Garmisch

This past weekend we drove to Garmisch with our friend Wells (he and Brian cruised together when they were both in Lemoore and Wells is now working in the same building as Brian...small world!). We were looking forward to some fun outdoor winter activities!

The drive to Garmisch only took about 3 hours. The weather was a little dicey when we left Sindelfingen, but Brian powered us through in our rear-wheel drive sleigh. We stayed at Edelweiss, which is a military resort located a few kilometers from downtown Garmisch. We were amazed by how nice and cozy Edelweiss turned out to be. There's a HUGE lobby with a wood burning fireplace, a gorgeous outdoor hot tub, 3 restaurants, campgrounds, cabins, and so much more! Take a peek at the beautiful lobby and the view of the outdoor hot tub area from our balcony:



The first night in town we ate at one of Edelweiss's delicious restaurants and then enjoyed a few cocktails. The next day we decided to get some sledding in. We chatted with the folks at Edelweiss and they pointed us in the direction of a little sled hill. Once there, we rented some ridiculous German sleds and made our way towards the hill. (We got the feeling that not a lot of adults rent sleds in Germany...) We figured out how to maneuver our funny little sleds and had a great time zooming down the hills.

Since it wasn't a sled-only hill, you did have to watch out for skiers and snowboarders on their way down. After we had our fill of sledding we had a quick bite to eat (bratwurst) at the bottom of the hill and then headed to downtown Garmisch to check it out. Garmisch was lovely. There were boutiques, restaurants, hotels, and cafes everywhere. Here's a shot of us enjoying some window-shopping in Garmisch:

We made our way back to Edelweiss and soaked in the ginormous outdoor hot tub. It felt great after spending a few hours outside in the cold! That night we went to a different restaurant at Edelweiss and drank some tasty German beer. We hit the sack pretty early since we had an early morning of skiing ahead of us.

From what we gathered Zugspitze was THE mountain to go to for skiing. It is also the tallest peak in Germany...who knew?! Since it was gray and foggy the whole time we were in Garmisch, we were excited to get to the mountains and hopefully get out of the fog layer.

Getting to the mountain was a bit of an ordeal. We parked our car at the cable car lot and then road a cable car for about 15 minutes directly up the mountain. It was the steepest ride we'd ever had! After about 10 minutes on the cable car we punched out of the fog layer and were awed by the glory of the Alps. There were snowed covered peaks every direction you looked and piercing blue sky. Once we reached the top, we had to take a different cable car down a little ways to get to the ski lodge. This was the remarkable view we were greeted with at the lodge:



I felt like we were in some magical winter wonderland. Since it was only 0900 when we reached the lodge, the bright morning sunshine cast a sparkly spell over everything. Here's a shot of the lodge and the boys heading out to ski:

While the boys skied, I took a bunch of photos and then cozied up in the lodge with a good book. This next photo gives you a good idea of how thick the fog layer was...between the snow in the foreground and the mountains in the background you can see the cloudy/foggy layer rising up. It looked like a lake of fog.



Below is my favorite photo from the day. Directly to the left of the lodge there was this teeny, tiny church. I loved how it looked against the crisp white snowy mountain.

We had an absolutely fantastic time in Garmisch.
We can't wait to go back in the spring for some camping!

If you'd like to view the rest of our photos from Garmisch, please click on this link:

Garmisch Photos

The Continental says...

We'll see you on Sunday when we're back from Garmisch!

Fassle

Last week we went out for dinner in our little neighborhood, Sindelfingen. We originally wanted to try a Mexican restaurant that we heard was good, unfortunately it was "Closed for the Holidays" the night we tried to go. So instead we tried Fassle, a German restaurant. Here's a shot of the exterior:

Fassle has a very cozy interior design, lots of dark wood, booth seating, dim lighting and so on. We warmed up and eyed the menu with two delicious beers.

Side note: We've picked up a new ordering technique from the wise Bellringers...share two starters and split an entree. It's brilliant! When we do that generally don't have any leftovers and yet we're both filled to the brim.

We started off with a cup of their homemade tomato soup and a house salad.



German tomato soup is THE best tomato soup we've ever had. It's thick and extremely flavorful...and usually topped with crème fraiche. (SINFUL!) German salads are just as delightful as their tomato soup. Nestled below the greens and veggies is a healthy serving of German potato salad. As a girl who's never met a carb she hasn't liked, I think this is a genius idea! Check out the picture of the salad and I bet you can't miss the potato salad peeking out.

For our entree we ordered the pork medallions with mushroom sauce and spätzle. (We had already dug-in, so apologies for the half eaten dinner shot).



It was very tasty!

Even though we had originally been craving some good Mexican food, we thoroughly enjoyed our cozy little dinner at Fassle.

Strasbourg

We hit the road on January 1st for Strasbourg, France. The drive itself only took about 1 hour and 40 minutes. Piece of cake! Luckily, we have a GPS system in our car, so we easily found our hotel, the Hotel Royal Lutetia. Our room was small, but perfect since we knew we didn't come to Strasbourg to hang out in the hotel. We were pleasantly surprised by the cool views our teeny balcony offered:

After we settled into our room, we decided to hit the (rainy) streets and do some sightseeing. We knew that we wanted to see the Strasbourg Notre Dame Cathedral (the Cathedral's spire is visible in the background in the above left photo). From what we had read, the Cathedral is a must-see and located right smack dab in the center of the city. We figured it was a good place to start! Armed with Brian's trusty sense of direction we found the Cathedral. Turns out, it was only a 15 minute walk from our hotel! We were both amazed by the sheer size of the Cathedral. Once inside, the endless stained glass, intricate sculpture, and beautiful architecture made for a very powerful experience.

We probably spent about an hour or so wandering around the Cathedral. Once we had our fill we decided to take a look around the city. We saw so many quaint shops, picturesque buildings, and cozy looking cafes. After walking around for a little while we decided to warm up with a late lunch/early dinner. We stumbled upon Au Dauphin Brasserie...just what we wanted! Warm interior, ridiculously rich food, and wine.



The first bite of my chicken dish (above left) was just like the scene in Julie & Julia when Julia Child has her first bite of rich French food. It was a butter explosion of the best kind! Not only were the meats and sauces rich, but the vegetables...OH MY LORD. I think it was the one time eating vegetables was actually bad for you. That being said, we cleaned our butter-filled plates like the good American kids we are! After our meal we walked the streets of Strasbourg in a dreamy butter-haze all the way back to our hotel.

Day two in Strasbourg started off nice and early (and sunny!). The first stop on our list was the Museum of Fine Arts. The MFA is located right next to the Cathedral and is housed in one of Napolean's former residences. Here's a shot of Brian in the courtyard which leads to the entrance of the Museum:



The Museum had a nice collection of European art ranging from the Middle Ages to the late 19th Century. We saw work by Rembrandt, Rubens, Giotto, Botticelli, Goya and Courbet (to name a few). After the Museum we walked to a slightly different part of town to see the St. Thomas Church. This church was considerably smaller than the Cathedral, but had a lovely interior.

Again, we were both taken with the gorgeous stained glass (particularly when it splashed glowing color all over the walls) and the seemingly endless vaulted ceilings. Our next stop was to see the Petite France Quarter. This is an older part of the city where the tanners and millers used to live. It's located right on the river and all of the buildings are quite steep.

Walking around the Petite France Quarter made us both hungry so we decided to make our way back towards the Cathedral. We spotted a little Pizzeria and thought pizza and wine sounded just right for lunch...and it was! French pizza is good, not quite as good as Italian pizza, but it had a nice thin crust with tasty toppings. With full bellies we went to another museum and walked around the city some more.

One of my favorite shops we passed a few times was the most DARLING candy store I've ever seen. See for yourself!

Madeleines, candies, chocolates, and lollipops were everywhere. It was just adorable!

After a long day of sightseeing we had some downtime at our hotel and then headed back out for a delicious French dinner and a quick stop at a small, cozy pub. All in all our time in Strasbourg was fantastic! We saw a lot, ate a lot, and learned a lot (we did not know very much French prior to Strasbourg and learned the hard way that the French aren't very sympathetic to non-French speaking Americans. Luckily, they douse their food in butter, so we forgave them). We look forward to visiting Strasbourg again in the spring or summer.

Most surprising fact about Strasbourg:
There is dog poop EVERYWHERE. Apparently letting your dog relieve him/herself on the streets and sidewalks and NOT PICKING IT UP is completely fine. One street that was particularly littered with poop we fondly nicknamed Rue du Poo Poo.

If you'd like to view the rest of our photos from Strasbourg, please click on this link:

Strasbourg Photos


PS - Clicking on an image will enlarge the photo

Birthday Boy!

Today is this handsome fella's birthday:

Take a peek at our day of celebration!

We had a yummy pizza lunch...



Next, the cute birthday boy received an hour massage at the Marriott spa.
Then we went to see Sherlock Holmes on base...



After the movie (which we both liked!), we dined on homemade Chicken Tikka Masala.
One of Brian's favorites...

I hope my sweet, sweet husband had a wonderful day. Happy 34th Baby!
I LOVE YOU

We're back...and a birthday!

We're back safe and sound from Strasbourg. There were awe-inspiring sights, picturesque street scenes, and sinfully rich foods. We had a fabulous time and can't wait to post all about it.

Right now though, let's all give a BIG Happy Birthday to Grandma Jean!



This darling woman (and former Orange Blossom Queen might I add) turns 90 today!
We're sending you warm and sweet birthday wishes, Grandma Jean.
We love you - B & C

Photo Essay: NYE

We'll see you in two days when we're back from Strasbourg!