Last Day International Seminar Class XI supermarket of the future and winery in Germany
A niche farm, a supermarket, and a winery tour…what a way to end an amazing trip! SDARL Class XI ended our international seminar in Europe on Monday with a few final tours and a wonderful supper celebrating our tour guide, Mathilde.
We started at the Bauernladen Hof Erbenheim Farm, where one of the owners, Michael, showed us his apple orchard, small greenhouses, and his shop. They transitioned their farm from a ‘traditional’ farm in the 1980s when it became clear that the farm wouldn’t survive against the production of larger operations. Today, they grow fruits and vegetables and sell them locally along with supplying them to preschools and elementary schools in the local area. Where there’s a will to keep a farm operational, there’s a way!
We then traveled to a local supermarket that Michael’s farm supplies fruit and vegetables to during certain parts of the year. This supermarket also has a greenhouse on the roof – we didn’t get to tour that, but it is an interesting concept for a grocery store. What a great way to use a giant roof!
Our final tour was at a winery, where we heard from the 7th generation wine maker. She went to school for winemaking and has since took it over from her father. She shared that Germany had over 100,000 hectares of vineyards for the winery industry in the country and the area they are in is one of the best (which we can confirm…the wine was delicious).
We ended the night with a supper to celebrate and thank our wonderful tour guide, Mathilde. She shared so much information with us during our two weeks in Europe and somehow kept 30 Americans on track and in line.
Today (Tuesday) is travel day – a few of our classmates headed off to explore more of Europe with their spouse or a friend and the rest of the group flew home. What an amazing 14 days for SDARL Class XI – with memories and lessons that will last a lifetime.
If you’re interested in experiencing your own International Seminar, apply for SDARL Class XII before applications close on March 20.
