Cherries

Since some of you requested to see a close-up of the cherries - here it is. I got a kilogram for 3.50 Euros but I guess the price differs a bit depending on the location where you buy them. On my way home, I already ate half of the bag... Should have gotten more...

Cherry Season

The cherry season has started and there are several roadside stands where you can buy fresh cherries right from the trees, as in the photo in my Wiesbaden DP blog.

Bike Trips

Bike trips along the Rhine are really popular with families, especially during the weekend. Last weekend we had an event called "Tal To-Tal" from Rüdesheim up till Koblenz. Two main roads had been closed for regular traffic during that time so that bikers could go all the way without any disturbing cars. Along the way there were bands playing and each village you passed by had special events going on. Too bad, I couldn't participate this year.

Finanzamt Rüdesheim

Today I take you inside the service center of our local tax and revenue office. Maybe a bit boring, but I wanted to show you their efforts to a better service. The service center itself hasn't been around for too long yet. Before, you had to go to your tax administrator directly; now you can send your papers in by mail or submit them online or you go to the service center where someone can answer your questions and check if your papers are complete. A fast and friendly service (at least in my case). :)

Grüner Baum in Oestrich

Today's post is for Edith in Arizona! :)

This is a really nice restaurant in Oestrich, named "Grüner Baum" (green tree). One thing I like about the menu - besides the delicious food that's on it ;) - is that it has a tree on its cover changing its appearance depending on the time of the year. Well, they do this by having four different covers but I just like details like that...

Cool Down

Yesterdays photo had been taking during a World Cup Pool Party a friend of us invited us to. It's been wonderful watching the games while cooling down in the pool. This little guy was keeping us company as well. What do you have floating in your pool/bath tub? ;)

FIFA World Cup - Germany Next Round

Germany won against Sweden today!!! Next round will be against Argentina...

Old Wine Barrels

From time to time there are special guided tours at the Kloster Eberbach that include a wine tasting and music. My parents-in-law had invited me to such a tour in the evening. One of the first rooms we went into was really dark, and had these old wine barrels lined up at the walls with lit candles upon them. Aditional to that, there was a quartet (2 men and 2 women) singing songs from different episodes (some sad, some really funy) - it was an unforgettable experience!

Fleischwurst

Another dish you'd often get at wineries - boiled Fleischwurst (meat sausage) with potato salad. The little package on the side contains mustard. Quite a hearty dish but goes well with wine, too.

Buzzard in the Vineyards

Photo: Courtesy of Christian Weimer - Thanks Christian!

Waking through the Vineyards you can see quite a few of these buzzards hunting. Doing a bit of research I was surprised to read that "the Old World and New World uses of the name buzzard are almost antonyms" (as Wikipedia puts it). Over here the buzzard has a status similar to a hawk or a falcon. How about your area/country?

Rainbow from Balcony

Yesterday in the evening, we got a bit of rain and afterwards I spotted this rainbow. Ran inside and took this shot from our balcony. I always love to smell the air after rainfall - it's so refreshing!

Here is the one I showed you in April.

House Sign

A sign I found above the front door of a house in Eltville: House "The Rose". The facade of the house is getting renovated at the moment so the sign was a bit dusty but I think you can still see the details.

Weinprobierstand in Eltville

Most of the towns in the Rheingau have a "Weinprobierstand" - a stand where people can taste wine from the town's wineries. Each week there's another winery presenting their wine and depending on the winery they sometimes also offer small snacks like pretzels or bread rolls with cheese or ham.

Rose from the Rose Garden in Eltville

A close-up of one of the many roses in the rose garden in Eltville. It smelled wonderfully - too bad I can't sent the scent over the Internet... :)

Wish you all a great weekend!

Resting from Sight-Seeing

Noticed these guys sitting on a bench watching the boats on the Rhine while discussion what places they wanted to see next.

Watching World Cup

Most restaurants and bars have set up a TV so their guests can watch the World Cup games. It's amazing how quiet it can get in the streets though during that time. Except when there's a goal of course... :)

Update 16.06.: Sorry for the late post, I've been without Internet connection for the past 48 hours (*suffer*) due to a technical problem of my provider.

Alley in Downtown Eltville

These days you see Germany flags (and from some other nations as well) everywhere because of the World Cup.

This is another small alley of Eltville's old downtown. It was pretty quiet there when I took the photo - I guess, mostly because of the midday heat we're having right now (it's summer, yeah!! :) ).

There are still garlands from the rose festival across the streets, but the "Sektfest" (sparkling wine festival) is coming up soon, so I assume that's why they left them.

World Cup Stuff

If you haven't gotten all your fan "equipment" for the World Cup games together yet, there's still plenty of opportunities out there.

Room of Silence, Meditation and Praying

Although Kloster Eberbach is not an abbey anymore, there is still room for praying and meditation.

More photos from Kloster Eberbach:
Cloister, Dormitory, Part of the Entrance, Basilica, Entrance to Museum

Rose Garden through Old Door

Looking through this old side gate you can see a part of the rose garden in Eltville. I don't think that all the roses are in bloom yet but the early ones are.

Striped Sky

This morning our sky looked quite funny because of all the planes going to and coming from the airport in Frankfurt. I wonder if they could create a soccer field in the sky without it being blown away too fast... ;)

Spargelessen (Asparagus Lunch)

We're right in the middle of the asparagus season and I noticed that I haven't posted a photo about it yet. On Monday, right before I left to Paris, my parents-in-law invited us over for lunch and prepared a huge amount of asparagus for us - you can probably tell that I love asparagus! Very often you get it served with fresh ham but we had filets instead together with potatoes and Sauce Hollandaise. Yummy!

P.S. I'm back from Paris again! Thanks so much for visiting and commenting while I was gone and big thanks to my dear hubby for posting my photos during these days!!! I'll have some photos of my Paris visit on my other blog soon.

Wine Blossoms

Throughout the year I will keep posting photos of how the wine develops. In March, I showed you how the vineyards were made ready for the new wine by cutting off the old branches. Now the leaves are out (as you can see here as well) and soon the wine starts to blossom.

Supposedly, it's going to be a good year since we had enough rain for the plants to grow so far. We'll see how the rest of the year develops...

Door of Basilika in Mittelheim

Seems, like we're already right in the middle of the wedding season again. Apparently there had been a wedding at the Basilika St. Ägidien in Mittelheim that day when I passed by. The door was decorated and there were rose petals and rice on the sidewalk - over here people traditionally throw these for good luck and fertility for the bridal couple when they come out of the church.

Geese at the Rhine

This year, it seems to me like we have more geese at the Rhine than before. And they start loosing their shyness - as soon as people stop to look at them, they come looking for food.

Rosenfest in Eltville

Last weekend was the Festival of Roses (Rosenfest) in Eltville. It's held in a really beautiful setting at the rose garden of the Kurfürstliche Burg (which I've shown you in Winter already).

There are some nurseries in Eltville who specialized on roses and who sell them during this festival, as you can see in this photo. Not all of the roses are in full bloom yet but I will check back from time to time to get some photos for you.

Hope you all have a great start into the week!

Spundekäs

When the wineries open their doors, a local dish they almost always offer is the "Spundekäs". It's made with cream cheese and quark (which I explained in an earlier post) and spiced with paprika. And of course every winery has its own style and family receipe for it. It's usually served with pretzels and dark bread. As a wine, I recommend drinking a dry or semi-dry Riesling with it (but since I don't want you to get in trouble, any non-alcoholic beverage is fine as well!).

Strausswirtschaft

This is what I have been telling you about before - a winery opening its doors for guests to enjoy some food and of course some wine (non-alcoholic drinks are provided as well) for a very reasonable price.

Parade with old Tractors

Last weekend there was a parade with old tractors in Oestrich. I caught them when they passed by. These tractors have been restorated by the owners with love and care as a hobby!

Parking

Today's theme of the City Daily Photo Bloggers is "Parking" - please stop by at the other CDP blogs to see what they posted for this theme.

I know this looks very complicated but all these signs are saying that during the mentioned hours (on the middle sign) you're supposed to park only for 1 hour. To check how long you've parked, they ask you to use a "parking disk" that looks like the blue one on the second last sign. I assume that the sign all the way on the bottom was put there by the house owners - they ask you not to park backwards so that their facade stays clean...