5 June ’04, Saturday. Winding twisting Mosel...what a beautiful sight, taste, and aroma all wrapped up into one. Well, I’m jumping ahead a little. Last night after dinner, Louise and I were just settling in (I was doing my journal) and our neighbors came home. They were carrying a bottle of wine with them from one of the many wineries. Well, I hate to say it but this was an opportunity to open a conversation (if they spoke English), so I flung our door open and said “Hi”. This is all it took and the rest of the evening was about to begin. Warner and Eri (Raiser) came into our lives (remember, they had the wine). Just kidding, they are a couple that are on vacation here on the Mosel (from a town just outside of Stuttgard) and they just happen to have a VW Campervan as well (only theirs is just like new but a couple of years newer). They were gracious enough to offer their wealth (the wine) which we found very tasty. After a late night and getting up very late this morning we said goodbye to Warner, Eri, and Neumagen and headed further up river. After passing through many incredible villages we finally pulled into Bernkastel-Kues. We knew a week or more ago that we wanted to stay here but really didn’t know it would be so soon. Oh yes, we did stop in Piesporter. Louise and I first fell in love with a Piesporter Goldtrofen Spatlese in Spokane quite a few years ago so we definitely wanted to pick up at least a couple more bottles now. As it was we bought 4 and would have bought more but we just don’t have the space…. We do look forward to some “good drinkin” in the next few weeks while here in the Mosel Valley and beyond. Enough about wine…(is there ever enough?)…we have some exploring to do as well. The two villages of Bernkastel and Kues (1 on one side of the river and 1 on the other) offer romance in all the unique nooks, crannies, narrow lanes and picturesque architecture. This is like stepping into a fairytale book and living it as well. There is a lot of history here starting with 700 years of history with the town gate. Enough for now….Tomorrow….Bernkastel and Kues (with out cars, trucks, motorcycles).