Dürkheim Wurstmarkt 2013

Today Eric and I went to the largest wine festival in Germany!  {I'm assuming a "wine festival" is different from Munich's Oktoberfest but I haven't Googled it or anything to find out.}  Dürkheim's festival is 570 years old offering over 150 different wines, and is only a little over a 1/2 hour from Kindsbach!  Isabelle had no interest whatsoever in going to a wine festival.  Not even a ferris wheel, roller coasters, or a haunted house could convince her that going would be loads more fun than sitting at home, but she wouldn't budge.  (Don't worry, we were only gone for a couple of hours and were well within the Army's rules about 5th graders staying home alone.)

Since we knew that we would be taste-testing a little wine, and Germany's laws about drinking and driving are nothing to mess with, we took the train from Kindsbach- such a handy way to travel!

It was raining today, and looks like it'll be raining all week, so this means that I will be having a terrible hair week.  Not even my favorite sparkly headband could fix it.  :o(
Anyway... so this is something I've learned about Germany the hard way: Never pass-up a water closet (bathroom)!  Toilets aren't as accessible as they are in the States.  There are almost no public restrooms, and most all restrooms will cost you something.  Even at gas stations that you are getting gas at, the bathroom will cost you!  So, never pass-up a water closet!  That's the story behind this picture after lots and lots of coffee and finding a toilet at this hotel that didn't shoo us out the door for not being patrons......

So with the last of my coffee out of my body, and just a few hours to spend in Bad Dürkheim, it was time to drink wine!  There was live music, wine tents, carnival rides, and amazing food!  All the makings for a fun afternoon with my most favorite man!

We went to a really great little restaurant that had no English anything, anywhere.  We couldn't read the menu and the waitress didn't speak English so Eric and I picked the first thing on the menu and hoped for the best.

We ended up with a deep fried pork leg!  SO GOOD!

I said "Smile!" and this is what I got.  I love the guy in the background!  Have you ever wondered how many pictures you're in the background of?  I try my darndest to dodge any camera that isn't my own but even though I think I've got cat-like reflexes when it comes to other peoples cameras, I'm pretty sure my mug has been caught, unsuspectingly, in the background of pictures.  So sorry to all those families whose pictures I've probably ruined! ;)

Worst picture ever!

After lunch we set out to find out what a wine festival was all about. 

And another terrible picture. 

I had to try a crepe!  I had my first crepe, a Nutella crepe, my first for both!  Now I get what all the fuss is about over Nutella....it's pretty amazing!

{It just wasn't my day for good pictures.}  Eric and I had a really great afternoon together!  A little bit of wine was nice with our lunch, but knowing that Isabelle was home alone made us both ansty to get back.  But, we think we've convinced her to go the next festival we go to!