After some family drama I could finally start after lunch. This is the first time I went up the hill in Wackernheim, very steep for quite a while. I was surprised, how well it went. I even got thumbs up from car drivers coming the other way, although they had to wait for me.
At the top it was bleak and windy. When going past the barracks I could hear them practising shooting, quite eary with nobody else around. No pictures allowed.
My first break was at a political wine tasting at the Wagner vineyard in Essenheim. Nina Wagner is a Green candidate for the ‘Landtag’ in Rheinland-Pfalz and had invited Katharina Dröge, the leader of the Greens in the national parliament. To my amazement I actually knew some people there, some of the Greens from Ingelheim had also come. The politics was very interesting, good insights from Berlin.
Another hilly bit further I stopped in Mainz-Hechtsheim for a wine tasting of the local vineyards combined with an art exhibition and market. Amazing, how varied the taste of the different white grapes is! I have a lot to learn.
The last stretch to Bodenheim was mainly downhill, but it was already getting darker, and it started raining/drizzling. I was glad to arrive at my hotel for the night, the Battenheimer Hof, to warm up. The restaurant had an open fire, very nice.
I don’t know what you mean by family drama 😉 but it looks like a really good afternoon!