Ahhh, wine.
Yeah, I know, most of my posts of this vacation will probably begin with that refrain. What do you expect, I'm on vacation!
After landing in Frankfurt on try #2 (see previous post for details on that fun little detour), we met up with our friend who drove us to his house a short distance away. At this point we both were beginning to resemble zombies in desperate need of a shower and sleep, so that was first on our agenda. We had good motivation to not sleep too long, however; the local wine festival was in full swing and if we wanted to try the best wines the Rhine Valley had to offer, this was our chance! (LOL I totally just typed "the Whine Valley" - thank goodness I can correct the errors of the brain on here.)
Many of the whites and even some of the reds tasted pretty similar to what we grow in Michigan. Because of the climate, the reds aren't as lush and velvety as those grown in hotter, drier regions, while the whites stand out because of their range of dryness and depths of flavor. We also tried the local apple wine, which was similar to a hard apple cider. We took the suggestion of adding a splash of Coke to it and it was actually surprisingly delicious! (We were warned, however, that this is a very localized tradition; most other regions of Germany would be appalled to witness such a thing being done to the wine.)
Dinner was at a Spanish tapas restaurant the next town over. I swear we ate, and ate, and ate some more! There was Manchego cheese with olives, potato wedges with aioli, chorizo slices, meatballs, sardines, shrimp in a buttery garlic sauce, calamari, and something else that I can't remember on that table of deliciousness.
We also had the opportunity to visit the local castle. It seems that almost every town has their own (no, I'm not exaggerating) in varying stages of preservation. The one we visited didn't have much roof left but it was still pretty intact and had an operating restaurant within its walls. Although the view was pretty spectacular, because of the rain moving through, we weren't able to see as far as one normally can. It was still a pretty freaking awesome experience, especially since we essentially had the place to ourselves.
After a short night of sleep, made shorter by jet lag (which I hadn't remembered as being this miserable until I lived through it again- yes, I'm a big wuss when it comes to my sleep schecdule!), we were dropped off at the little local train station to catch the train to Frankfurt, and from there on to Salzburg, Austria. Little did we know it wasn't the last time we were going to see that little platform...
Yeah, I know, most of my posts of this vacation will probably begin with that refrain. What do you expect, I'm on vacation!
After landing in Frankfurt on try #2 (see previous post for details on that fun little detour), we met up with our friend who drove us to his house a short distance away. At this point we both were beginning to resemble zombies in desperate need of a shower and sleep, so that was first on our agenda. We had good motivation to not sleep too long, however; the local wine festival was in full swing and if we wanted to try the best wines the Rhine Valley had to offer, this was our chance! (LOL I totally just typed "the Whine Valley" - thank goodness I can correct the errors of the brain on here.)
Many of the whites and even some of the reds tasted pretty similar to what we grow in Michigan. Because of the climate, the reds aren't as lush and velvety as those grown in hotter, drier regions, while the whites stand out because of their range of dryness and depths of flavor. We also tried the local apple wine, which was similar to a hard apple cider. We took the suggestion of adding a splash of Coke to it and it was actually surprisingly delicious! (We were warned, however, that this is a very localized tradition; most other regions of Germany would be appalled to witness such a thing being done to the wine.)
Dinner was at a Spanish tapas restaurant the next town over. I swear we ate, and ate, and ate some more! There was Manchego cheese with olives, potato wedges with aioli, chorizo slices, meatballs, sardines, shrimp in a buttery garlic sauce, calamari, and something else that I can't remember on that table of deliciousness.
We also had the opportunity to visit the local castle. It seems that almost every town has their own (no, I'm not exaggerating) in varying stages of preservation. The one we visited didn't have much roof left but it was still pretty intact and had an operating restaurant within its walls. Although the view was pretty spectacular, because of the rain moving through, we weren't able to see as far as one normally can. It was still a pretty freaking awesome experience, especially since we essentially had the place to ourselves.
After a short night of sleep, made shorter by jet lag (which I hadn't remembered as being this miserable until I lived through it again- yes, I'm a big wuss when it comes to my sleep schecdule!), we were dropped off at the little local train station to catch the train to Frankfurt, and from there on to Salzburg, Austria. Little did we know it wasn't the last time we were going to see that little platform...
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