Nick & Elli: Rothenburg, the Finale

On our drive back to Stuttgart from Prague we decided to stop for a little visit in Rothenburg ob der Tauber, a darling, picturesque Medieval walled city. The small city came highly recommended by many different friends (Peggy, we didn't make it to the Torture Museum, but we definitely will soon!). Unless you're staying at a hotel within the walled city or you live there, you are not allowed to drive in the city. You must park your car outside of the city's walls and walk in. As we walked in to the city we immediately saw that there was a small pathway along the top of the wall that you could walk around. We climbed up the steep steps and checked it out:

The view from the wall was pretty cool, but we were dying to check out the city street-level. (OH, we finally did luck out with the weather, it was a B-E-A-U-tiful day!) As we walked around I was instantly drawn to all of the gorgeous and interesting windows on the buildings. Here's a peek at a few of my favorites:

After maneuvering the adorable, old streets we were ready for a hearty German lunch. There were small eateries everywhere, the trick was finding one that had an empty table outside. A little more walking and we found the perfect spot. Cheers!



The food, as usual, was delicious! The boys went for the sausage plate, while I opted for weiner schnitzel and homegirl Elli ordered heavenly potato pillows (seriously, that's what the English translation was on the menu), think potato-y, cheese-y, fried goodness. Here's a shot of the weiner schnitzel and the sausage plate:

Lunch complete, we walked to a park on one edge of the city to get a glimpse at the remarkable view:



We took some time in the park enjoying the view and each others company. We also couldn't believe the amazing weather. Here's a shot of the four of us in the park before we headed back to the car:



We absolutely loved Rothenburg and cannot wait to spend a weekend there. Knowing that we still had a bit of a drive back to Stuttgart, we reluctantly walked back to the car for the final leg home. The drive back to Stuttgart went by pretty quickly. We arrived in the early evening and decided to do one last fun dinner out. Post dinner we all crashed pretty hard, but woke up reasonably early to get Nick and Elli back to Zurich for their flight home.

We had such a wonderful week with Nick and Elli and are so grateful they came over for a visit. You guys are the best...we miss you!

If you'd like to view all of our photos from our visit with Nick & Elli, please click on this link:
Nick & Elli's Visit Photos

Nick & Elli: Prague

The drive from Stuttgart to Prague took just under five hours, we didn't really hit any traffic until we were about 10 miles away from our hotel. Prague is such an old city that once you reach the "city limits" the old streets just can't accommodate modern traffic. Drizzle and gray skies greeted us as we pulled up to our hotel, but we were undeterred. We hit the pavement determined to find some cool sights and tasty eats. After a quick snack at a more touristy place, we stumbled upon a gem of a restaurant. Traditional Czech food with a super cozy ambiance. Here are two of the four entrees we tried, potato pancakes on the left, goulash with bread dumplings on the right:

The hearty Czech food warmed our chilly bodies and we headed back out to do one final lap of exploration before hitting the hotel for a few drinks and some gambling...the boys may or may not have stayed at the casino until the wee hours of the morning. You'll have to ask them...

The next morning was gray and drizzly (again) so we were in the mood for some more comforting and delicious Czech food. After finding yet another winner of a restaurant we hunkered down for some food and drink. Cheers!

Stomachs satisfied we made our way towards some of the sights.
We ventured over to the St. Nicholas Church in Old Town Square:



Inside of St. Nicholas the massive, Russian-donated chandelier was exquisite:



Across the Square from St. Nicholas was the famous Prague Astronomical Clock from 1410:



This clock is a study in beauty and science. Had it not been raining we probably could have stared at the clock for an hour. There are so many fine details and intricate accents. A shocking and horrific bit of history: Upon completion of the Astronomical Clock, the Prague Councillors were so enamored with the work that they blinded the clock maker so that he would not be able to replicate the clock for any other city or country.

Our next stop was a bit serendipitous. We saw a sign for the Chocolate Museum (yum!) and followed the sign down a little alley-way. A quarter of the way down the alley, these scenes caught our attention:

We had stumbled upon:

Watching rock candy being made was fascinating! If you look closely in the photos above you can see them stretching out a HUGE roll of hot malleable rock candy. They stretched the roll out until they had thin sticks that they then chopped up into the small pieces that we're used to seeing. The coolest part was what I don't have a photo of, but to create the miniature designs on the small pieces of rock candy they have to layer different colored pieces together to then form the large roll that is pictured in the photo above. We were all hooked! We watched this process for probably 30 minutes. Afterward we went in the candy store and tried a piece...it was delicious!

We then made our way back to the hotel for a little rest before our fun night out at the casino. Blackjack was our game of choice and all four of us sat at one table for close to three hours. Although we didn't win big, we also didn't lose big so it was a good night!

The next day, what do you know, was gray and drizzly (we had some pretty rotten luck when it came to weather). Our mission for the day: See the Charles Bridge and Prague Castle. The walk to the Prague Castle led us over the Charles Bridge so that worked out well! Here we are on the Charles Bridge with the Prague Castle in the background:



The Charles Bridge is lined with sculptures, here's a photo of an interesting one, along with a shot of the entrance to the Prague Castle:

Since photography was not allowed inside of the Castle, we don't have any images, but it was a quite interesting tour. There were many grand halls and a looming cathedral.

That evening was spent snacking and drinking up in the Executive Lounge until the boys got the "itch" for a little more gambling. Unfortunately that night did not go as well as the previous. We'll just leave it at that, Czech casino conspiracy theories aside.

Although it felt more like October than June while we were in Prague we greatly enjoyed the beautiful city and fabulous food. Naturally, the day we left was sunny and in the 60's.
Better (weather) luck next time!

Photo Essay: Nick & Elli in Stuttgart

Nick & Elli: Zurich

After we arrived back at the hotel from the airport, Nick and Elli showed the jet-lag who was boss and decided to hit the streets for some sight-seeing. Naturally, our first stop was at Sprungli for some delectable Swiss chocolates...

...as you can see, they were a hit!
From there we wandered around the sun-drenched streets for a few hours taking in some of the gorgeous local scenery:

Eventually we made our way back to the hotel for a little quiet time before going to dinner. Reservations were for 2000, so after a little rest we got all dolled up...

...and then hit the streets again for some fantastic food and good times. We went to the same restaurant Brian and I dined at the last time we were in Zurich, Zeughauskeller, and again it did not disappoint. Both couples opted for the traditional Swiss entree of Kalbsgeschnetzeltes nach Zürcher Art which is basically a veal stroganoff served with thickly sliced hash browns. Swooooon. On pure chance, we were seated next to a very sweet and interesting trio of people: a husband, his wife, and her long-time friend, all probably in their early 70's. The women were American and the man Swiss; after chatting for almost the entire meal we asked for our check to find out that our new friends had picked up our tab. It was such a generous and thoughtful gesture, one that we hope to reciprocate someday. With round, full bellies we wobbled back to the hotel for a good night's rest before another fun day in Zurich.

The next morning, after some much needed zzzzz's for our visitors, we hit the pavement with energetic and excited feet. Our first stop was at Grossmünster which is a beautiful cathedral in the heart of Zurich. Unfortunately there was no photography allowed inside Grossmünster so we were unable to capture the magnificent stained glass that decorated the windows. This stained glass was unlike anything we had ever seen. Follow this link to get a glimpse of it. Luckily, there was photography allowed in the tower. Here's a shot of Nick and Elli on their way up to the top of the tower:



Climbing to the top consisted of tons of wooden stairs, curving staircases, and steep steps.
The view from the top was well worth it:



After we drank in the intoxicating views of Zurich we slowly made our way back down the tower and off on another sight-seeing adventure. Our next stop, Kunsthaus Zurich. The ladies outside of the Kunsthaus (Art Musuem):

The Kunsthaus was marvelous. We were all extremely impressed with not only the size of the collection, but the scope of the collection as well. We saw works by Picasso, Magritte, Monet, Van Gogh, Rothko, Warhol, Pollock, Miró, Dalí, Giacometti, Manet, Gauguin to name a few.

With the Kunsthaus under our belt, we walked over to the dock to hop on a boat for a tour of the lake. Here's a snippet from our boat ride:

Once we arrived back on dry land, we meandered back to the hotel and relaxed before heading down to the Executive Lounge for a fun night of drinking, snacking, and laughing. A wonderful ending to a wonderful time in Zurich.

Nick & Elli: Arrival

On Friday, May 28th we hit the road to Zurich to pick-up Nick and Elli from the airport. We were SO excited for to see our visitors! On the short ride down from Stuttgart we noticed that there were beautifully bright yellow flowers in bloom along the autobahn:

We're not sure if they are wildflowers or are grown for commercial purposes, but we loved them either way. Every 1/2 kilometer or so, we'd see another huge square field of these lovely yellow ladies. Once we entered Switzerland the yellow flower fields disappeared and we geared our attention towards our main goal: getting Nick and Elli!

We pulled up to the Zurich Airport, I hopped out and walked in to find:



Woo hoo! Their flight from Chicago was in and their bags were on their way to baggage claim. In the Zurich Airport there are large floor to ceiling windows that let family and friends scan the baggage claim area. I kept my eyes peeled and then...

Success! Right after the flash on my camera went off they looked over and we shared some very excited waves. Once their bags were in hand we found each other on the other side of the glass. Brian pulled the car up and we were all off to start our adventure in Zurich with our visitors!

Roadtrips & Rainbows

We've been having a fabulous time so far with Nick and Elli. There will be many more posts to follow, but right now we're packing up for our roadtrip to Prague. Yay!

The weather in Stuttgart has been a little dreary, but yesterday we saw this happy girl outside of our window:

We've been having such fun with our visitors and can't wait to share all of the stories and photos!