and speaking of wine

 

The view from the castle ruins.

One of my favorite stops was the ruin of an amazing castle in Heidelberg.  Our guide kept insisting that this was a ruin, not a castle, although it certainly started life as a castle with a very romantic story. Girl loves boy (royalty style) but she must marry an old man (young boy's uncle I think) for political reasons. But, just before the wedding, the old man dies, so girl is allowed to marry her young love.  He builds her a lavish castle and they evidently live happily ever after, if 12 children are any indication.  

One feature of the ruin was, deep in a basement, a huge wine barrel, believed to be the largest in the world.  Evidently the peasants paid their annual taxes in wine, all of which was poured into the large wine barrel.  We were told that the resultant mixture didn't taste very good and, because I have a nasty suspicious mind, I found myself wondering if the peasants, not thrilled by the lavish lifestyle of the loving couple, may have contributed some bodily fluids to the mix.