Impressions of Baden

Baden is part of Baden Wuerttemberg in the south west corner of Germany (think the bottom left when you look at the German map), close to France and Switzerland. Wine making is big business here, there are hardly no hills that are not covered with vines. Summer has returned .... temperatures in the 70s, sunshine, blue skies .... I am really starting to enjoy my vacation. Many of you probably heard me talking about how the wine country and Marin reminds me a lot of home (Baden). Well I tried to proof my point and took advantage of the great weather yesterday to explore the area and take some pics. I took over 50 shots, but believe it or not I am working with a dial-up connection here, so 4 pics have to be enough for today. Hope this will give you some idea about how nice it is here.

Vineyard in Ettenheim (Baden)

Wine growing is much different in my home state. Geographical reasons (there are lots of rolling hills ) prevent almost large industrial farming. For economical reasons (easier maintenance) as well as to expose the vines to the sun better grape growers started to build out terraces, changing the landscape quite a bit.

Freshly planted vines Ettenheim (Baden)

I was running through the vineyards one sunny day (yes, I was running although it was pretty steep at times) when I passed this field. The farmers had just started plowing the field. When I past the field the next morning again, they were already done planting the vines. Now they just have to provide some TLC for a while and after a couple of years they will get their first harvest.

More vineyards .....

Here is a shot that somehow shows the terraces I was mentioning earlier. In the 70s grape growers really started out changing the landscape without any consideration of the environment. They create an almost artificial landscape free of all vegetation, except vines of course. Similar to some developments in the Napa region where large grape growers bulldoze entire hillsides to be able to use larger equipment. Later on folks came to their senses again and reversed the process a little.

Ettenheim (Baden) a small Barock town

A small little town that still has a little medieval flair. The city was build in circles within the city wall and then adding a new circle and a new wall over time. There are plenty of old houses, small cobble stone streets - very nice.