Spring seems to be arriving in the Moseltal - the Sun has been shining, the buds are thinking of bursting forth, the vitners are pruning and the Hoteliers and Restauranteurs are opening up the shutters of Winter, washing down the Summertime Cafe Spots and giving the umbrellas a good dusting.
It's also a good time to get my new painting underway - I've had the idea in my head for a while now, but it was getting a bit lonely in there all by itself. I said before that it's going to be a painting of a swan against the 'backdrop' of the Kloster Stuben......
....... The middle picture is one that I did of the aforementioned Stuben last year - so this is going to be a bit of history and a bit of local wildlife mixed together. The Kloster Stuben is a ruined Augustine Abbey and is situated on the opposite bank of the Mosel across from the Calmont Slope - which is the steepest vineyard in Europe and has 'Bremmer Calmont' in big white letters stuck into the ground a bit like the Hollywood sign.
And while we're getting all historical, today - the 6th March - is Saint Fridolin's Day. Fridolin was an Irish Abbot who is said to have founded our village of Eller and has a stained glass window dedicated to him in the local Church of Saint Hilarius.
He is often depicted with a dead body (you can just about see the skull in the photo), because as the story goes, he raised the dead to prove that he had been given land as a gift on which to build his churches.
H's latest novel is about the life of Saint Fridolin when he lived in Eller, so we had Spaghetti Bolognese to celebrate. During his research, H came across an old song, or a poem written in Mosel-Franconian, the local dialect (don't ask). Roughly translated it comes out as the following and is probably best appreciated with a pint of Mosel-Hefe (don't ask about that either).
Holy Fridolin, Holy Fridolin,
We hail you on this day,
The winter it is passed,
Now Spring is on the way,
The 6th of March it is your name day,
We celebrate it every year,
On this day we prune the grapes,
For the harvest soon to come,
Happy in our task for winter is now done.
But we remember daily,
that you gave to us this home,
In Holy Hilarius' church,
We chant thy holy name.
Then to St Rochas' chapel go,
And a votive candle light,
That burns all through the special day
and deep into the night.
So, Soon,
Tschüss!
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