Wine and Ass Man What?

The weekend of  July 27 was spent sipping wine and exploring quaint towns in Hesse.  A few gal pals and I went up to the Frauensteiner Weinfest (Frauenstein Wine Festival).  It was smaller than what I had expected for a wine festival but it was interesting nonetheless. There were a handful of wineries represented from the area as well as a few food vendors and a barely there live band.  We met a super cute guy whose family owned one of the wineries represented at the festival.  He lives in Berlin and works for Lufthansa in the First Class Lounge and was very well traveled.  He had spent a few months in the states so his English was really good.

The town was so cute, I took the shot below directly across from the festival. You can see a castle in the back.

After flirting and a few glasses of wine later we decided to head over to another nearby town, Rüdesheim am Rhein and Assmannshausen.  The river is really nice and you can apparently take a lift over the town to the other side of the river, with a great view.

With a name like Assmannshausen, you’ll never forget it…

Walking though the town was pretty fun too, it was rather warm out and we thought this restaurant had the right idea. And these fellas were more than happy to oblige my photo taking.

For dinner we stopped at traditional German Restaurant. It was too hot for heavy German food so I had a chicken salad and saved room for Gelato. Yum!

A few shots of me enjoying the scenery and trying not melt. It was literally between 96 and 100 degrees Fahrenheit.

We continued walking around for a bit, luckily during the summer here it doesn’t get dark until about 9:45 or 10:00 PM.

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We saw a big group singing as they proceeded into Bollesje which seemed to have a prisoner’s theme with wardrobe and all. There’s a holding cell inside the restaurant and it seems like it would be a fun place for bachelor party, which I imagine they get a ton of.  Here are some flicks:

 

Related articles

• First Night (sleeping) on our trip – Rüdesheim am Rhein, Germany (travelpod.com)
• Wine Festivals (justicelivingoutloud.com)

Wine Festivals

The Maryland area has great wineries. And with those wineries comes Wine Festivals. They start as soon as the weather breaks and it’s a fun experience. I had been wanting to go to a real wine tasting and wine festival for years, but I didn’t make it to either until last year.

A few weeks ago probably the biggest wine fest in Maryland was held in Columbia, Maryland known as “Wine in the Woods”. The name may sound scary but I hear it’s a great time and an event not to miss. Unfortunately, I missed it. Not intentionally, however. I had pre-purchased my tickets but it turned out that my aunt’s funeral was being held on the same day in Philadelphia. The weather wasn’t so cooperative for the wine fest this year anyway. Wine in the Woods has many local wineries so you get to taste different wines from around the area.

More recently was the Caribbean Wine Festival in Mount Airy, Maryland at the Linganore Winery. They have a really good sweet white wine (dessert wine) that I like called “Sweet Chessie”. Sweet Chessie can only be purchased at the winery, as most of their other wines can be purchased in stores throughout Maryland. It’s $16 and comes in a super skinny bottle. I’m sad that I didn’t get to buy a bottle to take home. By the time my friends and I were ready to leave the lines for purchasing were ridiculously long.

I remembered that they gave out stem-less wine classes last year and decided to bring my own glass from home.  I secretly want to be a wine-snob, but until then I will share what little I know. Most importantly, the wine glass design is essential for enjoying the perfect glass. No-0ne likes fingerprints on their wine glass. For a little light reading check out The Anatomy of a Wine Glass.