A late summer stroll through Weil a. Rh.

Another beautiful Sunday meanders its way slowly to sunset. Weil am Rhein can be very lovely at this time of year. The grapes are not yet ready, so the paths that wind their way through the various vineyards are not yet closed for harvest. As summer winds down, we need to take advantage of fair weather to relish what God has created for us to enjoy.

We had a great worship in the morning, but we nearly always arrive back home tired. We ate a simple meal and read through Der Sonntag newspaper. This is one of the two free newpapers that get delivered in our mailbox. Did I mention that mailboxes are much more open in Germany than in the States. Not only is your official post placed there, but all sorts of ads and such (like our free newpapers) are stuffed right into the box. We, like many other folks, get tired of all the junk ads that we ignore and have to recycle, so we put a label on our mailbox that asks for no advertisements. And do you know what? The people that distribute the stuff actually respect our request and don't put ads in our mailbox. Anyway, I digress.

For some reason, reading through a newspaper (regardless of the language) always puts us in the mood for a Sunday afternoon nap, so we threw in some wash (which gives us a good 90 minutes until it is done), read a little more and dozed for a while. We awoke refreshed and the weather had turned warmer and clearer than expected. After finishing up our chores, we decided to take advantage of the fortuitous climate and stroll up to the vineyards east of town.

Our stroll took us up above the towns of Weil and Haltingen (the picture immediately below is of the town of Haltingen). There are kilometers and kilometers of roads (tractor paths mostly) that criss-cross the vineyards and apple orchards blanketing the hillside above our town. We came across these wonderful sunflowers as they were turned to catch the rays of the evening sun - they look so happy...
The vineyards are getting heavy with grapes, nearly ready for the harvest. The harvest should begin by late this month or early next. Already, some grapes are being harvested for juice - and let me tell you there is nothing that compares to fresh pressed grape (or apple) juice. We are so fortunate to live where this is all so abundantly available. Mmmmm. I apologize, but we just received a call from some friends of ours inviting us out for a kugel (italian ice cream), so enjoy the pictures below while we go for a much earned ice cream (we walked for 90 minutes!).

Okay, we are back. I had a Cherry-cream and Stracciatella (sort of italian chocolate-chip) double scoop and Delynn had a Stracciatella and Chocolate. We are very satisified...

Oh yeah, garden gnomes are quite popular in this part of the country. They are called Zwerge in German and they come in all shapes and sizes. This one seemed quite content in his garden home...

The Rathausplatz in Weil am Rhein. Next week, Weil will be celebrating with a street festival in the old city (Altstadt) - it is the start of festival season throughout the region, so we will have lots to fill up our weekends. We pray that everyone has a blessed week. Keep the faith!