Other people, like Heiko, have been spending their time getting the grape harvester ready for harvest. The weather here has not been the most optimum for the grapes. The rain gives the grapes too much water, which takes out the sugar, which helps with the fermentation process. A few nights of the past week, it has been too warm, which causes the skin of the grape to shrivel. I went to visit Heiko tonight in the garage to see the process and he said it probably won't be ready until tomorrow night, just in time for harvest.
World War III has not started, however the annual war with the birds has been ongoing for about two weeks. All day, beginning early in the morning before the sun comes up, what sounds like gunshots can be heard echoing through the vineyards. I finally found one of the noisemakers on my last bike ride.
On Friday I trekked down to Bammental for another wonderful weekend with Tim and Heidi. Heidi's parents as well as an uncle and aunt of hers were visiting. They leave on Monday. Because of the amount of visitors, I was left to the living room floor for my bed (mattress and sleeping bag) and getting awakened by Gustav each morning as he was either put onto me or crawled onto my bed. He can now pull himself up to a standing position!
On Saturday, we walked to the train station with our destination being the Wurstmarkt in Bad Durkheim. The Wurstmarkt was celebrating it's 590th year in existence and is known as the largest wine festival in the world. Here's Gustav helping clean the floor of the train on the way:
The forecast for the day was for the rain to taper off early in the afternoon giving way to partly cloudy skies. Alas, the weathermen at KSN in Wichita would be donating a heavy sum of money for failure of their 3-degree-guarantee had they given that forecast. We arrived to Bad Durkheim amid the rain and wind and left later in the afternoon to the same rain and wind. However, we not-so-quickly found an Oktoberfest-like tent and spent most of the afternoon hailing the sparse waitstaff for both food and drink. My half-chicken was worth the wait.
There were many different types of people at this festival, some in traditional German dress...
(when it came time to pay, she would sit down beside you and show off her...assets)
...and some in traditional German dress with their own little flair, I particularly liked the headphones that you can't see:
There were also revelers in the tent which were very entertaining to watch. Here, they are standing on their benches and holding up the table, all while holding a glass and singing and toasting. With as many drinks as they had, the table did not get dropped and their were no casualties.
There was even a cool fountain that I thought Dad would have taken many pictures of. I took one:
When we got back to Bammental that night, everyone was happy to change out of their wet clothes for dry ones. However, I believe Gus was happier to get a bath from Grandma Chris:
Gus was bathing to prepare for a big day that he had today. There was an outdoor church service in a barn a few towns away from Bammental. I believe the service had to do with the sun and sunbeams. The focal point of the service, at least for the Americans there, was the dedication of Gustav. I have no pictures on my camera because I took pictures with Tim and Heidi's camera for them, so stay tuned to their blog. After the dedication, there was a rousing, bilingual rendition of "He's Got the Whole World in His Hands." At the conclusion of the service, there was a BYOM (Bring Your Own Meat) pot-luck meal. It, like the raclette the night before, made me splendidly full. I'm glad I'll be playing soccer three times this week to make up for all the food I consumed this weekend.
All in all, it was a weekend where cups indeed did runneth over.
Until next time,
Jon
1 comment:
Thank you for a prompt post complete with photos. It was also great to receive your call. It sounds like your weekend was fun with family.
We'll be looking for harvest updates as you have them.
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