Bern, Switzerland Week - November 15 - 20, 2009

Check out our photos at: BERN, SWITZERLAND

After spending a great weekend with the Coyle Family we headed off to Bern, Switzerland to a town called Muri for Chris's work this week. The town of Bern is named after the first animal to be hunted in this area. So now they have a whole area dedicated to Bears along the waterfront. Chris and I enjoyed walking around the town, exploring the area, and heading out with his co-workers for dinner. I spent most of my days going for long walks along the river (discovering even more animals in this "natural" zoo setting) and wandering through the woods surrounding the area.

Unfortunately, I ended up getting sick and the weekend that we returned from Switzerland we just relaxed, listened to music, watched movies, and did puzzles while we house sat Shadow (Morag and David's dog). It was fun to spend the weekend in the countryside outside of Erlangen.

Zurich, Switzerland - November 14, 2009

Check out our photos at: ZURICH, SWITZERLAND

Chris and I headed out on Friday after work for Zurich, Switzerland. Some of our adventures during the drive were:

1. Finding out our GPS was not "finding" us and it was giving us false directions. We are glad that we figured that early on during the drive or else we wouldn't have gone on this adventure.

2. Our drive was very foggy. The weather forecast recently said FOG for 5 days straight. We didn't realize that could be a constant weather pattern until we moved here.

3. As luck would have it FOG - makes is hard to see border crossing signs. As we tried to drive into Switzerland we ended up in the wrong area and had to turn around - that caused us to get pulled over and checked by the guards. But we made it through :)

On Saturday, I went with Rebecca to the American Women's Club to make Christmas cards (Rebecca is so creative) and Chris got the grand tour of Zurich by Bill and Brady.

We knew Zurich was expensive, but Chris was shocked when pizza for lunch for 3 guys and 2 small kids came out to $130. That night Chris and I experienced Fondu. We had never done that before and enjoyed dipping and eating.

The next day we went to a really good brunch. Rebecca found this great brunch place located in a barn / farm. The food was great, we sat at long family style picnic tables, there were toys for kids outside, and live music. We really enjoyed this!

Thanks Rebecca, Bill, and Brady for a great trip to Zurich :)

Karlovy Vary - November 7, 2009

Check out our photos at: KARLOVY VARY, CZECH REPUBLIC

This weekend Chris planned a romantic spa weekend to Karlovy Vary. It is a spa town in the Czech Republic. The river that flows through the center of town is hot mineral spring water (that people like to drink, but more on that subject in the pictures). We stayed at the Hotel Promenada and ate dinner there both nights. We loved the food and really enjoyed eating Quail. We spent Saturday touring around the town and then about 4 hours at a spa swimming in the warm mineral water, taking a bubble bath, and getting aromatherapy massages. On Sunday we went to the town of Loket and toured the castle there. It had a very intense display of the dungeon and torture chambers. They made it pretty realistic (as possible) to experience what it might have been like back in those days. We had an amazing trip and now we have to watch the James Bond movie Casino Royal since they filmed part of the movie here. Enjoy the photos.

Making Dinner for Chris - October 30, 2009

Let's just say that cooking meals in Germany is interesting. But this evening was especially challenging. I set out this afternoon to make Chris Fajita's for dinner. We do this all the time back in the US and we have even done it here in Germany before and it turned out fairly well (but it never does taste 100% like Fajita's). But tonight was a different story.

1. I bought lettuce - nope it turned out it was cabbage

2. I bought Fajita mix - but it smelled funny - then I looked at the ingredient list - the first one should be chilli powder right? Nope the German Fajita mix had curry

3. Finally the salsa tasted like spaghetti sauce

So we had Fajita's with cabbage, curry chicken, and spaghetti sauce - That's how we do Mexican food in Germany :)

Wurzburg, Germany - October 17, 2009

Check out our photos at: WURZBURG GERMANY

We stay pretty busy on the weekends with our adventures. This weekend we went to Wurzburg and had a really good time. We started our trip just walking around town and then we ended up at a really nice cafe (one of my favorites). After that we ran (yes actually ran) up the hill to the palace at the top. We thought we might miss the tour, but it turns out you can pretty much tour the whole place without a guide. So we skipped the guided tour. After that we then ran (yes again) down to the residence because we realized if we got there fast we would make an English tour. We are so glad that we did because it turned out to be one of the best tours I have had in Germany. She was a really good guide that told fun stories and had a pretty good sense of humor. Overall it was a fun day to spend together :)

Mugendorf Pumpkin Festival - October 4, 2009

Check out our photos at: MUGENDORF PUMPKIN FESTIVAL

This is a continuation of our fun surprise weekend in Pottenstein, Germany. These towns are actually located really close to where we live, but it felt like we were so far away. (maybe because we are in Germany :)

We woke up and headed out for some adventures. We stopped by the town of Mugendorf around 10 am and we could see the festival being set up, but we had no idea what was in store. We left there and drove around and toured another castle and we met the current owner.

Then we decided to drive back to the pumpkin festival and we were shocked! The town had exploded with people. I think we were the very last car they let through into the parking lot. We got "rock star" parking and a great spot on the parade route. We got to enjoy all the decorated tractors and carved pumpkins. Now you can enjoy them too!

Frankenweg Hike - October 3, 2009

Check out our photos at: FRANKENWEG HIKE

Chris surprised me this weekend with a fun trip he planned for me. What a great husband. We drove to Pottenstein on Friday evening and ate dinner at a really good restaurant (horseshoe brewery) they actually had vegetables as possible sides (not just potatoes formed every possible way Germans can think of).

Then on Saturday we hoped on a local bus and road about 15 miles away and hiked back. It is so cool hiking here. We didn't have to drive at all.... we just leave in the morning - eat snacks - lunch - and dinner along the hike. The trail goes through castles, canyon areas, and even a cave. YES the hiking trail actually went inside a cave! We loved it! I really like hiking in Europe.

Then on Sunday we saw a pumpkin festival parade (see the next photo album I post :)