Titisee and Freiberg, Germany

After our night in Konstanz, we hit the road to our next destination--Freiberg! Along the route, we stopped at Lake Titisee. I had heard that it was beautiful, but I did not really know anything about it. Titisee is a pretty small lake in the Black Forest. It was a happenin' spot for the holiday weekend (it was a holiday weekend for Germany, too). We saw a couple bridal parties, lots of dogs and many people enjoying the lake amenities. 

We stopped for some ice cream. Even Suzie enjoyed a cup all to herself. 

After exploring a few shops and enjoying the Titisee lake views, we headed to our evening's destination. After checking into the hotel and leaving Suzie to nap, we headed to the altstadt for an early dinner. Guess what...it was Mexican again! While doing some quick research about Freiberg, I came across a taqueria called Yepa Yepa. The menu looked pretty legit. Walking up the street, I could smell the Mexican flavors and the food did not disappoint. The Al Pastor taco was my favorite!

After being nourished by some Mexican soul food, we continued strolling around Freiberg. I did almost zero research about the town so we did not really have a game plan for our walk. We meandered seemingly aimlessly. We stopped at a Korean bubble tea spot for a refreshment (called Sarang) and stopped at Rewe to pick up some beers, chocolate and other must-haves. 

We stayed at a hotel just outside of town called Mercure Hotel Panorama Freiberg. It gave us a lovely view of the town from our balcony. There were trails located right outside of the hotel (where Suzie was able to collect a bunch of ticks). I wish we could have stayed longer to truly enjoy the peaceful setting. 

Bodensee

For the long Memorial Day weekend, we were originally going to host some friends from the States and stay local. But after a change in plans on their end, we pivoted our weekend plans for a getaway. Our first night was spent in Konstanz, located by Bodensee. It can also be referred to as Lake Constance. 

Reichenau is an island in the Untersee, near Konstanz. Pictured here is the well-known abbey that calls the island home. We enjoyed walking around the abbey and other parts of the island on a beautifully, sunny day. 

Suzie enjoyed a few dips in the lake during our walkabout. 

After checking into the hotel and leaving Suzie to nap away the afternoon, we headed to Mainau Island. This is a popular tourist destination in the area and is well-known for its flowers and other plants. I had heard great things about the place, so I was happy for a chance to finally visit. While on the island, we grabbed beers at the biergarten, visited the butterfly house (not as good at the one Niagara Falls) and enjoyed amazing views of the lake.

On Mainau, we found a ginkgo tree which reminded me of working on the world's largest ginkgo tree farm. 

Down the street from our Konstanz hotel was a placed called Burro Burro. After discovering that all the restaurants on Mainau closed early, we headed to Burro Burro for dinner. Mexican food in Germany is usually disappointing, so we came with realistic expectations. The food ended up being pretty decent, although probably not the most authentically Mexican. But it hit the spot after our fun day!

Heilbronn

Sometime shortly after our move to Germany, someone recommended that we read A Tramp Abroad by Mark Twain. The person said Twain gave some interesting commentary on the German language which we would be able to better appreciate now that we lived in Germany. I downloaded the Kindle book (it was free!) and it had been sitting there waiting for me to read it for several months. I finally opened it up and started reading. I am still in the midst of finishing it as I had to take a break to read this month's book club read (The Alice Network), but from what I have read so far it's a delightful book. His writing reminds me of Bill Bryson's style.

Anyway, in the book so far he has talked about visiting Heidelberg and Heilbronn. Charles and I visited Heidelberg as one of the stops on our honeymoon river cruise. We will be visiting again at least once while we're stationed in Germany because it is pretty close, but we have yet to make it over that way. 

For one of our weekends this month, we were trying to find something to do. It has been a little more challenging with continued COVID restrictions, especially because of our incomplete vaccination status (incomplete with the new regulations here). I looked at the map and saw that Heilbronn was pretty close. We have driven by the Heilbronn exit many times, but I never really knew much about it. I suggested we take Suzie there for a walk and lucked out with a lovely sunny, albeit chilly, day. 

Heilbronn sits on the Neckar River which is something Twain talked about in the book. When we arrived in Heilbronn we parked at the Wertweisen Park. If you have ever lived in Europe, you'll appreciate this next bit. Parking was free and abundant! Charles routed our walk through the park and up along the river into Heilbronn's downtown area. As we got closer to the city center, we came upon a bridge that goes over the river from one side of the city to the other. It was LOADED with locks representing relationships. I have heard of this in Paris and have seen it in other cities. We spent a few minutes looking at the multitude of locks. I was impressed to see that many of them were professionally engraved. It gave it a better sense of purpose and intentionality. 

This tower was not far from the love lock bridge (that's what I am going to call it, at least). I read briefly about the towers in Heilbronn, but I am not going to attempt to give you their history because I don't remember it well enough. This tower had fun metalwork at the top so it looks like someone is walking a tight rope off the top of the tower. 

Twain mentioned the astronomical clock in the book. It was neat to see it in person and think about how many others have looked at it over the years. Right in front of the clock was a Saturday market, but we happened upon it as it was winding down. 

We spent some more time walking around the city center, doing some window shopping and watching Suzie scare pigeons into flight. We ended our stroll back through the park. It made for a great afternoon adventure.

Esslingen

At the end of December, we visited Esslingen for the first time. Despite being so close to where we live, we had not visited yet. I had been hoping to visit for their Christmas market which is a favorite for most people I have talked to, but it was cancelled for 2021. 

Even without the Christmas magic and gluhwein, Esslingen proved to be an idyllic town to walk around. 

We started our visit by parking and walking up a hill. Luckily Charles planned our route so that the hill was first with the rest of the stroll being easy. He knows me so well! The top gave us some great views of the city and we walked past the vineyard. Esslingen is home to Germany's oldest type of sparkling wine. We did not take the opportunity to try any on this trip, but hopefully when we have visitors we can pop in for a tasting. 

This is Esslingen's Rathaus. Isn't it a fun color? By this time, Suzie was pretty much done with the city walking. But she had some fun scaring the pigeons away in the market square. 

Seiffen, Germany

For Veteran's Day weekend we visited Seiffen, Germany. We were originally planning to  visit Bolesławiec, Poland but neither of us were really looking forward to the long drive. Seiffen was a couple hours closer. In addition, I had to miss the spouses' club trip to Seiffen so it made sense to switch our plans and go together. 

Seiffen is known as the place where traditional German Christmas decorations like Nutcrackers, arches (or Schwibbogen) and pyramids originated. The locals, back in the day, were miners but after the mines were closed they had to find new ways to make a living. Their skills translated well to woodworking and thus the wooden decor and toy industry flourished. 

I did not really know what to expect from the town. It's a pretty small town without a lot of tourist information available. I had seen some pictures from a couple of the spouses who went on the spouse club trip, so I had a little bit of an idea but experiencing it in person was totally different!

Throughout the town you can find these really beautiful lights showing popular designs. This one is showing the angel motif. I'll talk about that a little bit later. Whenever we travel, we like to pick up an ornament for our Christmas tree. Our ornament from Seiffen is a mini version of one of these lights. 

We brought Suzie along with us on the trip to avoid having to find a pet sitter on a weekend when a lot of the military community were also traveling. Because of Suzie, we ended up on some walks we might not have taken otherwise. Charles took this picture on one of his solo walks with Suzie. 

We stayed in one of the apartments at the Spielzeughof. The location was perfect as it was just up a hill from the main drag with all the shops and restaurants. It was so peaceful! This little nutcracker lives in the apartment and was a nice piece of Seiffen to admire during our stay. 

Every European city has a church and this is Seiffen's. We did not check out the interior, but walked around the outside a bit on one of our walks with Suzie. You can purchase arches, pyramids and more that feature this church. The arch I really wanted had it on there. Unfortunately, the store employees were not sure if it was compatible with 110v so we chose not to buy it. I'll have to do some research about that and maybe purchase it another time.

On the main drag in Seiffen we saw lots of little huts like these serving anything from gluhwein, snacks and wooden decor pieces. This grouping was outside of the the restaurant (Holzwurm) we had dinner on Saturday evening. It was especially cute in the evening with the stars and string lights on. Our dinner was delicious, so I highly recommend making a reservation for when you are in town. 

I finally experienced gluhwein while visiting Seiffen! Gluhwein is a hot, mulled wine drink and can come in a variety of flavors. The first day in town I had a white wine with Amaretto version that was my favorite! I didn't snap a picture because it was served in a Styrofoam cup (not Instagram worthy). I also had some from a local bakery to accompany a pastry. That one was my least favorite. Our third cup, pictured here, was from one of the stands in town. We thought about keeping the mugs, but unfortunately they were from the 2019 Seiffen Christmas market and we didn't think it would be worth it. We returned for our 3 Euros back. 

Nestled amongst the shops and restaurants in town were large examples of the many pieces you can buy in the stores. This one shows the angel and miner. These were popular back in the day and you can still find them in the windows of the local homes. They can be illuminated with regular candles, battery powered candles or electricity. In the background of this picture, you can also seeing a couple in the top left. They move so they get closer and closer until they kiss. There is even a kissing sound that accompanies it! 

We purchased quite a few things on our trip. Seiffen had all the things my heart was dreaming about when it comes to German decor, especially for Christmas. We spent our first day in town visiting lots of shops (and there are LOTS of shops); we took pictures of pieces we liked and made a list of our top priorities to make sure we did not blow our budget. The next day, we went back to the shops to make our purchases. When we were planning our trip, I was worried that a three day weekend was going to be too long, but it was perfect as we were not rushed to make our purchase decisions and had plenty of time to visit as many shops as our hearts desired. 

One thing I wasn't necessarily planning on getting were the angel and miner. We saw so many cute ones throughout town and this is the set we decided on. I especially like the miner from this set (pictured below) because of his fancy coat tails. 

We have a Nutcracker collection that is displayed all year long. We went into our trip desiring a taller Nutcracker since our others are roughly the same height. Well, as you can see, we ended up with one that is quite a bit taller than our others. Charles wanted one that had the miner symbol on his hat and there were a few to choose between. 

Smokers are also a popular item in the shops. We have a couple that Greg gifted us with from his time living in Germany and we have two small ones that we bring out for Christmas. When we saw the beekeeper, we had to have him! Charles also loved the toymaker so we brought him home, too. 

We purchased a couple other pieces that we will put out for Christmas including a pyramid and a pinecone that is decorated with tiny pieces like a shepherd and sheep. It was very unique!

Anniversary Trip: Nuremberg

The final part of our anniversary trip was a little closer to home with a couple nights in Nuremberg. For dinner on the first night we visited a place recommended by our hotel and was really quaint inside. We were seated at a teeny-tiny table, but it was a great experience! 

Charles ordered the special drink. We think it's the area's version of Vienn'a strum. It was sweet and had a low alcohol level. I liked it better than the strum we had in Vienna, but I did not try the white version there. I had a Riesling from Wurzburg that was tasty. 

For my dinner, I had Nuremburg sausages with potato salad. Yum! 

The next day we visited the Toy Museum and saw all kinds of great displays about toys through the ages. I love visiting toy museums and we have been to several now including Basel, Switzerland and Kansas City. This one had a really great theme throughout that talked about racism shown through toys. They have several toys in their collection that are racist and the displays did a good job explaining the origin of the toys and why they prove problematic. The doll displays were fun and I just loved the face on the one pictured above. 

A tower of Playmobile figures!

Our hotel was located within the old city walls of Nuremberg and was really nice. It was so convenient to be able to walk down the street to all the restaurants, shops and sites in town. The hotel had a nice breakfast spread, parking (although we had to pay extra for that) and a nice comfortable room. 

It's not an old European city without some churches! We saw a few while visiting. 

On our last night we decided to try a "Tex-Mex" restaurant that was down the street from the hotel. Mexican food is not quite right over here, but the reviews were decent so we thought why not! We sat inside where the music was pumpin'. My Bahama Mama was delicious, but the food was definitely lacking the Mexican kick. But you don't know unless you try! 

Oktoberfest Quiche

I am not normally one to go off-book when it comes to recipes. I love following directions. I love rules. I am not a confident cook. However, I had this idea to make an Oktoberfest or German themed quiche to bring to a Fest potluck with the other residents in our apartment building. I searched Pinterest and did not come up with anything exactly like what I had in mind, so I combined ideas from a couple different recipes and came up with my own Oktoberfest Quiche. It is a little risky serving something you have never made or tried before, but it turned out pretty tasty! 

This was my first time wearing my brand new dirndl! I am in love with it and so glad I found it in the sale section. Not only did I save a bunch compared to buying a current season style, but I had my eye on this exact one from my online browsing. Finding it in my size at 50% off made my day! And of course Suzie was a big hit in her "dirndl". 

In addition to my Oktoberfest Quiche, I brought my German Apple Cake. This is one of my favorite things in life and this time I made a salted caramel frosting instead of the typical vanilla buttercream. Yummy! It's not authentically German AT ALL! Germans would never make something that sweet, but it was made with apples we picked in Germany, so that makes it more legitimate to me. 

Garmisch

 

Our most recent trip was for Charles' birthday week. We hit the road and visited Garmisch in Germany. It is right near the border with Austria and the funny thing is that the route actually took us partially into Austria. We did not stop anywhere in Austria, so that is still unexplored territory for us. 

One of the top attractions in Garmisch is the Gorge. It was a pleasant walk down to the entrance and then once we were inside it was fantastic! It was so cool which was a relief after walking down to it on a warm, sunny day. Although, the hike back out of the gorge had a bit more of an incline that I would prefer. At least by that time some clouds had rolled in. It worked out perfectly because right as we were almost back to the car it started raining. The parking lot was right outside the 1936 winter Olympic stadium so we were able to walk through there at the end, too. It was really cool to be able to see something from that time period. 

For lunch on our second day, we visited a place called Waffelhaus. It was nothing like the American Waffle House, thank goodness. I was so surprised to see chicken & waffles on the menu that I had to give it a try! Charles had the strawberry waffle. Both were equally enjoyable. The restaurant had a lovely outdoor patio seating area. 

Another food item that I really enjoyed was from the bakery we visited on our first morning. They were from Garmisch's oldest bakery; I had the almond croissant. It was so delicious! I'm still craving another one. 

For Charles' birthday, we rode a scary (to me) cable car to the top of the Alpspitze. It is not the highest peak in Germany; that would be Zugspitze, but that was 60 Euros per person for the cable car ride. The cable car up to Alpspitze was only about 30 Euros, so that was a better option for us. We were rewarded with some amazing views! It was the perfect day for it. The weather had been calling for rain all day, but luckily it did not start raining until later in the afternoon. 

We stayed at Edelweiss Lodge which is a military resort in Garmisch. The hotel was not at full capacity so some services were not available, but it was lovely and probably less crowded than in normal times! The front lawn had lounge chairs facing the gorgeous view of the mountain. Like our obligatory "relaxing with our feet up" vacation picture? Staying at the resort felt a bit like being on a cruise because they have their own restaurants, pool, gift shop, etc. Everything we bought could be charged to the room which was very convenient. Plus all the staff we interacted with were so friendly! One day we went down for a late lunch and I inquired about the soup of the day. The employee offered to let me taste it to see if I would like it. I am sure they would do that for anyone, but I was really happy with that extra bit of service. 

The resort had a small mini golf course that we enjoyed on our first night! We did not keep score, but I think Charles won the first round and I may have done marginally better the second round. Plus those views...!

Our room was facing the mountains and had a nice little balcony. It was so peaceful!

The hotel had this mural on the wall that we found entertaining. After driving around Garmisch that week, I saw a lot of murals painted on homes. Is that a Bavarian thing? I never did look it up. 

We had a great time in Garmisch and I could see going back to experience it in another season. I bet it is beautiful in the fall, too! I read a blog where the author thought Garmisch was lacking some personality or history and fell flat to them. Reading that prior to our visit did lower my expectations a bit, but I was happy with our trip. The scenery alone was worth the visit!