One building that evokes older times is the Alte Oper (Old Opera), so I headed there first. It was built in 1880, almost completely destroyed in the bombing, but rebuilt in the 1970's.

I am not sure who this fellow is, but I though he looked rather fine up on its ramparts.

Most of the advertised programs were dance and other theatrical events. In order to hear an opera (I have tickets for August 30th), I have to go to the new opera theatre which was built in the 1950's.

 While I was enjoying the peaceful greenery of the Opernplatz, it was suddenly overrun by these funny little 'velotaxi's', which seemed to be a way to tour people around.

There are many modern towers, but the streets are wide. On the Sunday I arrived, it was very uncrowded and felt spacious and easy to navigate on foot.

My hotel was near the Hauptbahnhof, the main train station.

Near the station it is somewhat seedy. There were homeless people around and groups of men just hanging about. I was intrigued by these people standing on the balconies of this street and later figured out that it is a red light district. I had taken the photo from a distance - if you look closely at the figures, you can see that there are musicians and women on the balconies. I'm not sure if they are real or mannequins.

I rather liked this mural I found near the hotel.

My evening treat was an organ concert at this little church - St. Katherine's. I was so tired, I think my brain was barely conscious, but it was an experience which gave wonderful sensations of being bathed in pure musical vibrations!

The next morning (Monday 21st, 2017), I met up with some of the other singers and we traveled by train to the little town of Oberheimbach, a couple of hours due west of Frankfurt, just off the Rhine.

It is a region that is abundant with color from flowers - both cultivated and wild.

The buildings in Oberheimbach are quaint......

.....and there are many delicious doors to satisfy this wooden door aficionado!

We had some spare time the first day, so of course I went for a wander and found myself in the woods.

There were many hunters blinds dotted around. This one must have been a inspiration for the Daleks in Doctor Who!

This was my first taste of lovely wildflowers - they look like a smallish snapdragon.

We are surrounded by vineyards.

The streets are narrow and the church bells ring every morning at seven am.

Isn't is just delightful?

And so it goes on.

When I heard the clop, clop of horses hooves, I was a little disappointed to discover that it looked like a leisure pursuit - not working horses. I imagine the sound of horses hooves have echoed through these streets for centuries, allowing work to be completed more efficiently.

Tomorrow will be our first 'working' day with singing rehearsals in the morning and outings in the afternoon. I think this has the potential to be just delightful!