The luscious flowers on the bridge in Tubingen, Germany

Wine and Pastry Tour of Germany

I found an array of special secrets as I began to plan an anniversary tour of Germany and France for Rick and I. It had to include wine and pastries!

Flying into Frankfurt, we drove off to our favorite village, Bacharach, to feast on the Wine Cheese Soup at Altes Haus. This building is dated on the outside – 1362 AD. After two bowls, we were ready to hike to the vineyard, Burg Stahleck, right above the town. A dinner of schnitzel and fried potatoes was devoured before we slept at Hotel Zur Post right on Main Street. On a past trip to the region, we loved our visit to Burghotel Auf Schönburg in the adjoining village of Oberwesel.This castle dates from 911 AD and has spectacular grounds overlooking the Rhine River.

The tractors hauling bins of grapes congested the small streets of the towns of Boppard and St.Goar. But we still bought two bottles of wine at a “winegut” which did not last us very long.

Driving up to Cologne, we decided to stop at the restaurant and guesthouse, Gasthaus Brungs. We met Nosal and his wife on a cruise, and after explaining to the manager why we showed up at his door today, he promptly called Nosal who was on vacation in Lake Garda, Italy. Chatting for a few minutes, his manager opened a bottle of wine and toasted the two of us. It was a delightful memory!

Cologne was lovely and we visited the cathedral before a stop at Konditerei Merzenich for a “beininstich” and cafe crema. And then we discovered the Farina Museum. Cologne was the birthplace of the first fragrance so we took a stroll through this fragrant location.

 

Following the Mosel River, we stopped at a flea market in a quaint village, Cochem. Capping off the day in Zell, we danced the polka at their wine festival and collected two etched wine glasses for our souvenir of the area.

Hotel Moselkern was our lodging choice in Moselkern on the River because the very next morning, we followed the dirt path by the bed and breakfast on a nine kilometer hike trough the cool, green forest to the amazing Burg Eltz. This 850 year old castle commands the hillside and has been in the same family for 33 generations!

A delightful afternoon drive took us through the scenic little town of Beilstein where the doorway arches were carved in dates from 1262 AD. Our lodging was in Mesenich at Wein Und Gasthaus where we dined on their fried potatoes and slabs of ham.

After a lovely scrambled egg breakfast, we drove into Trier, Germany which was the capital city of Western Rome. As Constantine began St. Peter’s Cathedral in Rome, he also began the oldest Christian church in Germany, which purportedly houses the holy robe of Christ. The Throne Room of Constantine is totally intact and is the largest intact Roman building outside of Rome. Roman Baths and a Roman Theater round out this walk through ancient history.

Triberg was a long rode trip because we kept stopping to video the cows and their cow bells in the pastures. We hiked to the Triberg Waterfall before wandering the town on our search for the Black Forest Cake that was made famous by Joseph Keller. We found it at Cafe Schaefer and devoured a slice.

We dropped into the riverfront college town of Tubingen, resplendent with colorful buildings adorning the river and massive planters of vibrant, blooming flowers.

 

 

Landgut Kemmler was our dairy farm home for the evening where we laughed at the cows and calves trying to lick us with their giant tongues.

Delicious coffee at the lodging began our day with a beautiful start. Driving the German Wine Road, Deutsche Weinstrasse, we ate caprese toast and leek pie at Bad Durkheim before motoring into the quaint village of Deidesheim. Hotel Ritter Von Bohl, a converted abbey, was our home for the evening. But first, we drank cold beer and brats before wandering the town.

And what delightful discoveries! We wandered through a commercial flower garden of dahlias – they were so fragrant. Then we wandered into a courtyard where we met Jean Ritter, an internationally known guitar designer who introduced us to his family and showed us his studio where he has made guitars for people like Prince.

Heidelberg was our final destination of our trip. We visited this fabulous city 27 years ago on our first European jaunt. We hiked up to the castle above the town and wandered the alleys and streets before enjoying a picnic by the Neckar River. Our final evening stay was in a converted 17th century hunting lodge, Mönchbruch von Mörfelden.