Germany 2013 - Sept 6 - Wurstmarkt

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September 6th 2013

Published: September 9th 2013

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Brian and Amy

Edigheim

Walking around

We woke up to a little rain. A small front must have come through because Amy had one of her headaches. Another hearty breakfast and lovely soup for lunch. Everything tastes better here. The sun came through later and we decided to explore a little of Edigheim. We always get lost when we walk around here and this time was no exception. We recovered quickly and got home in time for a short nap before we headed out for the evening. Tonight’s big entertainment is in Bad Durkheim, along the German Wine Road. One of the landmarks of Bad Durkheim is the world's largest wine barrel. We’ve been here before on earlier visits and decided to document it again with Brian and Osse. It holds 44 million gallons of wine but has been transformed into a multi-level wine shop.The difference this year is that we arrived at the right time to attend the “Wurstmarkt” which means “sausage market” but is actually famous as an annual festival in the region and showcases over 150 local wines, from Reisling and Gewürztraminer (don’t ever try and say this word in Germany either!) to ice vein. Britta told us it was the “biggest in the

Edigheim

"Wasser" tower

world” and yes, the Internet confirmed it. “Located in the heart of Palatinate, Germany's second largest wine growing region, the Wurstmarkt prides itself in being the world's biggest wine festival. The culinary event has been celebrated every September for over 590 years, and what has started as a fair for local farmers and wine growers, attracts now more than 600,000 visitors annually.” If the Internet says it, it must be true! The Wurstmarkt was much like one of our big State Fairs only with better food and wine. As a local poet Karl Räder put it: "The Wurstmarkt is the only festival where you meet old friends you've never seen before". The newspaper said that we met around 37,000 new friends on the night we were there. We discovered we like “schorle” which is wine (or juice but you know what we had) mixed with “sprudelwasser” or sparkling water. We also discovered we are too old to dance on the tables and sing (but we still wanted to) . Amy did find time to dance with the band. The taxi came for us right on time and we had a nightcap with Aunt Eva. A late night but a great