Oktoberfest

If you’re reading this I bet you’re having a heart attack. But yes, we’re back and yes, it’s a new blog. It’s hard to believe it’s almost been a year since we last posted. Lots has happened and hopefully now I have some time to update everyone back home on the last year of our European adventure. This blog comes at an appropriate time as Oktoberfest is right around the corner. Being the most famous of all German festivals we figured we had to go at least once, so one (unfortunately rainy) Saturday we set off for Munich to experience the real, the first, the largest, and the original Oktoberfest!

For those not familiar with German beer festivals, they are setup like any other fair or festival with carnival rides and food booths but in addition to that they have several different beer tents. Currently, Munich’s Oktoberfest has 14 large tents, some of which can seat over 10,000 people, and 20 small tents, which seat only a few hundred. Typically a ticket is required to get into the tents. Tickets go on sale in January and unless purchased early, they can be difficult and very expensive to get. If a tent is not full, people can go in without a ticket but this rarely happens at Oktoberfest. Because we are not beer drinkers, we figured there was no need to have tickets for a tent, we would just go, walk around and check out everything else.

After a two-hour drive, we arrived at a train station in Munich. We took the train into the heart of the city because finding parking around the world’s largest fair was going to be an impossible task.

Gray skies and festival rides.

The entrance to one of the large beer tents.

Andy’s favorite bratwurst stand, according to him they had the best steak sandwiches!

More large beer tents. These things are huge, some even have two stories.

Chocolate-dipped and candied fruit – typical fest sweets.

As the day went on, the rain got worse and worse.

A sea of umbrellas is not what you want to find at Oktoberfest. Not only were we wet but the trash from thousands of visitors all over the ground made the place a mess. All the white specks you see on the ground are disintegrating napkins and other trash. It was gross!

Unfortunately, our time at Oktoberfest was disappointing. With bad weather and huge weekend crowds, we did not think it was worth all the hype. However, Munich is not the only city in Germany to host a fall beer festival, many other cities around the country do so as well. In Stuttgart the fall beer festival is known as Volksfest.

Several days after our trip to Oktoberfest, we took the train into Stuttgart (on a fortunately beautiful day) to experience Cannstatter Volksfest.

We started the day with our favorite fest food: a bratwurst…

a steak sandwich and pommes (french fries). You may not be able to tell by this picture, but my husband loves his steak sandwiches!!!

A Volksfest beer tent.

After experiencing almost a years worth of German festivals, we were really beginning to crave some typical American fried fair food. You know…corn dogs, elephant ears, funnel cakes…any one would do. But all we were finding were bratwursts, steak sandwiches, fries, candied fruit, chocolate dipped fruit, and corn-on-the-cob. This all changed with our trip to Volksfest, when we discovered the lango!

Pictured above, the lango is deep-fried dough with a variety of topping options – our favorite being cinnamon and sugar. Finally, we got our fried food fix!

Since we were at Volksfest on a Thursday midday most of the tents were pretty empty so we decided to venture inside and see what we had been missing.

We checked out all the tents to find the most exciting one.

After visiting all the tents, we decided this one was the best. Although many of the tables were empty, all the people in the picture above are standing on the benches singing and dancing the day away with the live band.

We got a table in the back and enjoyed some beer tent food – half a chicken and a roll. After one bite it was clear we had been missing out! Fest chicken is incredible!!!

We ended the day sitting at our table enjoying our chicken and the entertainment of Volksfest goers singing and dancing to typical fest music, sounding something like this…Sweet Caroline, duh duh duh, good times never seemed so good, So Good, SO GOOD!!!

Edelweiss

Edelweiss, Edelweiss
Every morning you greet me
Small and white clean and bright
You look happy to meet me.

Although we did not see any Edelweiss (or, if we did, we didn’t realize it) during our weekend getaway to the Edelweiss Lodge and Resort, we nonetheless had a wonderful trip. This Armed Forces Recreation Center is located in the heart of the Bavarian Alps in the city of Garmisch-Partenkirchen.

We set out on a three-hour road trip, that really took four because of traffic, for this beautiful resort. Because it was a Friday evening our GPS routed us off of the autobahn due to traffic and put us on the backroads. As we meandered through the gorgeous German countryside, we passed some of the most beautiful Bavarian towns. I did my best to get photos but most of them didn’t turn out very well.

We were greeted by the Alps as we got back on the autobahn.

We made it!

The Edelweiss Lodge and Resort.

The main lobby at the lodge.

Our room. Finally, we had one comforter that covered the whole bed instead of two small, individual ones, which seems to be the European standard. Because it was late in the evening when we arrived, we checked out the hotel amenities and then went to bed.

Saturday morning we woke up and decided to check out the Partnach Gorge, which was only a few minutes drive from the hotel. We parked at the Olympic Skiing Stadium built for the 1936 Winter Olympics that were held in Garmisch-Partenkirchen and walked into the gorge.

The Partnach River paralleled the road as we walked to the gorge.

A tunnel near the entrance to the gorge.

On the left is the narrow path going through the gorge. If you look closely you can see water coming down from the rocks. It looks like rain and felt like rain but it wasn’t. There was not a cloud in sight on this 90°F day but in the gorge we got so wet that we were actually cold.

The gorge is 2,303 feet long and, in places, over 260 feet deep.

Andy at the other end of the gorge.

The river before it enters the gorge. We turned around at this point and headed back through the gorge to our car.

Our next stop was Lake Eibsee, which lies at the base of the Zugspitze, Germany’s highest mountain standing 9,717 feet above sea level.

After walking around part of the lake, we went back to the lodge for dinner.

Please take note of the ice in our beverages and the complimentary bread, butter and water on the table. These items are very rare in Germany so we indulged ourselves!

The Zugspitze greeted us Sunday morning right outside of the hotel. Our plan for the day was to find the other popular alpine lakes in the area before heading home.

Most of the lakes had a hotel and biergarten located right on the shore. This is the beautiful hotel located on the Riessersee, the first lake we found.

The Riessersee with what we think is the Zugspitze in the background. 

Our favorite alpine lake was the Badersee. It was the smallest of the five that we visited but it had the clearest water we had ever seen. Plus, the walk around it was beautiful!

The Pflegersee was farther up in the hills than any of the other lakes so there was no hotel nearby but, of course, there was a biergarten; thus, when hiking in the German Alps, fear not, you will be able to get a bier just about anywhere!

After finding one more lake we turned on the GPS and headed home, ending our Edelweiss adventure.

Blossom of snow may you bloom and grow
Bloom and grow forever
Edelweiss, Edelweiss
Bless my homeland forever.

Bonjour France!

Our second trip of the summer was to France. But where exactly were we going… maybe Strasbourg? or PARIS!!!

Unfortunately, we only had time for a day trip so we chose the closer of the two, Strasbourg!

About an hour and a half away from our home, Strasbourg is situated on the border with Germany on the Ill River where it flows into the Rhine River. This beautiful city showcases a unique culture that stems from its blend of French and German roots. Needless to say, we loved it! 

A double-decker merry-go-round.

I enjoy taking pictures of doors. There are lots of beautiful ones here.

After walking around the city for a few hours, we stopped at this café for lunch.

After lunch we checked out the incredible Strasbourg Cathedral. Construction of the cathedral took place from 1176 to 1439 and from 1647 to 1874 it was the world’s tallest building. Today, it is the sixth-tallest church in the world, as well as the highest structure built entirely in the Middle Ages that remains standing. We have to say, it was pretty amazing. All the intricate detail everywhere was astonishing; it’s no surprise that it took 263 years to build.

The main entrance to the cathedral. Like I said, another beautiful door!

And another.

The mix of architectural styles in this city was so neat.

The next item on our agenda for the day was a boat tour of the city on a boat like this one.

The 70-minute boat tour took us around the Grande Île, an island created as the Ill River splits up into numerous canals and cascades through a small, picturesque area of baroque sandstone buildings and medieval half-timbered houses. Plus, we were able to listen to an English commentary throughout the tour to learn about the local history and culture.

The first district that we went through on the tour was Petite France; it is known as the most picturesque district of old Strasbourg. In the Middle Ages, this area was full of tanning-houses and slaughterhouses.

At this point in the tour, we were stopped in the first of two locks on the canals. The building is the Maison de Tanneurs, or house of the tanners, and is one of the most recognizable buildings in Petite France.

Continuing on from Petite France, we came to the medieval bridge Ponts Couverts, or Covered Bridges. This bridge has kept its name despite the fact that it lost its roofs back in the 18th century. It is overlooked by four towers dating from the 14th century, only one can be seen in this photo.  

Another gorgeous church, St Paul’s Church of Strasbourg, that we passed on the tour.

Going away from the Grande Île, we entered the more modern area of Strasbourg. This funky building is the European Court of Human Rights.

This huge building (only a portion is shown in the photo) is the official seat of the European Parliament. Apparently lots of important things happen in Strasbourg; who knew!

This gorgeous building is one of the dorms at the University of Strasbourg.

After the boat tour, we strolled around the city. We wanted to check out Petite France on foot. While doing so we looked for a place for dinner.

But who needs dinner when you find delicious doughnuts like these?!

Shutters. I love them. And they actually use them in this part of the world. So cool!

We finally settled on this restaurant, Le Gruber, for dinner.

To our pleasant surprise, French restaurants offer quite a few more options than just pork (the favorite in Germany). It was great! After dinner we headed back to the car and home for the evening.

Stay tuned for our next summer adventure.

Au revoir!

Lake Constance

Well summer came and went in the blink of an eye. Life got in the way, so our blog was put on the back burner for a while. But we’re back now and ready to get you all caught up on our summer excursions! The first of which (and probably our favorite) was a weekend getaway to the beautiful Lake Constance, which is central Europe’s third largest lake. It is situated in the foothills of the Alps and located in three countries: Germany, Switzerland and Austria. For our trip we decided to stay in Germany and visit the lakeside village of Langenargen, which was about a two-hour drive from our home.

The beautiful town of Langenargen featured a lakeside promenade that began in front of our hotel and stretched for several blocks lined with restaurants, hotels, flower beds, and benches. The tall building on the left in the photo above was our hotel.

 

The inside of our room. Please note the bedding on the queen bed in the photo. There is no top sheet, only the two smaller-than-twin-size-blankets that you see. In every European hotel that we have stayed in the bedding has been like this. We don’t get to share one large blanket, we each get our own small one. It’s weird.

Andy enjoying our lunch along the promenade shortly after arriving.

After walking along the promenade, we came to Schloss Montfort. Located at the end of the promenade, it was originally built in the 14th century by the Count of Montfort. Between 1861 and 1866, it was rebuilt in the current Moorish-style by King Wilhelm I of Württemberg. Following its reconstruction, Princess Luise of Prussia used it as her summer residence for 30 years. We could certainly get used to such a place as our summer residence!  

Homes lining the bank of the lake.

While walking along the promenade we had seen people up at the top of the castle. We figured there was probably a castle tour, so we went in to investigate. As it turned out there was no tour. Most of the building was closed to the public except for a restaurant, located on the ground level, and the top lookout. So we decided to give it a go and take the stairs all the way to the top.

There were a lot of stairs!

But all the stairs were worth it. The view from the top was beautiful! This photo shows the promenade and town situated along the lake.

The land behind us, across the lake, is Switzerland.

After making our way down the stairs we stopped in the castle restaurant, where we were thinking of having dinner, to ask if they had an English menu. Unfortunately, they did not and only one staff member spoke English, but he kindly took us aside and translated the whole menu for us on the spot. After deciding to make a reservation for that evening, he said he could offer us the Romeo and Juliet table. He pointed to a small table, set for two, situated right in front of a window overlooking the water. Wow! Don’t know what he thought was so special about us, considering we showed up to this beautiful restaurant in our swimming suits, but we of course said yes!

With dinner reservations made, it was time for a quick dip in the lake. It was surprisingly cold and took us awhile to get in; although, I don’t think we both made it in all the way. Eventually the fish (myself) was in and swim, swim, swimming away, while the non-fish (Andy) waited patiently along the shore. The swimming didn’t last long. Before we knew it, it was time to go back to the hotel to get ready for dinner. After changing, we made our way back down the promenade to the castle. As we walked into the restaurant, the waiter who had helped us earlier met us and walked us back to our Romeo and Juliet table. However, it immediately became clear that the table he had pointed out earlier was not situated in front of a window as we had thought, but instead it had been in front of doors, that were now open . . .

. . . and our table had been pushed out onto a private balcony overlooking the lake. It was magical.

My Romeo and I enjoying our fairy tale evening.

Looking into the restaurant from our balcony. There was no one else around. Everyone else was eating outside on the lower terrace.

Watching the sunset over the lake. Not only was the ambience perfect, the food was amazing too! We each had a delicious steak, spent about $20 on water (crazy, we know, but it was hot and we were thirsty!), and enjoyed a scrumptious chocolate dessert together. The perfect evening!

This is the terrace where everyone else ate. We don’t know how we got so lucky but we definitely had the best seats in the castle that night!

After dinner we took a stroll along the promenade and headed back to our hotel.

Morning fog on the lake.

The view of the lake from our hotel balcony.

Stormy weather was rolling in so we decided to get on the road a little sooner than planned. Our final destination was home but first we were going to make a stop at Affenberg Salem, a refuge for Barbary macaques, commonly known as monkey mountain.

A beautiful mansion that we passed as we drove along the lake.

A cute lakeside town that we found ourselves in because of construction on the main highway.

The road on the way to Affenberg Salem.

Apparently a colony of free-living white storks have settled near the entrance to monkey mountain, here are a few of them.

Monkey!

We were given special popcorn to feed the monkeys.

Beauty shop!

Baby monkey!!!

Say cheese! Not really. The monkeys were actually fighting and hissing at each other. It was pretty scary because there was nothing separating them from us and they were vicious.

After going through the park and feeding the monkeys we hit the road and headed home.

Stuttgart Army Ball

At the beginning of June, the Stuttgart Community Army Ball was held to celebrate the 237th Birthday of the United States Army. The Army Ball meant a chance for Andy and I to get all dressed up and pretty, so of course we were going to be there. For those who have never attended a military ball, this is how they go down…at least in the Hixson household. 

After hours of getting ready (mostly just for me), we get in the car and take a few stick-the-tongue-out shots; it’s become a tradition for us.

Upon arrival at the Ball, we do a little mingling and, while we wait for the announcement to take our seats, we get photos taken. After everyone is seated, the ceremony begins with the welcome and presentation of the Colors. Then we say the ceremonial toasts. We toast to the President, to the Chancellor (because we are in Germany), to the Army, to the Armed Forces, to the Fallen Comrades, and finally to the Ladies!

After all this, dinner is served. But because we are not important enough to be VIP guests, we are sitting in the back of the room and thus must wait awhile to be served. While we wait we get up, walk around and take a few more pictures.

Dinner finally reaches the back of the room and while we eat, the huge Army birthday cake is cut by the youngest and oldest Soldiers in the room with a sabre. As we enjoy our cake, we are entertained by a comedian, the US Army Europe Chorus, and the guest speaker. To end the ceremony, the benediction is given and we all sing the Army Song.

(On three, everyone join in. One. Two. Three!)

First to fight for the right, and to build the Nation’s might, and the Army goes rolling along. Proud of all we have done, fighting till the battle’s won, and the Army goes rolling along.

Then it’s Hi! Hi! Hey! The Army’s on its way, count off the cadence loud and strong. For where’er we go, you will always know, that the Army goes rolling along.

Finally, the Colors are retired, the DJ starts and the dancing begins. We dance to a few songs and then call it a night.

Hooah!

The list is out . . .

The Army’s promotion list for July 2012, that is, and Andy’s name is on it!!!

 This means that as of July 1, 2012, I will no longer be living with Specialist Hixson but Sergeant Hixson. I guess I’m going to have to start behaving myself.

With this promotion comes more responsibility and a larger leadership role for Andy. We have been waiting a long time for this and he has worked very hard to get here. I am beyond proud of how far he has come and know that he will excel in his new role as a Noncommissioned Officer.

Congratulations Andy! I am so proud of you!!!

Happy Birthday Andy!

This year Andy’s Birthday marked a milestone for us, it was the first time in four years that we were able to spend his birthday together. I was so thankful to finally be able to do so!

Andy had to work on his birthday, but he came home to a decorated house and a big “Happy Birthday!!!” scream from me as I jumped out from behind the dinning table to surprise him.  

No birthday is complete without a birthday cake. This was no ordinary cake though, it was a hot fudge, oreo brownie, ice cream cake made by yours truly! Please don’t judge it based on looks, it was my first attempt at an ice cream cake. Although it may not have looked the best, it sure was delicious!

Part of Andy’s birthday present was a road trip. We weren’t able to go on his birthday because he was working. So a couple of weeks later, on one of his days off, we loaded up the car and headed out to finish his birthday celebration.

 Where did we go? Paris? Baden-Baden? Or somewhere else?

‘Somewhere else’ would be the correct answer. We took a trip to Europa Park, the largest theme park in Germany. It is located about 2 hours from our house, along the French border. Europa Park is unique in that it is divided into 13 areas themed after different European countries. Each area not only has a variety of rides for all different ages but authentic food and shows from the country.

Andy in the “German Alley” just inside the entrance to the park.

The Europa Fountain located in “Germany.”

Before hitting the rides, we strolled through the gardens in the park; most of which were located in “Germany.”

Weird tree.

Chillaxin’ on the banks of the river.

Sleeping Beauty’s castle in the park’s “Enchanted Forest,” a place where fairy-tales come to life!

The “Magic World of Diamonds” where we found bubbling volcanoes, hidden dragons, and goblins digging for treasure.

Welcome to “Spain!” 

Our first ride of the day, the Tirol Log Flume, located in “Austria.” Don’t be alarmed by the sudden gray skies that appear in this picture. We lucked out with blue skies and sun all day but I didn’t get a picture of this ride so I had to find one online.

The diving show in “Portugal.”

All the way at the top. Scary!

For lunch we headed to the Lake Restaurant in “Austria.”

Following a long wait in line, our first ride after lunch was the Fjord Rafting in “Scandinavia.” This was Andy’s favorite ride of the day, of course, because I got soaked and he didn’t.

Teacups in the “Netherlands.”

Next up was the Blue Fire Megacoaster in “Iceland.” This launch-coaster takes you from 0 to 100 kph in 2.5 seconds and turns you upside down not once, not twice, but four times. It sounds scary, doesn’t it? Well it looked pretty scary too but actually riding on it wasn’t too bad.

It’s a good thing we visited “Greece” while we were at the park because it looks like this Greek village is the only one we will be seeing this summer. We were hoping to take a Mediterranean cruise through the Greek Isles in August but thanks to the Army that won’t be happening at this time.

The hot air balloon ride in “Greece.” This one was my favorite.

Still in “Greece.” We spent quite a bit of time there letting our stomachs settle after the Blue Fire roller coaster. Plus, I just love Greece. I want to go so badly!

Although my stomach was not yet feeling normal, Andy talked me into going on another roller coaster. Anything for the birthday boy, right!?! We headed to “France” for the Eurosat, a roller coaster in the dark located inside the big silver sphere. Although the ride took us on a trip through the universe, it was not fun. In fact, it was very painful because of the sudden stops that the ride makes. We would not recommend this one.

The Mediterranean charm of “Italy.”

Our last ride of the day, Leonardo da Vinci’s ingenius flying machine; it took us soaring over “Italy.”

We may have been done with rides for the day but we weren’t ready to leave the park just yet. Before heading home we wanted to take in a show or two. The first one we went to was an Arena Show in “Spain,” featuring horse stunts and sword fighting.

Following the Stunt Show, we travelled back to “Italy” for dinner at Pizzeria Venezia and an acrobatics show called Teatro dell’Arte “Luminocity”.

The show ended up being a variety show of sorts. It featured some impressive acrobatics but was accompanied by a lot of not-so-impressive dance numbers. The best part was a yo-yo act by two gentlemen.

 That concludes Andy’s birthday celebration. Thirteen countries in 9 hours, he’s a pretty lucky guy if you ask me. Happy (belated) Birthday to my wonderful husband and many, many more to come!

Luzern, Switzerland

By now some of you may be wondering if we fell in the Atlantic or got lost in the Alps. But don’t you worry, were still alive and kickin’ here in Stuttgart. The past several weeks have been pretty busy. Andy’s been working way too much (as usual) and I’ve been busy volunteering and studying for the dreaded MCAT. I know many of you have been patiently waiting to see the pictures from our Switzerland trip, so here they are FINALLY!!!

Several weeks ago we ventured down to the city of Luzern for the day. For those of you who don’t know, Luzern is located in north-central Switzerland on the banks of the breathtaking Lake Luzern. Unfortunately, the forecast for the day of our trip was rain, rain and more rain. Luckily, as you will soon see, the weatherman was wrong! We were blessed with a gorgeous day to tour this beautiful city. 

Lake Luzern greeting us upon our arrival. All day long it was calling my name, saying, “Erin, come swim. Come swim, you’ll have so much fun!” Unfortunately, swimming was not on our itinerary for the day.

The hills in this country are the most gorgeous green we’ve ever seen.

The surprise I got Andy for our tour of the city (in his dreams!). If only we could afford such luxuries! We can’t right now but the people of Luzern certainly can. You would not believe how many crazy-expensive cars and designer stores there were in this city.

Our first stop of the day was the Lion Monument or Löwendenkmal, a famous carving of a dying lion, located in a small park just a few blocks away from the lake. The carving commemorates the Swiss Guards who were massacred in 1792 during the French Revolution.

The Church of St. Leodegar, named after the city’s patron saint, was originally built in 735. The present structure was erected in 1633; however, the towers are surviving remnants of an earlier structure.

After taking a peek inside the Church we headed back toward the lake to stroll along the boardwalk. 

This city was pristine and unbelievably clean!

The Grand Casino Luzern situated right off the boardwalk next to the lake.

Weird trees lining the boardwalk.

Following our stroll along the lake, we headed toward the city’s old town for some lunch at Stadtkeller, a Swiss Folklore Restaurant. 

For lunch we enjoyed a traditional Swiss meal of beef, chicken, and pork fondue along with french fried potatoes and fresh salad. It was delicious. In addition to the food, we were entertained during lunch with… 

Swiss folk music…

Yodeling…(Yes, I said yodeling. Real Swiss yodeling. So cool!!!)…

Alphorn-blowing and flag-throwing!

The show was great, although there could have been a tad more yodeling included. However, rumor has it that there are yodeling festivals in this country. Our to-do list just got a bit longer! 

  

After lunch, we decided to check out the remnants of the old town wall located on a hill to the north of the city.

Eight tall watch towers remain today along the wall.

View from the hilltop where the wall stands.

We walked down from the wall (which can be seen in the photo above, on the top of the hill on the right) and crossed the Mill Bridge or Spreuerbrücke, which zigzags across the Reuss River. This bridge was constructed in 1408.

Luzern’s Jesuit Church. If you thought this town couldn’t get anymore perfect, you were wrong. Yes, those are swans. They were all over the lake and river.

To get back to the main part of town we crossed back over the river.This time we crossed the Chapel Bridge or Kapellbrücke, which was originally built in 1333.

By now, I’m sure you are starting to see how perfect this town really is. There is, however, one huge drawback to Luzern and Switzerland…it is really expensive!!! Before calling it a day, we decided to grab a snack to keep our bellies full for the drive home. We found a small pizzeria where Andy ordered a personal pizza, I had a side salad and we shared a bottle of water. Back home, a meal like this would cost $15, maybe $20. Not in Switzerland. This little snack cost us $41.36. Holy smokes, can you believe that!?! 

Although it was an expensive place to visit, it was certainly worth it. This picture sums up the day quite well. The mountains. The water. The swans. The flag. Switzerland is simply wonderful!

Baden-Baden

In doing research on where to go for my birthday Andy came across the famous German spa town of Baden-Baden. We didn’t go there for my birthday but we decided to check it out on his next weekend off. Baden-Baden is located at the western foothills of the Black Forest, on the banks of the Oos River, and is only about an hour from our house. The elegant town is known for its famous casino, luxurious hotels, horse racing, shopping, gorgeous gardens, and of course, thermal baths. Now you may be thinking, “Could it be, a town so nice they named it twice?” And we would most certainly reply, “Why yes, it is a town so nice they named it twice!” In fact, it just might be slightly more deserving of that double name than the lovely town of Walla Walla, Washington for which that phrase originated.

Our first stop of the day was not in the town of Baden-Baden but up in the foothills overlooking the town at the Altes Schloß Hohenbaden (Old Castle Hohenbaden). The castle was built in 1102 as a residence for the Margraves of Baden. It was occupied by the family until 1479 when they moved to the Neues Schloß (New Castle), which is situated on a hillside closer to the town. At that time, the Altes Schloß Hohenbaden fell into ruin and was further destroyed by a fire in 1599. Today, the castle ruins are open to the public free of charge. Visitors can explore the entire castle, going all the way up to the highest lookout point, to discover and imagine what life might have been like for noblemen during the Middle Ages. During our visit, that is exactly what we did!

A 120-stringed wind harp stands in what was known as the Knights’ Hall of the castle.

The town of Baden-Baden can be seen in the valley below the castle.

After climbing countless staircases, some winding, some steep, some long, and some narrow, we finally made it to the very top of the castle. It was neat that we were able to walk through the entire castle, at least what was left of it. This is the first castle that we have visited where we have been able to do that.

We made our way down to the bottom of the castle and down to the bottom of the hill where it stands, into the town of Baden-Baden. Our goal for the day was to find the Caracalla Therme, one of the two famous mineral baths in town. So we drove around looking for it and taking in the beautiful sights of Baden-Baden.

The town was full of gorgeous mansions all surrounded by breathtaking gardens. Unfortunately, since most of our time looking at the mansions was spent in the car driving around we didn’t get many good pictures of them or the gardens in town. But take our word for it, this place was beautiful, especially with the spring flowers in bloom, and it looked very expensive. We plan to go back this summer to spend more time in the gardens, smelling the flowers, strolling over the many darling walking bridges that cross the Oos River in the center of town, and of course taking more pictures; maybe we’ll even take a picnic lunch to enjoy on the banks of the river.

The Russische Kirche, an orthodox church in town.

Since we had no luck finding the Caracalla Therme, we decided to park and walk through the town’s shopping district, get some food and see what else we could find. We enjoyed lunch at a little sidewalk Italian café. We shared a pizza and a lemonade, which much to our dissatisfaction, was made from sparkling water and lemon juice; not quite the good ol’ Country Time we were craving.

After lunch, during our walk around town, we stumbled upon a map of the town marked with all the popular tourist destinations, including the Caracalla Therme. So we hopped back in the car and headed for the spa. Unfortunately, we each had our own idea of which direction we needed to travel. First, we tried going in the direction that Andy thought it was. That didn’t work. Then we went over to the part of town where I thought it was; that didn’t work either. Yet again we were left aimlessly driving around this town of many narrow, one-way streets. This meant that when we missed a turn that we wanted to try we had to go all the way around the city just to try it again. Finally, after driving around for about an hour, we spotted a directional sign for Caracalla Therme. Thank goodness!

Here in Germany, mineral baths are very popular for the health benefits that the mineral water provides. Spas are found all over the place; in fact, any town that includes the word “bad” in its name can be assumed to be a spa town. We knew at some point we would need to check out one of the German mineral baths and so we figured why not do so in the most famous spa town in Germany. The springs of Baden-Baden have been known for more than 2,000 years. Thus, to Caracalla Therme it was and we had finally found it!

We left our camera in the locker once we got to the spa because we didn’t want it to get wet, so here are a couple of photos of the Caracalla Therme that we found online.

This large indoor pool is filled with naturally warm thermal water at 93°F. Behind this pool is the hot (100°F) and cold (65°F) water grotto. It is intended that one spend approximately 5 minutes in the hot water and then refresh the body for 15 seconds in the cold water. We did this several times. However, we spent way more than 5 minutes in the hot water as it was our favorite pool to be in; all the others just weren’t quite warm enough.

The outdoor pools were at 90°F and 95°F, they featured a whirlpool and a large variety of different jets to message the body.

We spent about two hours at the spa and enjoyed ourselves. But unlike these pictures, the pools were very crowded. In addition, for those of you who have spent time with me in the summer, you know I like my wide-open lakes to swim, swim, swim and this wasn’t exactly the type of place where you swim. Instead you get in the water, find a place you like and stand there; sort of boring if you ask me. So Caracalla Therme or any of the other German mineral baths are probably not someplace we will go back to anytime soon, but we’re glad that we tried it.

Before heading home for the day, we had dinner at a quaint, little hole-in-the-wall place called Ristorante da Pietro. Andy had ________ (can you guess??? If you said steak, you would be correct!) and I had wiener schnitzel. In addition, we had water to drink. You may think it’s silly that I mention that part but it’s not so silly when you realized that we spent $11.00 on two 0.5 L bottles of water. Yes, you read that correctly! For those of you who don’t know, water does not come free with meals in Europe. In fact, it is often more expensive than beer, wine, soda and sparkling water; sometimes restaurants don’t even have still water. Now if you’re wondering if this $11.00 water came with ice, it most certainly did not. Ice is rarely seen in beverages here, but luckily this water was chilled. Although it cost us an arm and a leg, it was the best tasting water I have had since arriving in Germany, so it was well worth it!

After enjoying our dinner and water, we shared chocolate ice cream and headed home.

Gute Nacht!

The Black Forest

For my birthday, Andy planned one of my favorite things, a surprise road trip for us. Little did I know we were venturing into the heart of the Black Forest, where cuckoo clocks are made, to see what is claimed as the “highest” waterfall in Germany.

It was a beautiful day for a drive. Almost 70°F and it was only the middle of March, can you believe that?

Cruisin’ down the Autobahn at about 95 mph we passed this little guy – the German version of a truck, I guess.

Soon after, traffic came to a halt because of this nasty accident. We had never seen a semi destroyed so badly!

Once we got past the accident, traffic started to move again but only briefly. Next, we hit construction, which we thought was just the two lanes of the Autobahn being merged into one. We soon found out that was not the case. Instead, the Autobahn was closed and we were being routed off of it. Of course, there were no detour signs but we had maps and a GPS, right? WRONG! So we just followed the traffic and hoped that 1. we would eventually be able to get back on the Autobahn or 2. we would intersect the next road on our directions. In the mean time, we got to see some cute little German towns off of the Autobahn. 

After winding our way through the German countryside, crossing under the Autobahn several times but never finding an entrance, we began to see signs for the road we were looking for. We followed them and eventually found our way. As we got further into the Black Forest the countryside became more hilly and treed.

For about the past week or so we had been spoiled by 60+°F weather, so we were shocked to be seeing snow on the ground.

We finally made it after our 2 hour drive turned into 3+ hours. Welcome to the center of the Black Forest – Triberg, Germany!

Andy knows I love waterfalls and road trips, so what a perfect destination this was for us. Triberg is home to the Triberg Wasserfälle (Waterfall). 

{Side note: Don’t assume that a waterfall featuring the name of a town will be located in or near that town, e.g. Palouse Falls. It can get you into trouble. We got lucky with this one.}

The Triberg Waterfall is a series of several short waterfalls in the Gutach River that plunge a total of 496 feet. It has become known as the “highest” waterfall in Germany; however, this is incorrect. The highest waterfall is actually the Röthbach Waterfall, with a vertical drop of 1,540 feet, but it is much more challenging to get to.

Not only was the Triberg Waterfall easily accessible, but there were several trails that could be travelled up to the top of the falls and a couple of bridges that crossed over the falls at different heights. Unfortunately, due to dangerous conditions (snow and ice) the trails were still closed so we only got to walk around the bottom of the falls.

The Gutach River after its plunge over the waterfall.

After our walk up to the waterfall we had lunch at this cute little place, Landgasthof Zur Lilie. Andy had steak (surprise, surprise!) and I tried Jägerschnitzel. I wasn’t overly impressed but Andy liked his. Following lunch we walked around the town and did some browsing in their many cuckoo clock stores.

 

 

At this particular cuckoo clock store we received a lesson on how to tell a real, handmade cuckoo clock from all the fakes. What a long sales pitch that was! Little did the guy know we had absolutely no interest in purchasing one. But for anyone who does, we can help you find a great, REAL, handmade cuckoo clock; we’re experts on them now!

Our last stop of the day was at Eiscafe Venezia, the most adorable ice cream parlor in town, for a birthday sundae for me! We shared a schoko becher (a chocolate sundae); it was amazing!