Tag Archive for: wine

Wine Tasting at Ktima Roussos Winery

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Tour of the Ktima Roussos Winery on Paros, Greece

On Paros, wine doesn’t just flow into glasses; it runs through the island’s very history. Over 3,000 years ago, people here planted the first vines – archaeological finds from the Mycenaean era prove that wine shaped culture, trade, and social life then just as it does today. Ancient amphorae tell tales of exports to neighbouring islands, while local festivals celebrated the grape juice. Even today, winemakers rely on old grape varieties like Monemvasia and Mandilaria, combining traditional methods with modern techniques to bring the island’s heritage to life in every bottle. Read more

Eguisheim – Home of Storks and a Pope

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An elderly woman with a vacuum cleaner cleans the cobblestones in Rue du Rempart with medieval half-timbered houses in the backlight of the morning sun, Eguisheim, Alsace, France

Eguisheim marked the end of our journey along the spring-like Wine Route in southern Alsace. Here too, we were once again greeted by the familiar sight of Alsace: winding alleys, window boxes overflowing with flowers, intricately adorned half-timbered houses on facades that glowed in colourful or warm earthy tones – just like in Ribeauvillé, Riquewihr, Colmar or Kaysersberg. And yet, Eguisheim was different. Read more

Bike Tour Through the Vineyards to Kaysersberg

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Colourful half-timbered houses in the old town of Kaysersberg, Alsace, France

From my base in Riquewihr, I was able to take short and long bike tours through the vineyards along the Southern Wine Route in Alsace. A rather short tour took me to Kaysersberg, another Alsatian wine village with a long, eventful history and an old town full of well-preserved historic buildings – despite the bitter battles against the German Wehrmacht in the winter of 1944/45. Read more

Colmar – Colourful Hues on Artworks and Facades

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The river Lauch and half-timbered houses on the banks of the

Before we concluded the final leg of our journey along the Alsace Wine Route in Eguisheim, we drove from Riquewihr to nearby Colmar, which always seems to stand in Strasbourg’s shadow.

In the mornings, when the sunlight glides over the brightly painted facades and reflects in the glassy eyes of the shop windows, Colmar begins to glow. Not a hectic awakening, but a gentle opening of the senses – everything in this city is steeped in colour and history. Colmar’s old town is an architectural picture book, its pages told in half-timbering, sandstone, and cobblestones. Amidst canals, church spires, and winding alleys, a backdrop unfolds that appears both medievally rooted and picturesquely staged. Yet Colmar is no mere historical backdrop; history is the foundation of its present and future. Read more

Riquewihr – A Feast of Half-Timbered Houses, History, and Delights

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Colourful half-timbered houses in the deserted old town of Riquewihr in the early morning sun, Alsace, France

The second leg of our journey along the Southern Wine Route in Alsace took us from Ribeauvillé to the nearby Riquewihr (Reichenweiher), just a few kilometres away. I had already covered the route the day before on a bike tour through the vineyards and taken a first stroll through the old town to look for photo opportunities. Read more

Ribeauvillé – Between Vines, Ruins, and Romance

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The Grand Rue with the Siedel Renaissance half-timbered house and guests on the terrace of the Three Kings Inn in the old town of Ribeauvillé, Alsace, France

We drove the last few kilometres through lush green hills full of vineyards, until finally the colourful half-timbered houses of Ribeauvillé announced the destination of our first stage of this journey along the Southern Wine Route in Alsace. My home is the Northern Black Forest, so many decades ago we often visited Northern Alsace for hiking, cycling, or simply to eat Flammkuchen. We had never made it to Southern Alsace, to the area around Colmar, and had thus missed out on places worth seeing like Ribeauvillé, Riquewihr, Colmar, Kaysersberg and Eguisheim – but that was about to change. Read more

Korčula and Orebić – Dalmatia’s binary star

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Motorboats and sailing boats in Orebic harbour in front of the green slopes and karst rock faces of the Sveti Ilija mountain massif on the Pelješac peninsula in the evening sun, Dalmatia, Croatia

The towns of Korčula and Orebić lie within sight of each other, separated only by a narrow strait. Both towns – often ruled by different powers throughout history, and today unequally famous among travellers – nevertheless form a kind of tourist binary star in the impressive coastal landscape of southern Dalmatia. Where Korčula delights with its medieval old town, Orebić boasts magnificent 18th and 19th-century captains’ villas. Opposite Korčula’s gentle, wooded hills and sandy beaches, the karst, rocky mountain ranges of the Pelješac peninsula with the peak of Sv. Iljia rise steeply from the sea, inviting you on scenic hikes. Read more