Maulbronne and Wine Tasting

Sunday, after returning home from Munich late the night before, we all got up early to go on the first exchange student excursion! For 20 Euros we got a tour of the best preserved monastery in Germany, an afternoon in 70 degree weather in a bustling town, a castle and crown jewel tour, and a wine tasting.

Maulbronne was in a complex of traditional German homes- the stereotypical old style town. It was glorious to see! It was kind of how I was expecting Heidelberg to look when I first was told about its beauty. The monastery itself was interesting, but I was too tired to pay attention to our tour guide (not to mention it was in German- making it even easier to zone out). The most interesting thing that I remember from the monastery is how cold the insides of the cloister were. Outside was the first beautiful and sunny day I had experienced in Germany, but inside the stone was freezing cold.

After the monastery we stopped in an adorable town just below a mountainside filled with castles. The town had a canal through it, with two water wheels for power! Very sustainable! Since it was a Sunday, the town center was filled with a market and lots of locals shopping and enjoying the sun. Experiencing the atmosphere  of the first tastes of German summer was something I will never forget! People were smiling, laughing, and eating ice cream! Ice cream in Europe: soft serve is more like cool whip! It is not quite as cold, and more soft and milky? I have no idea how to describe it- but when I had it for the first time in COPENHAGEN (coming soon to a blog near this one) it was definitely a shocking surprise. I think I will have to try it again before I can make a judgement call on whether or not it beats the DQ twist in a cone. Another thing they have: spaghetti ice! Five scoops put through a strainer like apparatus to make a gigantic bowl of ice cream in the shape of spaghetti. To complete the bowl they put strawberry sauce (tomato sauce!) on top! I was lucky enough to try some of the others who got it- delicious! After ice cream- we hiked up to the castle :) Not as impressive as Heidelberg- but beautiful nonetheless! A side note on the word beautiful: I have no idea if you are reading this RH but if you are- YOU are the one who taught me how to spell that word in the second grade and I still use your trick! B-E-A-UTIFUL. Funny what little things stick with us years later...

The town had a market AND a fashion show!

Castle on a cliff

After the castle we were taken on a tour of the wine vineyards! I have never seen so many grapes in my life... rows and rows of crucified twigs hanging on wires and wooden sticks! They extended forever. I learned that the soil the grapes are in (aka what minerals and such) has a huge impact on the taste of the wine. We were all allowed to sample six wines, accompanying a large plate of bread and cheese. I unfortunately did not care for any of the wines- but a fun experience anyways! With each glass, the server (as well as our entire group) became a little more tipsy. Each glass was a little bit larger than the last one- and by the last glass he was refilling for a second round! The room got progressively more boisterous and it was hilarious to see everyone transition from tired to drunk and happy. We were all feeling very American at that moment- so in true fashion we finished our entire plate of bread and cheese first. Oops! We cared more for the food than the wine ;)

Like I said- forever!

:)