As soon as you drive into Germany, you know you are in Germany.
You can feel it in the fresh, crisp air, the beauty you breath in.
Driving
in through the valley, cascading vineyards and greenery roll down from
the tops of the wall of the valley. Old castles sit proudly on top
overlooking the small, quiet townships.
The
old steam train puts along the side of the water, puffs of smoke come
from the chimmneys of the perfect little houses lined in an ordered
fashion on the banks of the water.
I feel as though I am in the
midst of a toy train town....and I'll spy the fat conductor just around
the corner or perhaps spot him with a stein in hand sitting perched in
one of the quaint little bars.
I
walk to the top of the the sloping valley and stand underneath a silent
castle and look out on the township of St. Goar. I feel a sense of
tranquility yet also of erriness as I gaze down on the mysterious
mermaid figure overlooking the water. The mermaid- Lorelei famous for
seducing sailors into the river and to their death (check out http://www.bbc.co.uk/dna/h2g2/A24145869 more on the Lorelei legend).
I understand how Heinrich Heine and Mark Twain felt now looking down from the same spot the poem of Loreli was imagined:
Ich weiß nicht was soll es bedeuten
Daß ich so traurig bin;
Ein Märchen aus alten Zeiten,
Das kommt mir nicht aus dem Sinn.
- Heinrich Heine, 1823.
I cannot divine what it meaneth,
This haunting nameless pain:
A tale of the bygone ages
Keeps brooding through my brain.
- translation: Mark Twain, 1880.
With
the knowledge good wines come from this region I take the night to
attend a wine tasting in the an old cellar. A stone staircase leads us
down to a candle- lit cellar, the smell of oak and fermented grapes
pricks the nose. They are famous for their ice wine and white wines in
the region. Deliciously sweet they are.
St.
Goar is also a land mark because of the giant cuckoo clock that is
perched in the main street . It is the biggest Cuckoo clock in the
world. St. Goar also houses a great array of traditional Steins
decorated with elborate stories etched in their clay and of course one
of the biggest Steins in the world. Now you know what the Germans
consider important.
Yes in Australia, we may house the biggest
pineapple, mango, lobster, banana and various other produce items but
it is the Germans who have the biggest beer mug! Why didn't we think of
that.
