A sunny day in Esslingen

I have now visited Esslingen on three different occasions. With it being so close and being easy to train to, you would think I would make it there a little more often, but such is life! While hosting two friends from college, our first stop was to Esslingen for a walking tour to see the highlights and learn some history of the tour. Our guide was an American who has lived in the area for over a decade. 

It was a super sunny day, so our pictures were all a bit washed out by the harsh light. The Esslingen Rathaus is iconic, so worth sharing a picture of even if it is not the best quality. 

The story behind this fountain was fascinating! In a nutshell, there was a postman back in the day that found a valuable ring. He went around town trying to find the owner to return it. The owner had been murdered and no one knew who had done it. The postman was accused by the man's nephew of murdering him. Eventually the postman was sentenced to death. Afterward, he would reappear as a ghost to the nephew. After some time, the nephew was so distraught and traumatized that he finally confessed to murdering his uncle. The town decided to erect this statue of the postman with the story around the base. I suppose it is part contrition and part cautionary tale.

Our tour ended at Kessler for a sekt tasting. Sekt is Germany's version of champagne and this brand is Germany's oldest sparkling wine producer. The Kessler founder studied in the Champagne region of France and made his sparking wine using German grapes. We all tried the classic and it was very tasty! I brought home a couple bottles to enjoy later. 

By the time our tour was complete and we had tried some sekt, we were ready for a hearty German lunch. Our tour guide recommended Weinkeller Einhorn and it did not disappoint. I had the traditional Swabian dish called Maltauschen. This was the best Maltauschen I have eaten since being here in Germany. 

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!

Eguisheim and Riquewihr, France

While visiting Colmar, we hit the road to a couple other nearby towns. The Alsace region of France has a seemingly endless number of adorable little towns to explore. Our time was short, so we focused on Eguisheim and Riquewihr. 

This is a popular photo spot in Eguisheim. Some say it inspired Disney's Beauty and the Beast. We were really lucky to find the area devoid of many tourists so we could take a few pictures uninterrupted. 

This shows the same spot but a little farther behind with wisteria framing the shot. The spring flowers around the towns were gorgeous!

We stopped for a coffee at a shop that is 125 years old (if I read the French correctly). It was a lovely spot next to the square with views of a fountain and a church.

Our next stop in Riquewihr started with lunch. We opted for pizza and tarte flambé. I indulged with a limoncello spritz which was the perfect refreshing drink.

Each little town seemed to have a small train to learn some of the history and see the town. We took the little train ride in Riquewihr which drove us up into the surrounding vineyards for an amazing view of the town below. 

The pictures do not do the town justice. It was picturesque and pleasant. You can stop to taste wine at a number of wine shops serving Alsatian wines. You can pick up Alsatian gingerbread. You can shop for pottery or antiques. There is a wealth of possibilities and I cannot wait to return to explore some more!

Colmar, France

One of the fun things about living in Europe is being able to take weekend trips to other countries very easily. For Mother's Day weekend, some of my gal pals and I headed to Colmar, France! It was an easy 2ish hour drive from here. We stayed in a very girly Airbnb that was in the perfect spot to see all the popular sights in town. It was across the street from a park with a carousel (we did not take a spin) and a large parking garage. 

Colmar has a Little Venice section and we took advantage of a beautiful evening with a boat ride on one of the canals. Our boat captain gave us a little bit of history and some cheesy jokes that had us laughing. 

We thought about purchasing a lock to add to the bridge to celebrate our friendship, but ran out of time to find one in a local gift shop. 

This is one of the oldest streets in Colmar. Colmar and the surrounding towns are chock full of half timbered homes just like these. 

We had fun walking around town searching for the giant Colmar sign for our photo opportunity.

Salzburg, Austria

For Easter weekend, we spent a wet and rainy few days in Salzburg, Austria. Despite not being properly attired for such dreary weather, we enjoyed strolling around town and experiencing as much as we could stand in the picturesque town. Austria continues to be one of my favorite European countries for its beauty, food and history.

Our very first stop in Salzburg was to the Salzburger Freilichtmuseum. The museum has amassed a wonderful selection of old homes and buildings to create a mini town complete with its own train. We came late in the day so entry was half-price (bonus!) and enjoyed walking around the grounds. 

Our weekend accommodations were at the JUFA Salzburg City hotel. They had a friendly staff, breakfast was included and it was dog-friendly. Our room looked out to the Hohensalzburg Fortress. 

The Easter bunny managed to find us in Salzburg and delivered a chocolate bunny to our room!

One of the top attractions in Salzburg is Schloss Hellbrunn. Our entry ticket included a tour of the trick fountains, palace and folk art museum. The trick fountains were really neat to experience, even on a dreary, rainy day. 

We also took in a marionette show while in Salzburg. The show was Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs. Despite not understanding all the dialogue, it was cute to see the show. Before the show started, Charles enjoyed a coffee and we shared some Mozartkugel. 

We had about two hours of sunshine after the marionette show! 

The other exciting experience during our visit to Salzburg was at Edelweiss Cooking School where we learned how to make apple strudel and Salzburger Nockerl. Both desserts were easier than I was expecting, so maybe I'll try to make them at home soon!

Salzburger Nockerl is a soufflé dessert that is supposed to represent the mountain peaks surrounding Salzburg. 

Faro, Portugal

We flew into Faro, but did not spend as much time there as we did in Albufeira. There was a lot we could have done with more time in the city, but alas, we had just one day to explore. 

I did not see as much street art as I thought I would in either Albufeira or Faro, but I spied this mural near where we parked. 

The Faro harbor was a nice place for a stroll. There was a little market set up across the street with about ten vendors. We laughed about if we could hear the ocean if we put our ear to this giant shell (hint: we did not).

We walked by this statue of a woman with a shell head later in the day and it was almost fully submerged in the water due to high tide.

We had originally booked a dolphin watching tour out of Faro, but due to rough seas it was cancelled. (We also had a cancelled boat cave tour from Albufeira the day before for the same reason). We booked a bird watching tour in the natural park instead. We know almost nothing about birds and ended up on a tour with some bird enthusiasts. While we did not get as excited as they did about all the birds we saw, it was still a relaxing and peaceful tour on the solar boat through the channels of the park. In the picture below I am looking at flamingos in flight (that made me happy).

After our bird watching tour, Charles found a pizza place for lunch. We drank some Portuguese wine and ate an amazingly delicious pizza. It was probably one of the best pizzas I have had in a while.

We totally lost track of time during lunch and missed our walking tour that we booked through Airbnb. We felt HORRIBLE! We are not usually "those" people. But what can you do??? To walk off the bottle of wine we enjoyed at lunch (we're light weights), we walked around town on our own to enjoy the colorful buildings, tile work and views of the ocean.