So we sat around and drank the wine for a while then Gerda called the
woman again. After a brief conversation the woman left and shortly returned
with another two bottles, one of which was half full. We had some more wine.
I asked Gerda how they charged, by the glass, the bottle or what. She said
no. This was a tasting. It was free. I was surprised. All the tastings I had
been to in America they stay with you, give you a glass and a sales pitch.
Here the woman could care less how much we drank, she would just leave the
bottle and go. So after a couple of hours of taking pictures and talking to
other patrons with Gerda translating we bought a few bottles and left.

     Next stop, the largest wine barrel in the world. On the way we passed
the Deinhard Winery. I used to drink a lot of their white wines but the
State Store doesn't carry them anymore. If you like a dry, fruity German
white look for Deinhard in states with more liberal liquor laws. The Crovar
Noctarsh is killer, the Black Cat, very good. In a bit we arrived at the
barrel.

     This place is a restaurant build inside a huge barrel. I don't think
they ever used it to store wine, but it sure looks like a barrel from the
inside, with windows though. That's one place I never installed windows, in
a barrel. We went in had more wine and some lunch. Our table was in an
alcove shaped like a large keg turned on it's side with the top removed,
pretty neat. Tony had some smoked trout. Gerda asked if we liked smoked
trout and we all said yes so after we rolled out' the barrel and headed back
through the mountains toward home we took a small side trip to visit a trout
farm.

     Just off one of the mountain roads was a farm where they raise and
smoke trout. We visited the ponds, the smokehouse, bought some trout and
took off home with our spoils from the mountain and the valley.

     Before we went back to Gerda's house we took a little walking tour of
Kaiserslauten. We walked for a little but then fatigue set in and we
returned to the car and then home. We relaxed for a while and since we had
been drinking wine all day we decided not to drink anymore. Wine, that is,
we switched to beer and drank that with a meal of smoked trout, sausages, a
salad of beans corn and some sprouts, bread and rolls. It had been a great
day and there was only one thing missing, beer. We drank all of it. So Zeke
and I drove to the gas station around the corner and bought some more. While
we were there a couple of kids about 16 came in and bought beer also. They
didn't even need fake cards.

     When we got back, Gerda, who was now doing our laundry, told us that
you have to be 18 to buy booze in Germany, but only 16 for beer. So we sat
around listening to music. Tapes I had brought from home to play while we
traveled. It's a good thing too as the radio sucked. It played well. It
didn't play much good music. In Germany, a lot of bad techno mixed with pop.
Most of the lyrics were in English. No one seemed to notice. So we passed
the evening listening to Zappa, Good God, King Missile, and Ruder Than You
with maybe a bit of Salsa mixed in.

     Eventually we all crashed after deciding that tomorrow we would take a
ride to the east and visit Heidelburg, see the Schloss (Castle), and
whatever was happening for May Day as tomorrow, Saturday was May 1st. May
Day is Labor Day in Germany.

Next time - Heidelburg

Pictures - St. Michael