Long Weekend Getaway

While our family and friends had a long weekend back home for Memorial Day, Monday was also a holiday here. We took advantage of that and the offer from one of Doug's co-workers to getaway. Martin Keifer, a friend and co-worker of Doug's is originally from Durbach, Germany but is here in Holland working on his PhD. He is always saying that we need to come to his hometown for a weekend since the area is a major producer of German wine. It's hard to think about Germany producing wine, since I for one usually associate Germany with BEER!

The town of Durbach is located on the edge of the Black Forest Mountains. The town itself is surrounded by vineyards that span the slopes of the mountains. Some people in the area grow, harvest and produce their own wine. Others pool all their grapes together so wine can be made and sold. The Keifer family grows the grapes on their land and then pools their grapes into the community winery. Durbach is noted for its Riesling wine. The Riesling grape grown there is known as "Klingelberger" for the name of a famous vineyard in Durbach.

On Saturday morning we had the opportunity to walk around the vineyard where the Keifer family's grapes are grown. The slopes of the mountains make it a great place for growing grapes because they offer extended periods of sunlight, but it can make it difficult for harvesting. Most of the grapes in this area have to be hand picked because of the steep slopes.

 The views looking out over the other wine fields were amazing. The weather the entire weekend was beautiful, making it the best weekend to visit. The grapes were just starting to show up.

Ella already knows Martin as he has been to our house a few times, so she didn't mind spending time with him. I think her greatest love was being outside, walking around, and picking up rocks and sticks.

Before we left on Monday morning we made sure to stop  at the main shop where all the grapes that are pooled together are made into wine. You weren't able to tour the wine making process but you could taste them and purchase your favorites. Martin gave us a few bottles of wine and a bottle of Cherry Schnapps. The Cherries are grown by the Keifer family as well and they produce the schnapps themselves right on their property.

The writing on the building translates to wine cellar.

Inside was gorgeous

The one thing I still haven't adjusted to is the luxury of driving from one country to another. Durbach is only a short drive from the border of France. Within 30 minutes we were able to drive and spend Saturday afternoon in Strasbourg, France! Martin showed us around, were we saw the Strasbourg, Cathedral, also known as Our Lady of Strasbourg and walked through an area of the city know as la petite France. Even though we were in France, you could see a huge German influence when it came to the architecture.

On Sunday morning after breakfast we visited a castle in Durbach. It is currently under major renovation because they are turning it into a hotel and restaurant. For now you can't go inside, but they had a very nice area where you can sit and look out over the wine fields while you enjoy as many glasses of wine as you'd like! We each enjoyed ONE glass as well as a taste of a popular appetizer. I can't remember it's name, but it had a very very thin, crunchy crust with a cream cheese sauce, onions, bacon and some other cheese. It was SOOO good!

Sunday afternoon was spent in Baden-Baden, Germany.  It's a vacationing town for mostly Eastern European people with lots of money. There was an opera house and a casino that requires a suit to enter. We walked around and enjoyed looking at the architecture and the park/garden areas.

"fish" and "wa-wa (water)" are Ella's favorite.

Sunday evening we enjoyed a BBQ with Martin's neighbors Andreas and Isabelle, who grow and produce their own wine on their property. Ella loved playing with their one year old son Franz in his GIGANTIC sandbox and pushing him around on his car.

 It was a great weekend and another place to add to our European adventures!