Sunday Lunch At Schloss Johannisberg

You have seen this pavement before, right?
Now you know where that picture was taken.

Like I told you last Sunday, we took my mother to Schloss Johannisberg for Sunday lunch. I have only tasted the selection of local specialities there, but I can highly recommend it for a light snack to enjoy with a glass (or three) of local wine. We now shared two servings between my mother, Herr Well, Fräulein and me. Also the desserts in the table next to us looked delicious. You can find the menu *here*.

Two almost finished servings of Johannisberger Brotzeitteller

Schloss Johannisberg is a vineyard in the Rheingau wine area, about 25km from Wiesbaden. This vineyard was the first in the world to plant only Riesling (in 1720).

The bare vines in early March

I have been told that Schloss Johannisberg is now owned by Dr. Oetker's family. Yes, the guy with the frozen pizzas.

The entrance to the palace

Dr. Oetker's garden in October.
I could see myself walking in this garden sipping sparkling wine...

The palace is located on a hill and, as you can see also in the garden picture above, the view is amazing.

The view in October, when the vines were green.

The palace is located at the 50th parallel north.

And what would be the point visiting a vineyard, if you couldn't buy a few bottles as 'take-away'?

The 'Wein-Cabinet' is open every day of the week.

The Blue Hour

We finally have snow here in Wiesbaden! This is the first time since the Tuesday before Christmas (the day when we were going to fly to Finland). I was later told, that the snow melted the same day.

It began to snow in the afternoon and by the evening we actually had some snow on the ground, too. Thus, we we able to experience true Blue Hour, when the scattering light of the setting sun turned everything blue. The effect is so much better, when there is snow on the ground reflecting the blue light!
(If only the sky had been clear, it would have been even better. But let's just enjoy the snow!)

Now we can only hope that it stays white for a bit longer this time!

Before sunset.
'Where's the snow?' you might ask. The rooftops are usually dark...

Peaceful New Year 2012!

And Greetings from the Land of Thousands Lakes!

Attractions in Wiesbaden No. 3 - Russisch-Orthodoxe Kirche

The Christmas Market started today here in Wiesbaden. It was announced that to celebrate the opening, there would be fireworks at 6 pm. I assumed it would be very crowded downtown, so we drove to the Russisch-Orthodoxe Kirche, where there is a great view over the city, to watch the fireworks.

We were there a bit early, so I took some photos of the church in the night-time lighting. A couple of minutes before six we took seats by the view. But nothing happened. Not a single firework. At 6.15, I gave up and we drove back home. Just when I had undressed my daughter - yes, you guessed it - the sounds of the fireworks started. We have a great view from our balcony, but it is not directly to the city, so all we saw was some lights reflecting from the clouds.

But I don't want all that trouble be for nothing, so I'll take this opportunity to introduce you the Russisch-Orthodoxe Kirche or Griechische Kapelle as it is also known. It is one of those attractions, which you can find in Wiesbaden postcards. The church is located up on Neroberg, so it can be seen from far. It has golden onion-shaped domes, which shine beautifully when sun (or at night-time the artificial light) hits them.

in February

today

I won't get into the history in detail, because all my knowledge is based on Wikipedia, which you can study yourself. Let's just say that there was a 19-year-old Russian princess, death in childbirth and a grieving Duke.

Like with the Cuckoo Clock, it is also worth looking around the main attraction. There is a beautiful cemetery, which is the largest Russian Orthodox cemetery outside Russia. And the view over the city is quite amazing.

the view in October

Hidden meanings?

From our kitchen window, we can see the balcony of our upstairs neighbors.

A while ago, we noticed this on the balcony's railing.

The backside of a crow.

Head in the Clouds

Quite literally.