Wesertal Bike Tour 2011

Hi everyone,

Well one more post here in Germany and that is for our bike tour this year. It was a short tour, only five days and about 200 kilometers. Sounds impressive doesn't it but really, we would only ride about 50 kilometers maximum each day and over the entire day, that really isn't a lot. Anyway, we were a small group of 13 plus our driver, guide and our guide's wife.

The Weser is a small river in Germany but has some great locations to see. It begins where the Fulda and Werra rivers meet. What is great is that the town of Hameln is on the Weser. Hameln, is famous for the Pied Piper or the "Rattenfänger". Another famous person or character really is Baron von Münchhausen. Yes as in the guy from the movie and books. He told fabulous stories. He was real but the Brothers Grimm are the ones that created the character as we know him. So we visited both towns as well as some other fantastic places. The weather wasn't the best but no rain until the last day. Here are a few pictures so please enjoy.

This town has more than 700 Fachwerk houses or what we know as half timbered houses. Really beautifully restored. In addition, there is a wonderful clock on the main square that gives a show every noon and 5PM. It is the story of Dr. Eisenbart or Dr. Ironbeard. It is a well known story here in Germany (and song) about a dentist. The clock is a little gruesome but funny.

Wolfgang at the entrance of the Rathaus or town hall.
Below is the clock and story of Dr. Eisenbart.

The next few pictures are from along the way.
Above is a stop at a wonderful Chateau or Schloss associated with Münchhausen.

Our group. The man in yellow was our guide, Brian.

Wonderful beginning to our visit to the town for Münchhausen.

Here is the Weser. Very pretty but really moves.

Here is the beginning of the town of Hameln, home of the Pied Piper.
Great name but I just love the "Rattenfänger".

Wonderfully touristy but here I am with the giant Rattenfänger statue in front of our hotel.

This is the bronze sculpture of the Rattenfänger with the children in front of the town hall in Hameln. We spent about an hour wandering around looking for a statue and this is the only one we found.

The old houses in this area of Germany are a little different in their outside decorations because the are actually done with different colors and carvings.

A Schloss along the way. They made their own wine (hey, we were still in Germany) so we bought a bottle. We will let you know how good it actually was.

OK, this was located in a town by the river.
I have no idea, why but it was so we all climbed up for a picture. Very Edith Ann.

I just had to pet the cat!

Still in Germany but they too had windmills and this area and river have quite a few and they are beautifully restored.

Stopping for lunch along the way.
Just about every day, the driver set up for a picnic. Always a fun thing to do.

Another little town with a really great example of half timbered houses.

The last day and end of the ride. Waiting for the beers that we ordered but never received. On the right from Wolfgang is the wife of our guide. Her job was to always be the last person so no one got lost along the way. So that's it. A short but fun ride. Love to all and as always, Auf Wiedersehen.

Storchenfest 2011

Well it was that time again. The annual Storchenfest (stork festival). This year we had three baby storks but one died a few weeks ago, who knows why. Anyway, we once again had wonderful weather, lots of people and lots of fun. Here are a few pictures from the day. We hope that you enjoy them.

The crew. Everyone but Gerhard and Roswita are in this picture. I don't know why they weren't there because they both work so our for our club but here we are. The average age is just around 70 and these folks put up all the tents, clean the little houses, cook the food and of course, pick all the apples and make the apple wine we serve every year. It's a great bunch. Don't we look fantastic in our new t-shirts!

Lining up for the bratwurst, steaks and french fries.

We always have pony riding.

You can look through the telescope at the storks.

My friends Kirsten and Sabine hanging out for the day. Don't let her fool you with the water thing, Kirsten enjoyed a little homemade applewine from the club. Not sure if they tried the schnaps. All the little ones belong to Kirsten but the teenager goes with Sabine.

Gerhard and Friend entertaining the crowd before the raffle.
He made it onto YouTube with this act.

OK so here are the cakes or parts of them. We sell it by the slice. This is only a small sample. We have three little refrigerators to keep some of the cakes in because there just isn't enough room.

Best looking cakes this year from Maria and Roswitha.
Don't worry, they always taste just as good as they look.

OK so how many german men does it take to hook up one beer dispenser. Listen, the foam is the thing so you have got to have just the right mix of gas. Lots of tasting is needed.

Wolfgang runs the raffle every year. We always have a lot of fun. People win bird houses for the garden or day trips with our local travel bus group Bender Royal Tours or dinner for two at Lempps. Lots of different things to win. This year was a huge success.

Notice that everyone else is in short sleeves but Gisela.

Our new dog friend Henry. He is real.

The cutest little cowgirl in town!

After a long day, we all sat around and had beer and an apple Schnaps (produced by the bird club members from our trees). We had to do something with the old apple wine so Schnaps it is.

This is Gerhard. He is a school friend from Ella and yes he is on stilts.

The guests of honor. This year we had three baby storks but for some reason we found on dead on the ground about two weeks ago. You can tell which ones are the babies because they have black beaks. When they are old enough to leave the nest, the beaks turn orange-red.

So that's it for another year. Maybe next year, you can come and enjoy our fest, apple wine, apple schnaps and fabulous food and drink yourself. Oh, and don't forget to stop by the cake house and say hello and maybe buy a slice or two from one of your cakes. Wiedersehen!