We're Back!

Yup despite the fact that we haven't recorded it here, we did indeed resume the daily grind almost a month ago. And it's been so grinding this has been the first opportunity to tie up this blog's loose ends. I had a lot of good intentions for a summary post - pictures of the ginormous pile of mail that we had under our mail slot when we got back (half of it was yours ru :), a commemorative photo of the brave warrior wine bottles that made it through the rigors of airport travel girded only in Pete's tee shirts, the pile of laundry... the list goes on. Good thing you guys have good imaginations.

Germany Day 5

Today was a great day to relax and explore Weninden the Hettinger's town. 

Marc got a special new "du" for the occasion. I love the electric look!

We took a lovely walk through the grounds of the hospital where Michael and Susanne work.

The shopping was great at the farmer's market that springs up in the center of town on Saturdays. 

We stopped for Döner Kabobs as a lunchtime snack. Yummy!

That evening after our afternoon naps we had dinner at a special Bavarian restaurant open only for 4-5 weeks during the grape harvest. It was awesome "hearty & rustic" food.

Germany Day 4

Today, we went to Haar, to visit Peter's aunt, "Tante Heidrun". We were greeted with champagne and a wonderful meal, and then headed into Munich to experience Oktoberfest. Crazy!

We all got steins and had many toasts!

Pete with his cousin Felix outside the infamous Hofbräu Tent.

The highlight of the Oktoberfest for me was the many yummy traditional foods that were available. We tried our best to sample all of them - and take pictures for evidence!

The air their smelled of caramelized sugar - from the candied nuts stands. We had several servings :)

Many people hung this shrink-wrapped decorated cookie with various Oktoberfest messages around there neck.

I had to take a picture of this for mom, who loves carmel apples.

We know the German's are into Bratwurst, but 1/2 meter seems extreme! 

We managed to miss the big rush - the metro station was swamped with people arriving for the festival just as we were leaving. 

Germany Day 3

Peter went to the vineyards, to help a friend of the Hettingers pick grapes.

Here is Jo Steib at lunch - you can see the vineyard and heavy equipment in the background. This isn't Jo's day job he normally works for Diamler-Chrysler, but manages his vineyards as a hobby.

It was a blast ... we picked some really beautiful grapes! The 2 year old vines didn't have a lot of grapes, but the 3 year old ones were CHOCK FULL of luscious clusters.  

Pete looking handsome hard at work :)

After a few hours of fun work, we had a "fesber", which is Swabian for "snack", which really means a massive meal-party in the back of a van :-) We had tasty wines, meats, cheeses, freshly baked breads, etc.etc. ... lots of fun.

What a great cultural experience.

Julie hung out with Susanne, had a restful morning and lots of good conversation. 

Afterwards, we hit the local kid's store (nope we're not pregnant) to get some German kid's books for Julie. We ended up getting about 20!

For dinner, Michael's sister Gabi dropped by, and the kitchen crew made some of the pasta we brought from Italy - yum!! I didn't know pasta could be so tasty by itself! Spoon some chicken tomato sauce over it and accompany it with fresh stir-fry veggies, and you've got a hit! We opened the second bottle of wine gifted to us from the Italian B&B hosts, and it was awesome. Yum!

Germany Day 2

The Hettingers had Jo and Heike Steib and their 3 kids for breakfast and we all had a relaxing morning. The men spent a half hour unloading and stacking a trailer of wood. 

Here is our very cute new nephew.

Here's a close up :)

That evening we hung out with Yana (the girlfriend of Henrick, the man living in the flat below the Hettingers), while the Hettingers and Henrick attended a special meeting for the members of their church planting team. We had a great time visiting beer garden, walking through Waiblingen's medieval town center, and to Café Kafer. 

Doesn't it look surreal? 

Switzerland Day 3, Germany Day 1

Time to wave goodbye to the Alps, and aim for Germany! On the way, we stopped in Bern to see the Zytglogge clock, and the Aar river that runs through Bern. The Aar has a warm place in my (Peter's) heart, since when Christine and I visited Bern 15 years ago, we jumped off of a bridge into the river, got out at a nice meadow and tanned there for a while, visited a museum, and then took the trolly home.

We had to stop for a snack in the town Pforzheim. We found a yummy traditional restaurant and chowed down.

Yummy!

We also stopped at the local Apple store and chatted with the manager and a Christian Ex-Patriot employee. We then hopped back onto the highway, and drove to the Hettingers. Had a tasty dinner, and hit the hay.

Switzerland Day 2

Today, it's off to conquer the Schildhorn! After a tasty breakfast (bread & rolls, cheeses, meats, Muesli, yogurt, fresh fruit, etc.etc.), we drove off in search of the cable car, which would take us to the famous peak featured in a few Bond movies. You actually take a succession of 4 cable cars, which all leave precisely on-time, and quickly whisk you higher and higher, achieving more and more breathtaking views with each passing minute. We were astounded with the beauty.


Here is a reflection of the view off Pete's glasses.

We ate at the rotating restaurant on top of the Schildhorn, and Peter had a "James Bond drink" - vodka martini, shaken, not stirred :-)

We really enjoyed the view from the top of the Schildhorn. We set our camera tri-pod on the edge of the table at the rotating restaurant at the very top of the peak and snapped as we made our way around. We stitched the pictures together and I dusted off my flash skills to put together a fast version of our view over lunch.

It was fun to scramble around in the snow at the top.

We decided to walk part of the way down, instead of taking the Gondola all the way. We saw lots of things along the way.


Here is the cow we saw along the way. I love having flash in the new Adobe suite!!!

Pete had fun running down the mountainside.

Julie had fun enacting the Von Trap Family Dancers, er, Singers, er you get the picture...

We found a funny site along the narrow, one lane road that connects the many little villages on the way to the top. This family had converted a old telephone booth into a roadside shower hut.

Pete desperately wanted to try it out. 

We ate dinner at the "Restaurant des Alpes" (Höheweg 115, 3800 Interlaken) - again a recommendation by Ursula, and again a fantastic find! We had the fondue, yum! Afterwards, she brought a "kirsch" aperitif, which really calmed our full stomaches. We contemplated ordering the chocolate fondue after a brisk walk around the city, but cooler heads prevailed, and we agreed to save it for another visit.

Switzerland Day 1

Time to pack up from our beloved B&B :( Said good-bye to our gracious hosts, and turned our trusty steed towards the mountains. We decided to make a quick detour to Lago di Como:


Onward we trekked. Shortly after crossing the Swiss border, we were greeted by beautiful waterfalls, jagged cliffs, the local welcoming crew:

... and a friendly Swiss police officer who informed us that we needed a 24 Euro "highway pass". A few exits later, we dutifully purchased our sticker, along with a few gigantic triangles of Toblerone to ease the sorrow. As the jaw-dropping scenery became more and more wonderful, we realized what a bargain the 24 € price of admission is!


Please believe us - we are not using backdrops, we promise!

We finally arrived in Interlaken, having survived the gaggle of hairpin turns precisely placed across the beautiful mountains and valleys, and easily found the Rugenstrasse Hotel (ranked #1 of 55 hotels here, on TripAdvisor.com). Ursula, the front-desk worker, was extremely friendly - she explained all the big draws, gave us an excellent restaurant recommendation, showed us 3 rooms to pick from (we chose the one with the view and balcony, which was also closest to the wifi base station :-) ), and she even helped carry our bags in!

We then decided to work up an appetite by walking a few blocks to the restaurant she had recommended, "Restaurant Bären" at 3800 Unterseen - man, what a find! We ordered their cheese fondue and a sauerbraten, and washed it down with their local beer (with the braten) and local white wine (with the fondue). Fantastic!! 20E/pp out the door, what a steal. Then, we decided to do somma bloga updatinga, and here we are!

Italy Day 2

After a tasty breakfast, we headed off for our appointment with Rinaldi Winery, makers of our favorite Moscatto d'Asti, "Bug Juice"! We found the winery fairly easily, and then the fun began! Andreas, the 30something winemaker, and his red-headed sister Pamela (who spoke English very well!) gave us a fantastic tour of the vineyards, the wine-making process, and their beautiful cellars too. They were very friendly, and concluded the tour by inviting us to their table, to share a great snack of coffee-cake, salami, and pizza bites, accompanied by "Bug Juice" and Brachetto (their sparkling red wine, very nice! Sadly rarely availabile stateside). We sat and talked Italian politics while lingering over the bottles, but finally had to say our good-byes. On the way out, we picked up a few bottles of Brachetto (to bring back home, 7.50E/btl) and a bottle of Bug Juice (5.50E/btl)for Susanne & Michael. Andreas then gifted us a bottle of Barbera! Very generous of him! We greatly appreciated their hospitality and friendliness, and extended an invitation for them to come visit us in California sometime.


Pete and Andreas and Pamela Rinaldi.


Pete showing Andreas his "work".


We went away with some wine - mostly to leave with Susanne and Michael, we're happy we can get Bug Juice back in the states!

After Rinaldi, we hit another winery nearby, tasting their Moscato and Brachetto ... we both didn't resonate with the Moscato, but I liked the Brachetto better than Rinaldi, so we picked up a bottle.
Next up: Refreshment and relaxation! We swung by the snack shack and snagged some tasty paninis. Adequately refreshed, we steered towards the renowned thermal baths of Acqui Terme. We chose the less presumptuous one recommended by our B&B hosts - Regina. It was kinda fun, but not as nice as we had hoped. Also, they nickle-and-dime you to death! They don't provide towels, bath robes, soap, swimming caps (required), etc., but would happily sell you all of those things. We left after a few hours, having enjoyed the experience nonetheless.
We stumbled upon a fun little maternity store, and bought a pair of blue toddler shoes ... for Peter's 2-week old cousin Marc!
Next, off to dinner ... Julie spotted a pizzeria, and when we saw that it was chock full with locals, we immediately grabbed a table for two. The food was to die for! Who knew that simple spaghetti with tomato sauce could be so incredibly tasty! Ditto for a simple cheese pizza, wow. Their house wine was great too. Yum.
We rolled into bed, our stomaches stupenduously satiated with scrumptuous food.

Italy Day 1

Today was officially declared Julie does nothing day. So I spent the morning strolling through the vineyard behind our B&B, communing with the local pets, catching up on my 5 Aspects of Women bible study and reading. So lovely!


The beautiful vineyard!


The little kitty likes me - either that or the cat nuzzle was too far away for easy commuting.


"Red" catching some rays.

Pete had his own adventures while I was relaxing.
(Pete grabs the microphone)
I had a blast visiting 4 wineries! The first few minutes of each were exactly the same:
1) I drive up to a house
2) A dog ("cane") barks viciously
3) Person appears
4) I use my standard phrase, with the help of Google Translate: "dove è la cantina?"
5) Big smile, followed by tour/wine tasting.
I ended up purchasing a bottle at each winery.


We joined up in the afternoon - had some Panini Pete picked up and took a tour of the local estates :)

That night we had the distinct pleasure of dining with our hosts Emy and Don Pablo and their daughter. We picked up Pasta Fresco which Emy cooked up and we dined like kings, sampling the wine Don Pablo makes from their vineyard (Yummy!), olive oil their friend from Turin makes, and the Honey another friend produces etc, etc. Ahh to live and have friends in a place like Italy!

France (2) Day 6 - Italy Day 0

Our last breakfast in France - we stopped by a bakery on our way out of Nice and totally indulged ourselves - totally out of control!

Pete displaying some of our purchases - he's been going to spokesmodel school.

It was a longish drive into the Asti region of Italy. One of those fairy book type experiences, the lovely Italian countryside, picturesque, if only fighting the urge to loose my pastry breakfast somewhere over the curvy country roads had occupied less of my time I could have soaked more in :)

We arrived and met Emy and Don Pablo, the owners of our Bed and Breakfast - Maggiora 131. We went into town to grab dinner at a great place that they suggested. It was like pizza only wrapped up on a hot tortilla and drizzled with olive oil.

The old town center has a monument erected over the point where some hot springs surface. The steam rises many tens of feet - an interesting sight. 

France (2) Day 5

We woke up to rain showers so we decided to hit the road to Monaco to go shopping (window only - who can afford those prices!!)

The drive up afforded a few interesting sites:

The special wine show at the local Champion supermarket.

A rich middle aged woman washing her Mercedes at the local U-Wash - dressed entirely in white linen. What you might not be able to see from the photo is that we are exceedingly close to the coast here - ocean is probably visible through the window in the back of the U-Wash stall. 

Pete getting friendly with a Lamborghini at the local gas station.

We loved the views on the drive to Monaco - this is still France - and in my opinion far less spoiled looking than the crowded Monaco harbor.

We managed to take a few self takes. This one was snapped from atop our Euro-Mobile across a busy 2 lane, cliff side road. We had to take breaks for surges in local traffic :)

Pete striking a pose in front of the Monte Carlo Casino.

This was dinner. After a heady day with rich movers and shakers it was nice to enjoy the simplicity of pasta. Doesn't Pete's marvelous presentation make it look gourmet though?

France (2) Day 4

We slept in appallingly this morning, managed to be on the beach by 3PM... got to swim out to the floating platforms, have Pete tow me around through the waves on our 4€ yellow floaty thinger. We also got to use the totally useless but hopelessly cute little beach umbrella I made Pete buy me - hopefully the Hettingers (Pete's sister's family) will be able to use it when we're gone :)

We stopped by a grocery store on our way back from the beach (note to potential French Rivera tourists - Nice only has rock beaches (nice smallish smooth beautiful white stones, but ouch, not great to lay out on), so we had wandered west to Cannes to lay out on their seemingly endless sandy strands - all totally fake we hear, every comfortable ounce trucked in.

Pete slaved over dinner while I took a shower. (Did I mention anything about "super husband"?)

It turned out spectacular. Yummy-in-the-tummy!

France (2) Day 3

Today the move to Nice. We hit several beaches on our way east 'long the French Rivera, or as the French call it, the Côte d'Azure.

Shops where eminently cute - think I have a new thing for small bush like plants in miniature terra cotta pots. Aren't these little olive tree plans surprisingly adorable?

We weren't too busy shopping to stop for a lunch of Crêpes :) The artist capturing the scene outside the Crêperie lent a bit of ambiance. 

Pete found our "retirement home" on the last stretch of costal road before Nice. We went out for dinner at a little restaurant around the corner from our hotel/hostel (Hotel Meyerbeer). I got the curry lamb, Pete had the shrimp flambée- we forgot that shrimp here come more fully endowed with legs, eyeballs, etc. in regions other than the sterile US. After a lovely diner, we were off to bed - we must rest up for a long day at the beach tomorrow :)

France (2) Day 2

T'was 9am in the morning, and all through our "Gite"
Neither of us was stirring, cause man were we beat
When in our living room, there arose such a clatter
we threw on some clothes to see what was the matter
our host had brought breakfast, piled high on a plate
we beamed joyously, as we munched and we ate
baguettes, rolls, jam, yogurt, fruit, and the like
zipped down our throats, suggesting a hike
But first Julie would sleep and Peter would read,
hours would pass before the hike's call we'd heed
...
We ended up exploring the gite property a bit, and then Julie's womanly urge to do laundry overtook her. We did a load, so that it would be done - ready to hang to dry - by the time we would finish reading. Around 3:30, we struck out to explore the countryside; our first stop: The winery close by that the pizza van dude had recommended. We found it easily, and luckily it was open this fine Sunday. The proprietress was more than happy to pour her wines, although she couldn't stay and chat long: seemingly noble grape stains and smears on her elbows attested to the hard work of grape harvesting and crushing. I had mentioned our love of the Sauternes district, and she let us try her "cooked" wine - they boil the grape juice right after the crush, and then allow the yeast from the air in the winery to begin the fermentation! Quite labor-intensive. The wine was very sweet and pleasant, so we couldn't leave without buying a bottle. On our way out, we asked her for a restaurant recommendation, and she pointed us at Louvradec(?), a short 20min drive away.

Julie discovered she was famished when we arrived, so Peter procured a mozzarella and tomato sandwich from a nearby bakery. We then shopped through the town, discovering enough nick-knacks to fill even the largest of land-fills (guess who's writing this :-) ).



We also tried various olive oils at the local Château - all very interesting and different - but Peter discovered his dislike for massive amounts of oil consumed by itself. Yuck!

Since the local restaurants didn't open until 7:30pm at the earliest, we burned some time by writing post-cards, chatting, and visiting more stores.



Peter especially liked one large modern wine shop, with a nice and large tasting bar. The French girl hardly spoke English, but happily poured a few tasty wines and lambics, two of which we ended up purchasing.



Since the city teemed with restaurants, we asked her for recommendation, and she steered us to the "Michel Angel" restaurant right around the corner. It was ok but not as good as we had been hoping. Our main beef was the lack of an "amuseé-bouche", which everyone else got except for us. How lame is that?! The rest of the food was good, but not exceptional. We did enjoy talking with the other restaurant patrons, and noticed that only one couple there was actually French. The rest of Europe was well represented - Two tables of English people, two of Germans, etc.

Spain Day 8 - France (2) Day 1

I woke up this morning to an apartment almost fully packed by my sweet husband who didn't want to wake me till the last possible moment! I am so blessed! We pulled the European "stop-in-the-middle-of-the-road-with-your-hazards-on" to load up the car - I feel like I truly belong now :) We stopped by Gaudi's Sagrada Família and Park Güell on the way out of town.



Long day of driving - we decided to cover a longer distance than we originally intended, because of the pouring rain. It totally worked and when we arrived in Aix-en-Provence (suggested by Pete's mom) the sun was shining brightly. We immediately pulled in at the first Château B, tasted the wine and inquired about lodging. We were directed to the tourist office where we promptly called through 1/2 the "Country Cottage" page before landing on a place with openings. After an "adventurous" comedy (the black kind) of directional errors, we finally arrived as the last sparkles of dusk retired for the evening. We settled in and after opting for cooked breakfasts instead of "kitchen privileges," we headed out to find a scrap of something to eat. The restaurant we had spied on the way in was closed by the time we circled back to the itsy-bitsy village near our gite. Plan B - the Pizza Van around the corner - in what could only be described as the itsy-bitsy town square.



We had a truly french pizza experience, complete with Chèvere chese, salted ham, bell peppers and creme, yup creme poured directly on the pizza before it was thrust into the wood burning crucible (the black smoke stack protruded obviously through the roof of the Mercedes vanigan, as if that wouldn't turn heads on the freeway.) With full tummies, we are ready to turn in - gotta be ready for an astonishingly early 9 o'clock wake up call for hot french breakfast!