One of my all time favorite European villages is Bernkastel-Kues. When we lived in Germany years ago, I would visit this little village at least once a month, if not more, just to take in it's history, beauty, & atmosphere.
This time around, we live a bit farther away, but that won't stop us from visiting Bernkastel as much as possible. We decided to go for the big wine fest at the end of August to show the kids how beautiful this village really is.
The entire village is surrounded by rolling grape/wine vineyards, the Moselle River, & is overlooked by a beautiful castle ruins (built in 1291).
Berg Landshut overlooking the village.
I absolutely LOVE this village. The architecture is just amazing. Most of the buildings in the city center were built between 1300-1600. They are definitely a sight to behold.
After we explored the city for a few hours & bought a case of the most delicious grape juice in the world, we headed back across the river to the "festival." There was a carnival going on as well as TONS of food stands selling the most delicious food you've ever eaten. We let each of the kids pick one ride to ride on.
Bladen, Cadence, & Lorien chose this thing that goes around in circles for 15 minutes straight. I was going to puke just watching it. They of course loved it.
The boys watched patiently for the whole 15 minutes because they knew their turn was next.
The rides here were a little scary for Canyon, so we let him play a game instead of ride a ride. He chose to shoot the crossbow at balloons. I swear that he was going to shoot that poor lady running the booth, but he actually did really good. He got 8 shots/darts & only missed one balloon. He was happy with the little toy frog he won.
Craiger & Taya are my bumper car fiends. Anytime there are bumper cars, they want to ride them. These things were CRAZY. They barely had seatbelts that didn't really work well. (One teen literally flipped over the steering wheel & did a flip out of the car when he got hit!) They are FAST & they bump HARD. So of course, my kids loved them. I sat & watched panicked the entire time hoping nobody got hurt. They survived & had a blast.
The best part of the entire day was that we met our entire ward (church congregation) there. There were probably 100 of us (or more) & we took over a big field right next to the Moselle River, set up blankets, canopies, chairs, & had a blast. Almost everyone arrived around 1 or 2 in the afternoon & we stayed until 9:30 for fireworks. The teens all took off together at dinner time & hung out at the carnival for HOURS together. The younger kids found friends & played board games on blankets or frisbee in the field while the adults gathered together & talked. It was SO MUCH FUN.
At 8:40, the rain started to come down & when I say come down, I mean, DRENCHING Amazon Rain Forest rain. Everyone started cleaning up their blankets & chairs as we all crammed underneath the few canopies we had set up for 15 minutes hoping the rain would end. It rained for 20 minutes & we thought for sure the fireworks show would be cancelled. I mean, how do you light WET fireworks? But leave it Germany to figure it out.
The rain stopped, we waited in quiet anticipation hoping to see a firework or two.
And GERMANY WINS MY HEART!
The firework display was amazing. They couldn't do the entire show (the fireworks from the castle wouldn't light because it was so wet), but we were SO very grateful they did some for us even in the wet rain.
This was one of the best days we've experience here in Germany. SO much fun, SO much history, SO much excitement, SO many friends, & SO many awesome fireworks.
Adventure is Out There:
Bernkastel-Kues is just a small city & is open year round. There are wine fests throughout the year & they have a fantastic Weihnachtsmarkt every Christmas season. Go there for mini-Moselle cruises, shopping, & enjoy the MANY restaurants. It's beautiful.
The castle is open to the public. There is a restaurant inside, but it on the fancier side (great for a date night, but leave the kiddos home). The food is fabulous there.
