Tuesday = 27th

The wedding in Phoenix was lovely. We left very early Monday morning to catch a flight to Frankfurt with a 3 hour layover in D.C.. Mark got some 4 hours of sleep on the plane while I got minimal – closer to 2. We arrived about 8:45 a.m., picked up the car and headed north to the Mosel River (Beilstein) with a lunch at Bacharach on the Rhein. We passed by numerous old castles on the sides of the Rhein as we drove north. Not much has changed since 1973…vineyards down to the river, lots of barges and Rhein river tours passing by. Half of the drive was spent getting K’s cell phone to work – guess that is a change since 73. Took a small (3-4 car) ferry across from the east to the west side near Bacharach. Bacharach is a lovely small medieval town (established sometime well before 1350) with a great castle which is now a youth hostel. Hiked around a bit and then we searched out the spot (we think) in “the altes haus” where we had wine 38 years ago. Lovely old tilted waddle and daub buildings with the German poems printed on them. Spaghetini with pesto sauce, roasted pumpkin seeds, cherry tomatoes and amazing grated parmesan, Carpaccio (thin sliced boiled and dried beef) with a balsamic vinegar and chives dressing. Yum. First had basil pesto with cousin Judy Etschmaier in Heidelberg area, a bit south of here in 73. This time though, Judy, no little green bugs. After lunch we drove the very back roads over the hills between the Rhein and Mosel valleys…single lanes and the old nuvi garman worked hard to get us here. Dropped down from the high plateau so similar to the hills outside of Danville PA where we lived for 4 years 71-75 into Beilstein on the Mosel. Unexpected landscape from other parts of Germany we have seen in the past.

We are currently recovering from, or enhancing (depends on your view point), our jet lag with a lovely dry Riesling spatlese from a nearby vineyard. Sitting on a small grapevine covered terrace at Haus Lipmann in Beilstein. Accessible only by river until the early 1900s, this small peaceful town now has a tiny foot ferry crossing to a bike path on the north side and some extremely vicious protective swans…takes a good kick to get on and off that ferry. Our room is four floors up a tiny narrow winding staircase, dad’s knee is now swollen, and the room is the size of the top floor of our house. Large old timbers supporting the ceiling, large “matrimonial” beds with folded over down duvet covered quilts, bidet…I do love Europe. Dinner appears to be spectacular from what I see around us. More later, with recipes if possible.

So, dinner was indeed special. We first had game soup. I can’t even begin to figure out what all was in it…broth bullion?, some balsamic vinegar, sour cream floating on top, served with a rolled thin pastry cheddar type cheese-stick. Then, I had the traditional green peppercorn steak covered with a cognac cream sauce and a pile of fresh green beans lightly steamed, Mark had a venison steak with chanterelles in a red wine sauce with a roasted cranberry pear…both meals with crisp thin sliced fried potatoes. Side plate of bread with toppings to add of sour cream and chives…and bacon fat. Frugal Germans don’t waste much. Crème brulee for dessert. Our first oink of the trip. Short walk around town and a trip to sleep at about 8. We both woke up at 4 to watch large black flat barges slowly slide by in the dark, but managed to get back to sleep until about 8 this morning and head down to breakfast.