We had cloudy skies yesterday and it was a bit chilly. It always amazes me how September seems to signal Germany to cool off. It could be hot as the flames of Hell throughout August, but as soon as September comes, the temperatures dip. I like it, and we definitely needed the rain, although rainy weather makes me not want to venture out as much.
There was a wine market fest going on in nearby Mainz at the city park. I had wanted to go last weekend, when the weather was sunny and beautiful. But we were too sad to go out, since we lost Zane on the last day of August. Yesterday was the last day of the festival, so we decided to go out despite the weather. Mainz is probably about twenty minutes from where we live, just over the Rhein River.
We parked at a garage that was maybe a five to seven minute walk from the park. It required a walk up some steep steps to get to the road that passes the park’s entrance. I’m not sure if there is a parking area that is closer and more convenient. We’ll have to explore the area more. Really, we just need to visit Mainz more. It’s a fantastic city.
Here are some pictures from our jaunt to the Mainzer Stadtpark. We will have to visit it again when the weather is sunny. It’s a very pleasant park.
The flowers spell “I <3 Mainz.” 
There were a few animals there, including ducks and flamingoes. 
And over 100 booths with food, wine, and gifts. 
Raclette, anyone? I am not a fan. 
You can always count on beautifully tended flowers almost everywhere in Germany. 
And lots of fancy food carts. 
Bill bought us pretzels fresh from the oven. 
But I could tell he’d rather eat mushrooms… which are of the devil. 
Or fresh flammkuechen. 
We finally stopped at the top of the hill for wine. 
There was a cute little girl there singing German rhymes about Hesse. 
A nice Riesling. 
We had salmon for lunch. I had a Salmon brotchen and Bill had a wrap. I ignored the apostrophe abuse. 
They cooked the salmon over a fire. Delicious! 
Bill responsibly started drinking water. I had rose. 
And then I had more Riesling… 
Another hilltop, another Riesling… 
It’s hard to believe I used to dislike Rieslings. 
Lisa Stansfield is coming to town… but I’d rather see the Red Hot Chili Pipers. 
A clown made balloon animals. 
And we bought a new broom for the house. 
I was impressed by the horsehair products… 
They were expensive, though… 60 euros for our broom. We brought in some customers, because they were hit with a crowd as we left. 
This was my favorite part… 
I love feeding goats! 
This one couldn’t be bothered, though. 
And we picked up some waffle sweets for home. 
I still <3 Germany. 
Crossing the Rhein. 
This was some kind of party truck that went through our neighborhood. Guess someone was having a bash.
I’m glad we went to the wine market/fest. We need to visit Mainz more often. It’s a very nice city that has a different vibe than Wiesbaden has, and it’s so close to where we live now. If we’re still in Germany a year from now, we’ll have to go back and give this festival more time. They do it every year, the last weekend of August and the first weekend of September.
When we got home, Bill received a phone call from Max at Dog on Holiday. Max and his wife, Christine, used to take care of Zane and Arran all the time when we lived in Stuttgart. Bill had emailed Max to tell him about Zane’s death, and Max called and left a message of condolences. He was on the brink of tears. He got ahold of Bill last night and asked what happened. Bill explained Zane’s last couple of weeks, then said he hoped Max thought we’d given him a good home. Max, who had just seen the memorial video I made for Zane said, “Trust me, you did.” That was so nice to hear. Max and his wife are the absolute best.
Hopefully, a year from now, I’ll be in better spirits.