Stockholm, Sweden

Our next travel adventure brought us to Stockholm, Sweden! The main draw was our Baltic cruise that departed from Sweden, but we took the opportunity to spend a couple of extra days in the city before embarking. 

We splurged a bit on the hotel by staying at the swanky Hotel At Six. Service was excellent, the room was comfortable, the breakfast buffet was plentiful and the location was perfect to see all the Stockholm highlights. 

During our first evening in Stockholm, we took a guided walking tour of the Old Town with Tours of Stockholm. We saw the iconic row of buildings in the picture, learned some history about Sweden's royal family, learned more about the Nobel prizes and enjoyed the company of our fellow tour participants (two families of which ended up being on our cruise).

Unfortunately we ran out of time to check out the inside of this pink church. Our guide told us about some of the original artwork that is housed inside. Just one reason to return to Stockholm in the future!

Before our walking tour, we stopped at a restaurant near our hotel for a quick bite to fuel up. Boo Burgers satisfied a craving for good ol' fashioned burgers and fries. The burger has a delicious crispy edge on the patty. It kind of reminded me of Steak & Shake.

Another top priority for me was to enjoy some Swedish meatballs while in Stockholm. During our fika tour, our guide recommended enjoying the meatballs at the Ostermalms Saluhall. The M Seger vendor had a little restaurant section and the meatballs were everything I had hoped they would be!

Petit Prince and Alsace

With France being so close to Stuttgart, we made an overnight trip to the Alsace region. We started off in Ribeauville where we grabbed sandwiches before a wine tasting at Trimbach. The wine tasting was quick with a tasting of five wines. Our host did not speak a lot of English, so we did not receive a lot of the history of the winery. However, the wines were enjoyable and I purchased two bottles to bring home. 

After Ribeauville, we drove on to Colmar to check into our hotel. Greet Hotel Colmar is a little outside of the city center, but offered a great rate, free parking and breakfast. I really enjoyed their design aesthetic and air conditioned room.

We headed into Colmar and rode one of the little trains for an overview of the city. It was a little hot under the plastic roof, but it was good to see all parts of the city to orient ourselves.

We walked around the town to see things a little closer up and visited a bunch of shops in search of the perfect trinkets to remember our trip by. I purchased an ornament featuring three Alsatian girls to commemorate the time with my two friends. 

Before heading back to the hotel to rest after our day's adventures, we stopped at a restaurant for dinner. I ordered one of the rosti dishes. It was so delicious!

The next morning, after enjoying some local specialties for breakfast, we drove to the Parc du Petit Prince. One of my friends is a big fan of the book, so I made sure to add this to the itinerary. I had low expectations and expected to only spend an hour or so at the park, but it ended up being super fun! We rode a few of the rides, including the little train, and took a bunch of pictures. 

We agreed that we wouldn't travel out of our way to visit this park, but while in the area it was a fun activity. Even as three adults, this park was a win. 

A Tour of Nuremberg

The next stop on the itinerary for my friends' visit was to Nuremberg. I booked a walking tour through Airbnb that was one of my favorite tours in Europe so far. It was billed as a four-hour tour with a break for lunch, but ended up being around six hours. During the first half of the tour, we walked around the interior of Nuremberg and visited St. Lorenz. 

We huffed up the hill to see castle for some fantastic views of the city.

A little plug for something unrelated to Europe... I recently made my first purchase from ThredUp and was so impressed. The top I wore in Nuremberg (pictured here) was part of that purchase. 

After our lunch in the Altstadt (we all enjoyed Nuremberg sausages...yum!), our group hopped on the train and rode out to the rally grounds. We walked along the lake with stops to hear our guide share history and his perspective about Nazi Germany. It was very insightful and thought provoking. 

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!