"Weinfest 2.0" or: just another bacchanalian weekend in Wachenheim

Another belated post during a period in which blogging has come a distant second to the day job. Though this is not to say I haven't forgotten the "playing hard" bit on one or two occasions. A case in point was our trip to Wachenheim to take in the "Burg-und Weinfest" on Whit Sunday (12 June).

Visits to this wine fest have become an annual affair over the years, not least because of the lovely views over the Rhine plain afforded from our perch at Wachtenburg castle over multiple Rieslingschorles. Good friends living in the Heidelberg area have been known to make the trip with me as well. In recent years, however, the "Weinfest" bit down in the village has lagged behind the "Burgfest" somewhat in terms of entertainment and general atmosphere.

With this in mind, a group of locals went proactive this year and set about trying to put things right. What they did was set up a blog expounding the virtues of "Weinfest 2.0", which I'm sure some of you will realise is nod to "Web 2.0". Personally, I get confused with definitions like these. Nevertheless, the motives behind the blog - to give the wine fest the proverbial shot in the arm through active online "Web 2.0" interaction - seemed very worthwhile. I started following the blog's twitter account back in the spring in order to keep abreast of goings-on with regard to the Burg- und Weinfest, so it was with quite a bit more anticipation than usual that we took the train up from Basel on the Sunday morning.

I travelled to Wachenheim with Jenny of course, along with Chris and Carly (two friends from Jenny's home village in Suffolk who were visiting) and two other English friends, Richard and Kate from Basel. Perry, one of the Wachenheim stalwarts who live in Heidelberg, also joined us at the castle later on in the afternoon.

We didn't partake in any "Weinfest 2.0" shenanigans as such, either virtual or in real life, but we had a great time nonetheless. After a long journey (we'd travelled "Schönes Wochenende" class), we checked into our hotel and made our way to the courtyard of Schloss Wachenheim for a celebratory glass of bubby, before walking up to Wachtenburg itself. We love it up there, and Sunday 12 June 2011 was a great day for it. The weather was perfect, the views were perfect, the general atmosphere was too. We finally made it down into town later on in the evening, where, I have to say, the efforts of Weinfest 2.0 seemed to have paid off. There appeared to be more things going on in general, plus a very good mix of young and old all round.

I was told recently by one of my clients that another translator colleague of mine refers to jaunts such as these as "bacchanalian weekends". I have to say that this was one of the best.