Bielstein for the Wine 

Monday May 20, 2019

We met our bus and driver today.  The driver's name is Jos.  He is Dutch and an excellent driver.  Jos will make our travels very smooth. He also keeps a supply of cold beer in the bus for our enjoyment.  Thanks Jos.

Jos on the left.  Check out his cool monogrammed collar

Everyone hopped on the bus for our first stop in Bilstein.  The town is in the middle of a grape growing region along the Mosel river.  Mosel wine here is not the same as we find in the US.  Most is dry although there are sweet varieties.

These vineyards are planted on ground that is on top of slate rock formations.  The slate absorbs the heat during the day and keeps the vines warm at night.  

It's a tough job to tend and harvest the grapes because most vines are planted on the hillsides sloping down to the river.

If you look closely you will see the steel track that the workers use to bring the baskets of grapes down the hill.

Burger Eltz

Next stop is the castle of Burger Eltz.  This is one of the best preserved castles in Europe.  The Eltz family has owned in for about 30 generations.  They still own it but don't live there (they just take the cash from tourists).  It's a long walk downhill through the woods to get to the castle. I don't know about the walk back up - we took the bus.

Now on the Baden-Baden the spa town.