Monday, March 28, 2016

Frohe Ostern!

Frohe Ostern! Happy Easter! We just got back from our trip to Alsace in time for Easter. Sunday morning we all got dressed and headed out to church. 
After we got back Rand got his Easter basket and we hid some eggs around the house for him to find. At first he went back to the first place he found an egg but quickly learned we had them scattered around the house. After he found all the eggs, he cracked them on the rim of his Easter basket to see what was inside. He was cracking us up. Every egg he tapped on the edge of the basket like it was a real egg.
Rand's East basket had some great little goodies inside. 

For dinner I made this amazing (and easy) leg of lamb recipe and potatoes with green bean casserole. Unfortunately, I didn't take any pictures but it was amazing and we barely had any leftovers.

Alsace day 2 ( Route des vins d'Alsace, Riquewirh, Obernai, Mont Sainte-Odile)

The next morning we headed north and followed the “Routes des Vins d'Alsace” the Alsace wine route. This day was just spent traveling on the route while enjoying beautiful landscapes, stopping at picturesque villages and taste some good white wines. I used Tourist Guide Marie Christine Périllon Alsace as a guide for our road trip and picked a few villages to stop throughout the day. We stopped at Riquewirh, Obernai and Mont Sainte-Odile Abbey. I wanted to stop at Betschdorf (known for its blue and gray stoneware), which is a pottery town in the Alsace just 15 minutes away from Soufflenheim (a better known pottery town) but we didn't have enough time.
Riquewirh was our first stop. I read this little village can get packed quick so I wanted to stop to see at the beginning of our day. 
Riquewihr is a medieval town right in the heart of the Alsatian vineyards. A parking lot is right near the city hall and you can park right outside the old city gate for a few euros. Riquewihr is one of the most beautiful villages not only in Alsace, but of France and is included in the list of " Les plus Beau Villages du monde." Riquewihr is certainly like an enchantment place, a Fairy-Taile Village, which has lasts and-hopefully-will last-centuries. 
Rand enjoyed running up the main street, Rue Charles de Gaulle and eating some treats from the local bakeries. 
Overlooking Rue Charles de Gaulle is the Dolder Tower which used to be the town's gate and part of the walls protecting the town.
After grabbing a Crêpe on our way out of Riquewirh, we headed back onto Route des vins d'Alsace towards Obernai. We passed through many beautiful little wine villages and vineyards. 
Some more pics of the Alsace stork and their nests
We stopped at Obernai to grab a bite to eat. Parking was very easy and found a place on the side of the street. We did a quick lap before walking down restaurant row and found a great place to eat overlooking the Parcours Historique d'Obernai. 
 Before heading back to the car to go to the Mont Sainte-Odile Monastery, we found a great little carousal for Rand to enjoy.  
While researching where to go in Alsace, I came across Atlas Obscura and read an interesting story about a man who found an old floor plan of a Monastery and broke in to steal some old books from a locked library. The story completely interested me and I really wanted to go see Mont Sainte-Odile. 
 We parked for free in a field below the Monastery and had a bit of a hike before reaching our destination. I put Rand in my DIY toddler carrier and walked hiked up to Mont Sainte-Odile. 
The views overlooking Alsace was a perfect end to our weekend in Alsace. We didn't go into the Monastery but enjoyed walking around the grounds and looking into the little chapels on the edges of the cliffs. Rand had a lot of energy so he ran around in circles in the garden and enjoyed climbing into this old carved out tree. 

Tips for exploring Alsace:
-Get a good map of Alsace and the Route des vins d'Alsace. I used a map from my tour book Tourist Guide: Alsace
-Have a designated driver. This is wine route, you will see wine stands everywhere so be responsible and don't drink and drive!
-Check out airBnB for a unique place to stay on your trip through Alsace. 



Alsace day 1 (Eguisheim & Colmar)

While planning our trip to Alsace I knew I wanted to stop at Obernai, Soufflenheim, Riquewirh, Colmar and Eguisheim. I also came across some info on Wattwiller and I knew my husband (who is a huge history buff) would enjoy that stop on our trip. Also, Mont Sainte-Odile Abbey seemed like a great stop to enjoy the views of the vineyards from up above.

Hartmannswillerkopf, also know as Vieil Armand (in Wattwiller, France) was a battlefield on top of a mountain, with extremely steep sides all round, where the French and Germans fought for most of the Great War. I have read some amazing reviews on this memorial but was bummed to find out (the night before we left) that they were still on their winter schedule and wouldn't be open for a few more hours till after we were planning to arrive. So instead we planned on just heading out to Eguisheim before going to Colmar to spend the night.


We headed out towards Eguisheim right after breakfast and arrived there around lunch time. The drive was pretty easy and took just over 3 hours to get there. Eguisheim has a carpark very close to the centre, just off the main street (D14) turning left just before you see Wolfberger on your right. 2€ for 2 hours and 3€ for 4 hours. 



Rand looking for an itsy bitsy spider.
 After a delicious lunch at Restaurant Dagsbourg, we 
did a lap around this charming little city. Eguisheim is a member of the Les Plus Beaux Villages de France, meaning "the most beautiful villages of France." We enjoyed walking around this quintessential French/German city and admiring its beautiful half-timbered buildings and the old city walls. 
Alsace has plenty of wine shops with signs outside that welcome you in for a dégustation, a free tasting of their vins d’Alsace before you buy: Riesling, Gewürztraminer, Sylvaner, Pinot Blanc, Pinot Gris. We picked a random cellar and were able to taste some local wines and buy from the owners. Bakeries and pastry shops were plentiful and filled with colorful tasty treats. Alsace is known as the birthplace of the kugelhopf so we just had to get one to try. 
Do you see those two huge nests onto of the orange and red buildings? Those are from the famous Alsace storks. We found these huge nests all around Alsace on chimneys and rooftops. 

Our next stop was Colmar. I found this amazing apartment on AirBnB that not only was in a perfect location but the price was amazing and was just so cute! We were right near the indoor market, Little Venice and Koifhus. 

Colmar was completely decked out for Easter. They had little pockets of Easter markets with vendors scattered throughout the city along with live animals like rabbits, chickens, baby chicks, goats and much more. Rand loved running up to the cage or fence and peeking in to see each fuzzy little animal. 
They say Alsace is French with a German accent but I would say it is the other way around ;) Rob and I thought it favored more of Germany than France. Alsace is the Germanic region of France. It is a region lying on the west bank of the river Rhine, between the Rhine and the Vosges mountains. Colmar was founded in the 9th Century and was German between 1871–1918 and 1940–1945. 
In the middle photo to the right you can see a beautiful mural painted house called the The Pfister house which was built in 1537. The mural paintings represent biblical and secular scenes.
Saint Martin’s church, also known as Cathédrale Saint-Martin (for its large dimensions, though it is not a cathedral). It was built in pink sandstone from the Vosges Mountain built between 1235 and 1365.

The second picture on the right is The fishmonger's district and is lined with beautiful cherry blossom trees that were in full bloom during our visit. Parallel to the trees were colorful half-timbered homes and just down the street from Little Venice (bottom right picture).






Tuesday, March 22, 2016

Hiking in Potzberg

We woke up to a gorgeous sunny day in Germany and I knew we just had to take advantage of the weather and the fact that Rob had the day off. I have a list of small day trips I want to do before we move back to the USA this summer and I thought we would head out to Potzberg and hike around the Potzberg Wildpark
We parked in the parking lot of the wild park and could easily spot the hiking trails and maps. 
We came across a WWI memorial on the trail.
I sure am going to miss views like this.
Be prepared and bring some snacks... not only for yourself but for the animals. We had some carrots and the reindeer couldn't have enough. 
A couple bucks even had at it over a carrot and I caught it on camera!

During our hike we came up to a little playground in a nearby village. We let Rand out and go down the slide a few times and run around the playground before we headed back on the trail.

Address:
Am, Potzbergstraße 1, 66887 Föckelberg


Friday, March 11, 2016

Stoffe Markt Kaiserslautern

Fabric is very expensive here in Germany so whenever I hear about a Stoffe Markt (Fabric Market) I do my best to go and buy some fabric at cheaper prices. Here is a link to the one I went to this week so you can keep an eye out for the next one coming up. 
Tips for the Stoffe Markt
-Be sure to do a lap before buying. Many vendors had the same prints but prices varied. One print I bought was 12€ a meter. A few vendors down, I saw the same print for 9€
-Bring cash
-Go early! I got there right when they opened and no one was there. About 15 minutes later it started to get busy and 30 minutes later it was crazy packed!
-Bring a bag to carry your new fabric
-Know some German

Here are some words or phrases you can keep on a pad of paper to read aloud
excuse me ..... entschuldigen
half ..... hälfte
1..... eins
2 ..... zwei
3 ..... drei
meter ..... meter
please ..... bitte
thank you .... danke


Monday, March 7, 2016

Snow day in Germany

I am sad to say this winter has been kind of a bummer for me. I knew this was the last opportunity for Rand to enjoy some snow for a VERY long time. We will be moving to America soon to Alabama/ Georgia and it never snows there.

I was so excited to wake up to a blanket of fresh white snow on top of our German town this morning. 
I bundled Rand up in his winter gear and we headed out for a walk to visit the goats and give them some food. Rand was hysterical! He hated the snow and refused to touch it... he wouldn't even step on it. Here you can see him walking in the tire trail to avoid touching the snow. He was interested in the small snowman I made but again, wouldn't touch it, lol.

Wednesday, March 2, 2016

More drones

Whenever it is decent weather, we all go out for a bit to fly the drone. Well Rob flies the done and I chase Rand around a field taking pictures. 

We were low on milk so I talked Rob into taking the drone out near the milk farm. It was a pretty windy day so we didn't stay out too long. The video didn't come out very well because he had to point the nose down on the drone. I am hoping we get to try again soon because I just love that area. It is so beautiful. 

  Rand was excited to get some more milk. I know he doesn't look it in this photo but I promise he is.