Getting into a Groove

It's been almost a month on the road and we've been starting to get into a groove - travel, planning, driving, accommodations, and Josh's schoolwork. We have had to slow down on the sight-seeing and have spent some much needed days with a more relaxed itinerary.

After leaving the farm, we moved west toward the Black Forest ("Schwartzwald" in Germany). We had one night at an awesome Airbnb where our hosts, Arthur and Brigette, treated us to a beer tasting of local beers (Arthur is a beer aficionado and volunteer at a local brewery) and great conversation. It's evenings like this that we will remember long after the trip is over. We drove through the Black Forest, stopping to visit a cool clock museum, a beautiful waterfall and the Mummselsee lake trails. We shared a slice of Black Forest cake after our hike and all three of us were underwhelmed. Josh took one bite and made a face and, although Todd and I finished the slice, we all agreed we didn't need to have any more while in the area.

 We spent 2 nights in Baden-Baden where we explored the Lichtentaler Allee, a stunning walk through a neighborhood of old mansions, tons of flowers and even a great playground (for both kids and adults). The playgrounds in Germany are awesome, most with steep slides and lots of climbing equipment and ninja-warrior style apparatus. I'm glad Josh is six and not two! We decided on a whim to spend a couple of hours at the Caracalla Therme on our last day in Baden-Baden. It's a spa where the waters are fed from thermal springs underground. We paid a small fee to use the pools (12 of them, all different temperatures and water features like waterfalls, sprayers, currents, etc) for a couple of hours. It was super relaxing and lots of fun. For those of you who are curious, this was NOT one of the German spas where people must go "textilfrei"... I'll let you figure that one out! After we left Baden-Baden, we had a short drive to Heidelberg, where we got to meet up with some friends who used to live in Durham. They are living in Heidelberg now for over a year and were kind enough to take us around their city. We got to ride the tram, explore the Heidelberg Herbst (a celebration of the end of summer) - as my friend Terri says "The Germans celebrate everything!" - and enjoy the beautiful views of the castle, the river and the old town. We had lunch while listening to a mostly-topless Celtic rock band and found some beautiful Christmas ornaments to take home as souvenirs. We stayed overnight at a remote family-owned inn, and arrived in Bamberg the next day. We've been in Bamberg for a couple of nights and leave today to drive north to Cologne. We are gradually making our way closer to Amsterdam for our flight out on Friday. Next stop - India!

Exploring Bavaria

It's hard to believe it has been a week since my last post! Our accommodations on the farm were very good, but the weather was quite rainy (lots of mud) and we struggled a lot with communicating with the family we were staying with. We've gotten used to most people in Germany speaking at least a little bit of English, but were not so lucky in this case. It was fine, as they were very busy, so we just did our own thing. We were fortunate to be close to several towns we wanted to visit, so made day trips to Oberammergau, Ettal, Garmisch, as well as an awesome open-air museum called Freilichtmuseum Glentleiten.  I don't think any of us have ever been to a museum quite like this. There were free-roaming farm animals, craftsmen and over 60 original Bavarian buildings that had all been moved from throughout the local area to the museum grounds. Although it was drizzly, we had the place almost entirely to ourselves and it was so interesting! Almost all of the buildings were open and we could explore at our leisure. We also got to see a few live craftmen working on display (basket-making, pottery, leather-working and a man carving wooden furniture). It was fun to imagine ourselves living during those times or in those homes. On a related note, I've fallen in love with the tile ovens they used to have and am wondering how to get one in NC!

We spent Tuesday of this week in Munich. We drove a little over 30 minutes from the farm to a Park-and-Ride lot on the outer limits of the city and rode a train into the center. We saw the Glockenspiel (sort-of a giant cuckoo clock where figurines dance around on the hour twice a day), explored the market and walked the English Gardens where we were treated to an unexpected surfing expedition on a small man-made wave!  I took some photos but the Huffington Post wrote a fun little piece on it a few years ago. Before we left Munich, we had to make a stop at the Oktoberfest. It was great fun and we are so glad we braved the crowds.


Yesterday was "castle day," and we visited King Ludwig's castles of Neuschwastein and Hohenschwangau in the same day! Hohenschwangua was his childhood home and he built Neuschwanstein after he became king (at the age of 18!). Unfortunately, he died very young, so, although the castle is tremendous, apparently it was only 1/3 completed. We weren't allowed to take photos inside, but I think it is the most beautiful, ornate, romantic place I've ever seen!

We are headed to the Black Forest today, then gradually making our way east / north towards Amsterdam. We love hearing from everyone at home and hope you are all doing well! Oh, and for anyone who cares about food, the food here is amazing! My favorite meal so far was a wild game goulash with Spaetzel, roasted pears, cranberries and juniper.

Sausage Rules!

Josh has been following my blog, and he suggested the title for today's entry!  We've been in Germany for a couple of days and it's been truly special. We entered Germany from Austria and have been staying in a guest apartment (Haus Wilhelmine) just west of Salzburg in Berchtesgaden. It is so green here and all of the homes have flower boxes bursting with color. The days are quiet and breezy and the nights are cool and so starry! We have endless walking and hiking paths and animals all around.

 

We went on a tour at the salt mine (Salzbergwerk) on our first day in Berchtesgaden.  This was recommended by my friend Josef who is from Germany and we can't say enough about how awesome it was! Maybe our favorite thing so far. We learned about the history of salt mining in the area as well as the process. We also got to take a cool train into the mine, go down several mineshaft slides and take a boat ride in the dark brine pool. Photography was not allowed in the mine! but there are some pretty cool pics and videos on their website. I highly recommend you go there someday.

We took a long walk yesterday before dinner and passed a field of cows and another of goats (they were ALL very interested in us and literally running to the fence to be close to where we were). We saw some sheep and chickens too, although they were more elusive. We also found this beautiful church and walked the stairway to the top.

We had sausages twice yesterday and twice again (lunch and dinner) today. The grocery stores are fantastic here, and super inexpensive. Here are some prices for the things we bought, just to give you an idea. Keep in mind that 1 Euro is about $1.12.

4 large bockwurst: €1.99
3 fresh bretzel rolls: €0.87
Quart of milk: €0.42 (!)
Jar of mustard: €0.29
Muesli: €1.55
Bottle of Gruner Veltliner: €2.59 (!)

The only thing that was even remotely pricier was ground coffee, but still cheaper than home.

Today we went to Schönau am Königsee, a small town containing Königsee lake. The lake was formed by glaciers during the last ice age.  Except for the tourist entrance to the lake, it is similar to a fjord in that it is almost completely surrounded by steep mountains. There isn't a walk in path around it, and the water is quite cold, so most activities involve getting on a boat. We rented a row boat (my first German sentence: "Ein Ruderboot bitte, für drei Personen."  The guy renting the boats looks at me and says nicely "English?"  My response: "Yes please!") and spent 2 hours rowing through the lake. I'm sure our arms and shoulders will be sore tomorrow!



We also visited Maria Gern, a small and beautiful church on the top of the mountain. The sanctuary gates were closed, but we went in the main doors for a peek.


We're planning to spend the day tomorrow in Salzburg and our next stop just south of Munich, where we will be staying for a week on a working farm. We will have an apartment and we will be responsible for our own meals, but we do not have to work on the farm!  We do hope to learn a lot and have fun. The family who owns the farm has 3 children, all older than Josh, but we guess they will enjoy interacting with each other.  They also have a playground, a trampoline, a tractor and lots of farm animals and cats. The farm is centrally located and should be a good base from which to explore Munich, Oberammergau, and Garmisch.