A Weekend in Ribeauvillé, Alsace

We spent the first October weekend in Ribeauvillé, Alsace.

Over the years, we had been to several places in the Alsace, and this time we chose Ribeauvillé. I was surprised by its size – a long main street with plenty of shops, many restaurants, and to my husband’s pleasant surprise, we discovered a whisky bar (Le Saint-Ulrich) as well.

Ribeauvillé, Alsace

Ribeauvillé, Alsace

I had seen steep vineyards before, but never quite like this.

Vineyards around Ribeauvillé

Vineyards around Ribeauvillé

One of the best things in life is a little uphill walk, with your husband carrying the picnic makings in his backpack. We enjoyed the view, the wine, and our own company.

Ribeauvillé

grapesThe weather in early October is often fairly nice, or we might have been just lucky over the years. We hope to do this again next year.

Vineyards in Beautiful Franconia

Another drive to my hometown area of Lower Franconia had us stop along the way. Not to smell the flowers this time, but to admire the beautiful hills, men at work, and the progress on the Weinlese (grape harvesting).

Weinberg in Franconia

The colors around this time of year are just superb.

A very narrow tractor works its way through the rows of vines.

Winzer Traktor

As we were driving around wine-making country, I’d suppose this tractor is part of the wine-making process too.

Franconia is home to the Bocksbeutel bottle.

For a place to stay overnight, visit this link on which I left a review for Barockschloss Zeilitzheim. By the way, this same castle has just added wine making to its repertoire of goods and services.

We will get to taste the first wine sometime soon (May 2013).

Wine and Vineyards in Franconia

We spent another weekend in lovely Franconia. We saw family, visited with long-lost relatives, talked to neighbors. Everybody, but the sun, came out to greet us.

Franconian vineyards

Dark skies and winter coats dominated the landscape wherever we went. The Nordheimer Weinfest saw lots of heavy coated patrons sitting under the famous Kastanienallee (chestnut alley).

Nordheimer Weinfest May 2010

These German winefests are for young and old as their wine culture has no bounds in regards to age. We enjoyed Flammkuchen (Tarte Flambee), Steak Brötchen, Fischbrötchen (photo), and good wine.

How would you like to harvest grapes on that hill?

Visit a  Franconian castle, or the online beer guide to Bamberg and Franconia, as well as  Franconia – the heart of Germany.

There is a lot to see and do in Franconia. They love to eat and drink well, at very reasonable prices!

Springtime in Sicily

A passenger, sitting behind me on our flight to Trapani, commented how green the island looked compared to her usual summer visits, when the land is brown and parched.

Vineyards on Sicily

The land is green and lush in April. I heard golfing in Sicily is really good in this season as well.

Narrow streets and tall houses in Trapani

This is one rare front without laundry hanging on the balcony. Wherever we turned we could always see laundry flapping in the wind.

A typical thing to do on a lazy afternoon – watching people passing by in the street. It is very common to see people spending their free time like this.

street dogs

I guess I forgot that there are many more dogs roaming the streets without a master in Southern Europe. At night, after dinner and wine, we would often pass a sleeping dog on the sidewalk.

I have taken a fancy to Sicily, its pace, people, and pleasures.

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