Wein und Wurst - What a Wonderful Weekend

Guten Abend Dear Reader!

On Sunday, I visited the town of Meersburg, literally translated meaning castle (Burg) of the sea (Meer). It is located on the other side of the Bodensee, and is only a short ferry ride away from Konstanz. The town is built on the side of a steep vineyard, from which local wine is produced and celebrated at the annual wine festival (more about that in a bit).

I visited the Altes Schloss (Old Castle) which is the oldest inhabited castle in Germany, dating from 628AD, and overlooks the Bodensee from its position right on the edge of the hill. There are a couple of interesting features inside this moated and turreted castle, for example, a well that has been constructed inside its own room, so the water supply could not be cut off; and an escape route leading from the depths of the castle down to the lake's edge. Out of the windows, overlooking the lake and a small bit of the more modern town, are truly breathtaking views. I cannot describe how stunning it looked in the glorious sunshine, with the colours all vibrant and the lake glistening. For those who know Annette von Droste-Hülshoff, a famous German poet-ess (1797-1848), this is the placed where she lived and died; her bedroom and study have been preserved, much to the joy of her fans.

After the castle, I went to the 37. Bodensee Weinfest Meersburg 2011, in the pedestrianised Altstadt (old town). The wine festival takes place once a year for three days, and the wine is all produced from the vineyards surrounding the Bodensee. In the main square, tables were laid out looking over the main stages, from which a huge brass band dressed all in Lederhose and Dirndls, were playing. Around the side of this all, stood all the various wine stalls; and it was in this setting (a wonderfully stereotypical image), that I had my first Wurst (sausage) within Germany. After munching our way through Bratwurst mit Kartoffelsalat (potato salad - German style, so had a surprising amount of vinegar in it), we walked further into town onto one of the side streets. Here we managed to commandeer a table from which we could observe the wandering brass quintet, dressed in Tracht (traditional dress) of course; made friends with Germans and bought one of the celebratory wine glasses. For those who are not aware, it is traditional in Germany for events to have their own cups with the place, date, name and sometimes decoration - for Weinfest, this will be wine glasses and for Weihnachtsmarkte (Christmas Markets), this is mugs. Almost every stall within the market will use the celebratory cups, and each time you buy a drink you pay a Pfand (deposit), which is returned when/if you bring the cup back to the stall. If not, you are free to keep it - as I plan to do for this year to build up my collection of celebratory German event cups...

The Bodensee-Schweizer Oktoberfest starts on Friday, as well as the real Oktoberfest in München (Münich). No doubt I'll end up at least at one of them if not both, but stay tuned to find out which and when. Tschüs!