Diebersbach – Weinbergblick - corner of Rohrbach and Weinstalstrasse

We woke up Friday morning ready to go.  Kim made us slingers and we headed to the bank to get some money.  We met Alex, Jenni, and Dave immediately after and they drove us to the airport.  Once we boarded our flight I was relieved after all the headaches we went through to assure our flights were okay.  The flight was okay with the exception of Matt using the barf bag after a nice big chew and maybe a little motion sickness.  By the end of the 8 hours we finally arrive at the Frankfurt airport.  

After departing the airplane we went through a maze due to airport construction to find our baggage which we finally located and went directly to Avis to get our AutoBus.  After seeing the size of our AutoBus I was a little intimidated by the size of it but was pumped at the same time.  It took a little while to get used to but in no time we were flying down the Autobahn.  I topped out a 98 but averaged about 80.  It was definitely an experience!  Too bad the others were passed out and missed it.  Matt did hang for the entire trip except 15 minutes.

Finding the Rammersweier Hof was a little difficult but when we finally found it we made ourselves right at home.  They were very hospitable and welcomed us right in.  Keith and Barb arrived later after a nice 2 hr power nap.  Keith and Barb were delayed on the train ride down due to a suicide on their train so needless to say they were a little rattled and worn out. 

The whole grouped convened around 2:30 and we decided to START THE GOOD TIMES!  After some thought we decided to head to the home of the Schweiss origins.....Diebersbach, Oberkirch.  We managed to locate the street where our ancestors are from and it took us down a winding logging road about 1.5 miles. 






 There was one main house along the road which had 3 dates on it.  We decided not to knock on the door but it is very possible this was the Schweiss's home back in the early 1800s.  The nostalgic feel was awesome and I didn't want to leave.  

Luckily we found a restaurant/bar/bowling alley adjacent to the diebersbach road.  After sharing 4 orders of snitzel, brotte, scrambled eggs, sausages, and of course many biers I decided to sneak into the back room where I located a VERY old german bowling alley.  

 Ganter Pilsner

Our waitress informed us that the bowling was only 6 euros per hour so we decided to let the games begin.  I gotta say that I was the worst bowler in the group.  Kim won the first game and Keith won the second game and Krista got the only strike which consisted of 9 pins (not 10 as normal bowling).









  Our waitress was great and very reluctant to accept tips but she finally accepted.  After many beers consumed we went outside and Jenni discovered the "mountain goats".  She proceeded to feed them beer out of her stein however the goats did not like it and started bucking and ran away.  Many pics were taken which were very humorous.  

We paid our bill on hopped in the bus.  I took them the back way which circle through the wine country.  The little towns were breathtaking and we couldn't believe how it was possible to build vineyards on such steep inclines.  We stopped by a village called Durbach and attempted to find Schweiss's in a local cemetery but we were unsuccessful.  




We decided to try out a bar in Offenburg and ended up at the Alcatraz (Ketterer Bier) bar next to the train station.  The bier was good and we played darts and talked to a creepy old dude that knew Axel Schweiss which he mentioned as a joke as being smelly.  After the girls got a little creeped out we went to the gas station and bought many biers and wine.  I believe everyone was completed DRUNK besides me.  Jenni and matt bought a mixture of bier, wine, water and redbull.  






After about 40 minutes in the gas staion we made it out and made it back to the Rammersweier Hof.  We met a school group from Latvia who were staying in the rooms next to us.  They were only 17 so we bummed them alot of beer and cigarettes.  They mentioned that they were on the Latvian beer drinking team and they been drinking since they were ten.  We continued to drink and drink and once we ran out of the beer purchased at the gas station, we went down to the Hof Bar.  The students accompanied us and we were under the watchful eyes of their teachers setting a good example of course.  They kept telling us how good they were at drinking so someone had to call them out....Unfortunately that person was me.  I decided to challenge the Latvian Beer Team President to a chugging contest.  We leveled our drinks off and started chugging.....3 or 4 seconds later I was declared winner.  BUT it didn't stop there.  The Latvian President's henchman, Jonnes, and self-proclaimed MVBD (most valuable beer drinker) challenged me immediately.  I proceeded to take him down by about a half of a drink....But it didn't matter I WON, and the beer drinking championship was in the hands of the Americans! 





 After slamming two beers Jonnes, Heil, and I had to pee.  Jonnes directed us outside and Matt decided to urinate right outside the door...Apparently that is not acceptable as I witnessed from the yard directly across from the Hof.  Jonnes and I were safe but Matt was nailed.  He went to his room and we decided to follow.  We kept drinking on the patio but Matt I knew it was time to go to bed when we saw Keiths eyes closing.  It was the only time EVER that I saw Keith's body was giving out on him.  Heil and I had outlasted him....This was definately the first.  So day 1 was down....OFF TO DAY TWO AND NEW ADVENTURES!!