Oestrich-Winkel

Our stay in Oestrich-Winkel is amazing. Beautiful hotel, wonderful food, and good company our hosts are also gracious and have been able to help us with our transportation and translations as well. Our hosts also own a wine business. They grow and produce an assortment of wines and even own the title of the top sparkling wine in Germany. We also had the opportunity to taste their wine and also to tour their production facilities. I didn't try the wine here, but that is another story for another time. I think the thing that gets to me is the smell, although it is a little grappy, there is this odour to it that I do not like. 

German food is definitely an experience. I think one of the hardest things is to order food in a country that do not have English menus... For good reason. I definitely went out on a limb and tried a fish dish. I'm not really sure how I should describe his dish, but it was definitely very fishy. The taste was stronger than what I normally have in Canada and it was prepared cold and in a way that made the meat's texture very slimey. It was almost like eating a jello of sorts. Although I think I'm going to stay away from fish as much as possible, I think it is definitely an acquired taste. However, I actually tasted alcohol for the first time while on our Rhine river cruise. We were in a shop at St. Goar where a shop keep offered us some homemade peach brandy. I must say I tasted like an Italian soda that burned a little on the way down! We also had a chance to check out Marksburg castle during our cruise. One of the oldest original castles in Germany, it was restored and turned into an exhibit of life in pre-modern Germany. 

Our last day in Oestrich-Winkel was spent going to a German church. I though this was a very intriguging experience as the language barrier caused some problems, but in the end, we were still worhipping the same God, no matter the language. Church is also definitely interesting culturally. After the service the congregation gathered and fellowshipped with wine. 

Our stay in this town ended with a tour of Kloster Eberbach. This was a memorable event as we witnessed Eric Boldt busting out a dance move...albeit quick. Eberbach was once a monestary with centuries of history. It's an amazing thing to observe the craftmanship and architecturial expertise of these minks as they built these monestaries.  

Oh yes, Dave and Jeff, I didn't manage to get Julia's facebook.