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!

Bergen, Norway

Our next big trip was a two-part one. The first part being Bergen, Norway. If I am being technical, it was really three parts. One night in Bergen, several nights in the Faroe Islands and then back to Bergen for a few more nights before heading home. But for the purpose of this blog, I am going to lump all of our Norway information together. 

Bergen is famously rainy. I went in with low expectations in regards to the weather. We were pleasantly surprised with decent weather while we were in town! Sure we had some rain and chilly wind, but we also lucked out with some sunshine!

On our first day in Bergen we took a walking tour which led us down cute alleys. We learned some of the history of Bergen.

Bergen was rife with street art! 

Another outing while in Bergen was a "fjord" cruise. It was pretty much just the fjords closest to Bergen, so it was more populated and less scenic than I would have liked. But it was a relaxing boat trip. 

We rode the funicular up to the top of the mountain for some panoramic views of the city. 

We did not eat nearly enough pastries while in Bergen. This was like a cheese Danish. Charles was happy to see mochas on most of the café menus. Surprisingly, we haven't seen that a lot in Germany.

We mostly avoid Mexican food in Germany. It's just not good. I saw a taco place with good ratings and thought we'd give it a try. It was actually pretty tasty!

We also enjoyed some Thai food while in Bergen. Yum, yum, yum!

This was the view from our Airbnb which was located outside of Bergen. Downstairs is an Italian pizzeria with some of the best pizza we have had in a while. The owner was so friendly and brought us fresh croissants every morning of our stay. His story about living in Italy and how he came to relocate to Norway was fascinating!

Mexican Street Corn Pasta Salad

 At work we have a tradition of holding a potluck lunch on an employee's last day. We had an opportunity for one last week. Another co-worker offered to bring gorditas. Having never tried them before, I was looking forward to it! Knowing what she was bringing, helped me pick what to bring. I scoured my saved recipes on Pinterest and saw this one for Mexican Street Corn Pasta Salad. 

The recipe was super easy to put together and turned out really good! I even received compliments from my two Mexican-American co-workers. Yes! 

Because this dish is served cold, it is a perfect one for a potluck. Bring some extra cotija cheese for everyone to sprinkle on top of their portion and your serving bowl will be empty before you head home. Or if you're lucky like me you'll have just enough to have a portion later. 

*Because I'm not a fan of onions or cilantro, I left those out and it still tasted really good.

Tamale Pie

I have posted about this recipe in the past, but it was just a link to the original recipe I found through Pinterest. This has become one of my go-to recipes and it is so delicious! It's warm, gooey and packed with flavor so it is great anytime of the year. It's fairly easy to put together, but if you choose to cook the chicken in advance like I do, it takes a little bit of prior planning. My suggestion is to cook extra chicken so you have some for tacos, too! For tamale pie, three chicken breasts is sufficient for the recipe. 

You could also try the recipe with shredded pork or beef, but chicken is my favorite.