The Rheingau Region with Friends

Within 30 minutes of our home, we are in the heart of the Rheingau wine region.  Riesling grapes are grown along the south-facing banks of the Rhine river.  Near Wiesbaden, the Rhine flows east to west on its journey north to Rotterdam.  This area has become the prime region for making the Riesling wines for worldwide distribution.  We found a few favorite vineyards like Schloss Johannisberg and Schloss Vollrads.  Rieslings are commonly thought to be too sweet until you try a Spatlese Riesling that's as dry as Chardonnay.

Friends Deb and Jay Flora traveled down from Amsterdam and joined the Foreman's and us for a nice weekend in Wiesbaden. This day trip to the Rheingau included a stop in Rudesheim, a town so quaintly German that Epcot in Disneyworld patterned their Germany exhibit after it.  It's a good starting point for a boat tour of the Romantic Rhine where most of the vintage castles are still standing alongside row after row of grape vines clinging to cliffs.

The gang on the terrace of Schloss Johannsberg overlooking the Rhine valley.

One of the towers inside Schloss Vollrads.

According to many Sommeliers, this is the world's most perfect grape - Riesling.

Us girls surrounded by roses and wine.

The gang at Schloss Vollrads.

The 3 cars we wish we arrived in.

A typically German scene in Rudesheim.

An American Girl enjoying a Bitburger.  We have been told it takes 7 minutes to pour a Bitburger correctly.  This one is an example of a perfect pour.  Tschus!!

The Rain in Spain falls mainly on San Sebastian (Donostia)

The Basque country of Spain claims these two beautful cities on the northeast coast of Spain:  Bilbao and San Sebastian.  Donostia is its name in Basque - one of the world's oldest languages.  We visited both cities with our good friends the Foreman's in September 2013.  San Sebastian has the highest concentration of Michelin-starred restaurants in the world.  We mostly took advantage of the Pintxo's (Tapas) beautifully laid out on every bar in every restaurant in town. 

Our first stop was Bilbao, famous for the Guggenheim Museum designed by Frank Gehry. Bilbao is the commercial hub of the Basque country.  Although we visited inside the museum, the building itself is simply amazing.   

Outside the Guggenheim is this flower statue of a sitting dog.

On this day, families gathered with their kids to enjoy the plaza courtyard ringed with buildings.

A narrow street in Bilbao.

Gary admiring the intricate design of this bandshell in a Bilbao park.

From Bilbao, we traveled along the rugged coast to San Sebastian on the Bay of Biscay.  This is home to surfers and has an extensive seascape walk along the inner harbor.  Being part of its own microclimate, it tends to rain often which contributes to the lush greenery all around.  But that doesn't keep the surfers from taking advantage of the great waves rushing into the harbor.  They wait right next to a stone wall for the bounce effect of the wave that pushes them away from the wall.  Many onlookers gather to watch these daredevils.

The restaurants all had a mixture of cold and hot Pintxos arranged on plates placed along the bar.  We simply pointed to whichever one looked good and soon filled a plate or two.  Along with a local Rioja region wine, this was our dinner.  What a way to spend an evening... walking from bar to bar in the old city, tasting pintxos and drinking Spanish wine.  For our "foodie" friends and for us, it was an experience.



The gorgeous view from the boardwalk along the beach in the harbor.



Same location but facing the direction of the old city.



An example of a bar jammed full of Pintxos.



Me with Michelle and Gary Foreman playing cards in the plaza.

A great view from high above San Sebastian bay.

Edinburgh, Scotland

During the last few days of summer 2013 we were able to finally visit Edinburgh on the northeast coast of Scotland.  We were happy to visit during some cool, crisp days but with lots of sunshine.  Edinburgh was celebrating the last days of its annual month long Festival of Fringe.  They converted an old church in the city center into a live music stage where every hour a new artist or band performed. Whenever we needed a break from sightseeing or the cool weather, we ventured into this venue for a beer and some good tunes.

We took advantage of the many tours available including a walking tour of the city and a pub crawl, as well as the popular castle tour.  We were easily the oldest on the pub crawl (no surprise) but enjoyed the whisky more than the kids.  On the walking tour, we visited the cemetery where J.K. Rowling used names she found on gravestones for her characters in the Harry Potter series. The coffee shop where she wrote the first book was nearby.

This town has so much history but what was surprising is how many young people live and work here. There is also a very healthy music scene - live music was available everywhere.  Our trip to Edinburgh was easily one of the highlights of our 4 years in Europe.

A view of the castle from the city below.



This is the Royal Mile - main street of Edinburgh.



The Castle appears to grow straight out of the rock wall.



One of the older streets below the castle with plenty of pubs.



If you are a Harry Potter fan, you would recognize this name found in the local cemetery.

A view of the upper and lower levels and architecture of the city.

An interesting corner building with a great name:  Miss Katie Cupcake.

A view from atop the castle looking east to the Firth of Forth in the North Sea.

Another beautiful display of flowers on a pub wall.

A couple of American tourists with New Town on the left, and Old Town on the right.

The old church converted into a music venue for the Festival Fringe.

Another view from the castle.

Check out the size of this fireplace compared to the body armor.

...and another view from the castle.

This is Historic Dean Village, an old grain milling center dating from the 12th century.

Another scene in Dean Village.

On our last night in Edinburgh, we were lucky to experience their annual Fringe-closing fireworks display shooting out from the castle.