Germany/Austria Trip, Part 1: The Black Forest

In September 2011, Mike and I took an amazing trip to Germany and Austria for 16 days!

Day 1: Baden-Baden and Staufen
Mike flew out to Germany first to present at a conference in Frankfurt, Germany.  He was there for about a week, then I flew out to join him on Friday, September 16.  I arrived in Frankfurt around 6am on Saturday, September 17.  We successfully found each other in the airport around 7am.  (We had worked out a meeting spot just outside baggage claim, but without cell phones, we were both a little nervous about this; thankfully, everything worked out just fine!)  We made our way downstairs to the long-distance train platform (which is conveniently located right in the basement of the airport!), found a bench and caught up with one another while we waited for our train.

I'm going to pause here to say a few words about the trains in Germany because we rode the trains almost every single day of our trip.  Train lines cross the entire country of Germany making it possible to get just about anywhere by train.  Trains (including inter-city subway systems) and the occasional bus were our exclusive means of travel within Germany.  We never found it necessary to rent a car or even take a taxi ride.  We both thought traveling by train in Germany was fantastic!  The trains were clean, comfortable, and on-time.  Even though neither of us can speak German, we had no problem figuring out the platform signs and which stop to get off at (well, we made a few mistakes, but nothing too serious).  When we did need help, the employees were so nice and helpful.  We did the math and found that for our plans, the passes would actually cost more than just purchasing tickets individually (I think largely because we rode mostly regional trains, which aren't too pricey).  But we did save a lot of money by purchasing our tickets online in advance.  The Deutsche Bahn website was so easy to use!  I actually bought most of our tickets at home before we left, printed them out, and brought them with us.

I also think this would be a good time to talk about our luggage.  This trip was our third vacation to Europe together, and each time we've tried something different as far as luggage.  On our first trip, in 2007, we each took a duffel bag.  Those ended up being pretty inconvenient to tote around because they were heavy and difficult to carry.  On our next trip (our honeymoon in 2010), we decided to share a large rolling suitcase.  That worked ok whenever we were able to roll it, but was very heavy and difficult to load on and off of public transportation, on stairs, or on cobblestone streets (of which there are many in Italy).  For this trip, we wanted something different.  Knowing we'd be changing locations every two to three days, and riding lots of public transportation, I immediately thought of backpacks.  I was nervous that we wouldn't be able to fit everything we needed for 16 days (me) and nearly three weeks (Mike) in a backpack.  But after some discussion, we decided we could make it work.

I found these bad boys for a great deal at the REI outlet online:

They're called the REI Venus (mine) and Mars (Mike's) backpacks.  They got great reviews, had all the features I wanted (internal frame, hip belt, zip down front), were generously sized, and, since they were older models, were on sale for just $80 each!  They ended up working perfectly, and I don't see us ever traveling without them again.  They were comfortable to carry, easy to get on and off, and didn't even feel all that heavy once they were on.  Using backpacks did force us to pack lighter than we've ever packed before, but I really didn't feel all that inconvenienced by it.   In fact, I still probably over packed.  Next time, I'll try to take even less stuff.  I was able to fit a clean shirt, pair of socks and underwear for each day of the trip, so I didn't need to do laundry (I didn't want to waste valuable vacation time sitting in a laundromat).  I brought one pair of shoes (the ones on my feet), four pairs of light weight pants (including some that could roll up to be capris if it was hot), a zip up sweatshirt and a jean jacket (which I could layer together if it was really cold).  I was worried that stuffing my clothes into a backpack would make them horribly wrinkled, but by rolling things together, it wasn't too bad.  But let me tell you, being able to carry all our luggage on our backs was so incredibly convenient!  It enabled us to jump on and jump off trains quickly (and sprint for the train if we were running late).  They fit on the metal racks above our train seats so we could keep an eye on our bags rather than leaving them on a luggage rack at the other end of the car.  A couple times, we wanted to stop and see a city in between hotels, and we were able to fit both our backpacks into one locker at the train station.  It was SO NICE!!!

Ok, now back to the trip.  Our first stop was Baden-Baden.  This is a town in the Black Forest (in German, "Schwarzwald") region of Germany that dates back to the Roman era.  The Romans built bath houses to take advantage of the thermal waters present here.  Today, Germans still believe these waters have healing powers (I read that the German national healthcare system actually covers one trip every decade to the baths) and thus the town and grown into an upscale resort town.  We picked it as our first stop mainly because of convenience (trains run directly from the Frankfurt airport to Baden-Baden every two hours) and because I thought a relaxing day at the spa sounded perfect after a long international flight. :)

Baden-Baden, center of the "old town"

Our train got into Baden-Baden around 10am.  We stowed our backpacks in a locker at the train platform.  A little cafe next to the train station caught our eye, so we stopped in for a cup of coffee and a pastry (I'd already been up nearly 24 hours, and I badly needed some espresso to keep going!).  I picked a pastry with plums on it that was really good!  I ended up seeing pastries like this throughout Germany, and I'm not sure what they're called, but I highly recommend them!  After we finished eating, we caught the bus into town and headed straight for the baths.

Friedrichsbad, the Roman-Irish bath house

There are two main bath houses to choose from: the more traditional Friedrichsbad (a.k.a., the Roman-Irish bath), and Caracalla (a more social, family-oriented, pool complex).  For us, the choice was easy.  The Roman-Irish baths are the ones with all the history, and that's what we came here to experience.  After a visit here, Mark Twain wrote to a friend, "Here at the Friedrichsbad you lose track of time within 10 minutes, and track of the world within 20...."  Now, the reason not everyone chooses to go to the Roman-Irish baths is because...they're nude.

Now I'm not overly prudish, but still, the idea of a bunch of strangers seeing me butt naked made me slightly uncomfortable.  But the truth is, Europeans view nudity very differently than Americans.  For example, it's just fine in their eyes to sunbath nude in a public park.  Everything I read about these baths said it was a serene, respectful experience, free of leering.  So I decided to be brave and give it a try.

There are two almost identical sides to the bath, and on certain days of the week it's either separate for men and women, or mixed.  I was actually hoping to go on a mixed day so that Mike and I could go through together, but we ended up there on a separate day.  However, there's still one pool in the middle which is always mixed.  We were able to time it right so that we got there at the same time and had a least a short time to talk and compare notes.

The bath house is really an incredible place.  The website is here if you want to see some pictures of what it looks like inside.  It's done in a very grand, elegant, Roman style with lots of marble, pillars, and a large domed ceiling over the center pool.  It almost felt like stepping back in time!

The bath experience consists of 17 steps.  On the wall in every room, there's a sign that explains what the room is and how long you're supposed to stay there.  If you stick to the schedule, you will finish in 2.5 hours.  You begin with a shower, then a dry sauna, then a hotter dry sauna, then another shower (different temperature), then a soap brush massage, then another shower, then a steam sauna, then a series of pools of different temperatures.  You pay a little extra for the soap brush massage, but it was totally worth it!  They use a soft bristled brush and a nice olive-oil soap and scrub you all over.

The entire experience was soooooo relaxing.  True to what other said, I didn't mind being naked at all.  Even in the pool where it was men and women together, I never felt uncomfortable.  No one stared.  Everyone was just doing their best to relax, usually with their eyes closed or staring at the ceiling.  I was surprised how comfortable I felt the whole time!  The only time I felt nervous was stepping out of the changing room naked.  Mike said the same thing.  But as soon as I saw other women walking around naked, I felt a lot better and was easily able to relax as soon as I reached the first shower.

The last step is a quick dip into an icy cold bath followed by drying off off using a warm towel.  Then you rub lotion all over yourself and go into a quiet room where they wrap you up in a cocoon of blankets and let you rest for 30 minutes.

Now, at this point, I had been up for well over 24 hours, and I'd been fighting jet lag pretty well up until this point.  But after 2 hours of relaxing hot tubs and massage followed by being wrapped in blankets in a quiet room, I caved in and fell pretty soundly asleep.  Really, it's a small miracle I woke up at all!  If you stay too long, they charge you extra.  Seems like kind of a dirty trick to me... ;)  But thankfully, I made it out before my time expired.  Mike was a little nervous though.  He'd been outside waiting for me and was about to ask someone to go find me because he was concerned I was sound asleep!

After that, we wandered the old town a little bit.

We had lunch at Peter's am Leo Cafe - an inexpensive place recommended by Rick Steves, right in the central square.  Then our plan was to walk up to the historic Lichtentaler Allee, but we didn't get very far before it began to rain lightly.  We had left our ponchos in our packs at the train station, so we decided to call it a day and head back to the bus stop.  We had just boarded the bus when it began to rain cats and dogs!  We were lucky we decided to head back when we did.  I still managed to get a few pictures of the picturesque park before it began raining too hard:

We collected our bags from the locker at the train station and boarded the train to Staufen, a little town in the southern Black Forest region, where we'd be spending the night.  Unfortunately, our train from Baden-Baden to Bad Krozingen, where we had to change trains, was delayed about 10-15 minutes, so we missed our connection to Staufen and had to wait an hour for the next one.  By the time we arrived in Staufen, it was about 8pm and getting dark.  We were staying at the Gastehaus Kaltenbach, a family run bed and breakfast on a working horse farm.  Rick Steves said it was just a 10 minute "moderately uphill" walk from the train station.  Well, with backpacks on and as tired as we were, hiking in the dark, it didn't feel very "moderate" at all.  It took us at least 15 minutes to climb it (although it felt like it took forever!).  There are no street lights up there, and we didn't have flashlights handy, so finding the place was tricky.  But we made it, and the innkeeper, Gaby, was very gracious about checking us in late.

Gastehaus Kaltenbach, in the daytime

This is the hill we had to walk up to get there. You can imagine in the dark...it's really dark!

After we set down our bags in our room and got a tour of the B&B, we walked back down the hill into town (with flashlights this time) to see if we could find a bite to eat because we were STARVING.  At nearly 9pm, most of the restaurants in this small town were already closed up and we were seriously concerned about whether we'd find anything for dinner at all.  But when we found our way to the main street of town, we stumbled upon...a medieval festival, in full swing!!!  It was really a sight to see.  Everyone was walking around in medieval costumes, there were merchants selling medieval style clothes and toys, there was a stage with people singing and dancing, food was being roasted over open fires, and lots and lots of German wine and beer was being sold (they have no issues with open containers of alcohol in public here, people drink everywhere - such a great country!).  We could not believe our luck!  We went from having zero dinner options to plentiful, inexpensive festival food everywhere!

First we tried this pizza-style dish.  It had a thin crust, some kind of cream sauce, white cheese, with bacon and mushroom toppings.  They cooked it in an old-style brick oven and served it to you nice and hot.  It was delicious!  After that, I was longing for a big Bavarian pretzel, while Mike got some ribs that were being slow roasted over a hanging fire.  And of course, we both got a beer.

We were just eating and wandering around, when all of a sudden, a parade started!  We stood and watched as a band marched through town, followed by over 100 people in different medieval costumes, all singing and carrying torches.  There were knights, ladies, friars, peasants - all marching through town by fire light.  It was really, really cool!  Way better than any Renaissance festival I've ever seen in the U.S. (but perhaps that's to be expected when you're actually in a town that dates back to Medieval times, I don't know).

After the parade, things seemed to be wrapping up, and we were truly exhausted, so we headed back to our B&B and crashed.  But the food was so good, we ended up coming back to the festival the next day for dinner, so I was able to take some pictures in the daylight:

Day 2: Freiburg
On Sunday, September 18, we took a day trip to another small Black Forest town - Freiburg.  There's really not much to Staufen that isn't in the pictures above.  It's truly a very small town.  But it's cute, quiet, non-touristy, inexpensive, and conveniently located on a train line, so really it's the perfect place to stay while you see the southern Black Forest.  It does in fact date back to medieval times (as the medieval festival would suggest) and there are these cool castle ruins high above town, today surrounded by a picturesque vineyard:

After having breakfast at the B&B (one of the best breakfast spreads of our trip - complete with varieties of homemade jam!), we hiked back down the hill and caught the train to Freiburg.

Freiburg is much larger than Staufen.  It has both a busy, modern part and a much quieter, historic Altstadt, or old town (where we spent our time).  The main attraction in Freiburg is a grand medieval era cathedral.  We actually learned once we got there that the pope was coming to visit the cathedral on the following weekend!  Hence the poster you see here above the entrance:

After touring the cathedral, we went to find some lunch.  Rick Steves didn't have a lot of suggestions for where to eat in Freiburg, so we just wandered around until a microbrewery caught our eye.  I wish I'd made a note of the name of the place, because we ended up having the best beer, and one of the best meals, of our entire trip there!  My dish was basically a big plate of potatoes covered in cheese, but it was really delicious cheese and tasted amazing!  Mike had some schnitzel.  It was actually kind of a let down to have such amazing beer on the second day of our trip, because we kept comparing all others beers to that one.  I did take a picture of the brewery equipment (I'm not sure what the technical name for this is) visible behind the bar because I thought it looked so cool:

After lunch, we wandered around the old town a bit.  It's a quiet, largely pedestrian-only area full of pretty, traditional-style buildings.  There's not really any attractions to see here, but it made for a relaxed afternoon of aimless wandering and picture taking.

Medieval city gates

This is Freiburg's bächle - tiny streams flowing along the main streets that date back to the medieval times when they served as fire prevention and street-cleaning system  

We had planned to do a little hiking, but unfortunately the weather was cold, overcast, and threatening to rain at any moment, so we decided not to.  That's really my only regret of the entire trip - that we didn't get to see much of the actual Black Forest.  I guess we'll just have to go back some day!

Shrimp Veracruzana

I'm trying to lose a few pounds before our upcoming trip to Germany (which is now just 1 month away - yippee!!!), so I've been searching the internet for low calorie dinner recipes.  I found this one on eatingwell.com, and it looked yummy, so I decided to give it a try.  I thought it turned out really well!  It was light and summery.  I served it with a box of long grain Spanish rice from Rice a Roni.  When the rice and shrimp are divided up into four servings, it's just a 300 calorie dinner!  I thought it made a satisfying meal, although Mike was still a little hungry when he finished, so in the future I may have to come up with another side dish to go along with it.  But all in all, I recommend it.

One note on buying shrimp (and this is kind of my own personal environmental crusade, but I think it's important!): do NOT buy shrimp imported from Asia!!!  This is basically going to be all the cheap shrimp in the supermarket (sorry).  Unless the package specifically identifies a U.S. or Canadian source, it's most likely from South East Asia and should be avoided.  I know the shrimp from the U.S. (or Canada) can be pricey, but I think the better alternative is to watch for sales and make shrimp a special treat, so that you can afford to pay a little more for it.  But the environmental impact of buying the shrimp imported from Asia is serious, and simply not worth saving a few bucks. 

If you want to learn more about the issue, google "environmental impact of shrimp" you'll see all sorts of articles describing how Asian countries are sadly destroying their natural resources in the way they catch shrimp and other seafood.  I think it's important for everyone to be informed about which types of seafood are harvested in environmentally sustainable ways.  A couple of great resources, with searchable databases and lists of environmentally safe alternatives, are the Environmental Defense Fund's Seafood Selector and the Monterey Bay Aquarium's Seafood Watch.

I'll get off my soapbox now and give you the recipe. :)

INGREDIENTS

1 pound peeled and deveined raw from the U.S. or Canada (see why above)
2 medium tomatoes (original recipe calls for 3, but 2 was plenty and I think 3 would make it too juicy)
1 medium yellow onion, diced
2 jalapeño pepper, seeded and diced
4 cloves of garlic, minced
1 lime, cut into wedges 
1 Tbs Canola Oil (original recipe said 2 tsp, but my calorie count is based on 1 Tbs, which is only a tiny bit more but my frying pan needs it)
* A final note on other omissions: the original recipe called for 1/4 cup green olives, but I thought that sounded weird so I skipped it.  It also called for 1 bay leaf, but I didn't have one so I skipped that too.

DIRECTIONS

1.  Heat oil in a medium sized skillet over medium heat.  Add garlic, onion and jalapeño pepper, and cook, stirring, until softened, about 3 minutes. 

2.  Add shrimp, cover, and cook until just pink, about 3-4 minutes.

3.  Add tomatoes.  Bring to a simmer, reduce heat to medium-low, cover and cook until the tomatoes are almost broken down, about 3 minutes.  Serve with lime wedges.

Slow Cooker Pulled Pork BBQ

I normally don't really care for pork, but this recipe is incredibly good!  Mike raved about it, and it's now one of our favorite meals.  The best part? (well, probably second best part - best part is the taste)  It's SO easy!  And it makes a large quantity, so you can feed a big group, eat leftovers for days, or even put some in the freezer for a quick dinner another time.

INGREDIENTS

1 (6-8 pound) bone-in pork shoulder*
1 cup barbecue sauce
1/4 cup water
*Note: a 6-8 lb pork shoulder will make a LOT of food! Mine was 3-4 lbs, and we still had dinner for two for several nights

Spice rub:
**The quantities listed are for a 6-8 lb roast; if you use a smaller one, you'll need to cut back proportionally on all the ingredients. Alternatively, just save the surplus spice rub in a sealed container.
1 Tbs ground black pepper
1-2 tsp cayenne pepper
2 Tbs ground cumin
2 Tbs dark brown sugar
1 Tbs dried oregano
2 Tbs paprika
1 Tbs salt
1 Tbs white sugar

DIRECTIONS

1. Mix all spice rub ingredients in a small bowl.

2. Massage spice rub into meat.  Wrap tightly in plastic wrap and refrigerate for at least 3 hours (I found it works best to just do this part the night before so it can sit overnight; for a stronger flavor, you can refrigerate it for up to 3 days).

3. Unwrap road and place it in slow cooker.  Add 1/4 cup of water.  Cook on low for 8-10 hours (if using a smaller roast, I'd suggest just 8 hours) until meat is fork-tender.

4. Transfer roast to cutting board.  Discard liquid.  Pull the meat apart by tearing it into thin shreds with two forks or your fingers.  Discard fat.

5. Place shredded meat back in the slow cooker and toss with 1 cup of barbecue sauce.  Heat on low for 30-60 minutes, until hot.  Serve with additional barbecue sauce as desired.

Chicken Salad

Chicken salad is one of my favorite summer time foods.  I've tried many different chicken salad recipes over the years, but this is by far my favorite.  It's just the right combination of sweet, savory, and crunchy.  I'm so happy I am to have found a chicken salad recipe that meets my (admittedly high) expectations, I just had to share it with my blog readers!

INGREDIENTS

3 cups cooked chicken, chopped
1 green pepper, diced
2 medium sized celery stalks, chopped
4 green onions, diced
2/3 cup of dried cranberries
1 cup green grapes, quartered
4 Tbs light mayo
2 Tbs light sour cream
1 tsp poultry seasoning

DIRECTIONS

1.  Mix all ingredients together in a large mixing bowl.

2.  Cover and refrigerate for about an hour.

3.  Serve as desired!  I love putting it on a big bun and eating it as a sandwich, but you could also put it over some lettuce and eat it as a salad.

Dessert Crepes

I actually had a crepe for the very first time when we were in Paris on our honeymoon. Wow are they good! For those who aren't familiar with crepes, they can be either sweet or savory. Your basic (savory) crepe is usually used like a sandwich wrap. But my favorite are the sweet crepes. When we were in Paris, we actually bought a package of crepes, heated them up in our little apartment toaster oven, and ate them for breakfast with some nutella. It was a great way to start the day! But you could also have them for dessert. Or a snack. Or whatever. :)

INGREDIENTS

4 eggs, lightly beaten
1 1/3 cups milk
2 tablespoons butter, melted
1 cup all-purpose flour
2 tablespoons white sugar
1/2 teaspoon salt

DIRECTIONS

1. In large bowl, whisk together eggs, milk, melted butter, flour sugar and salt until smooth.

2. Heat a medium-sized skillet over medium heat. Lightly grease pan with oil spray or a small amount of butter.

3. Using a serving spoon or small ladle, spoon about 3 tablespoons crepe batter into hot pan, tilting the pan so that bottom surface is evenly coated (this part takes a little practice). Wait until crepe looks solid and fully cooked before flipping it. Cook until golden brown (this only takes a few minutes per side, less for the second side). It should look something like this:

4. Serve however you chose! They are fantastic with fruit and nutella, but there are many things you can add to make a delicious dessert.

Craft Project: A Reversible Bag

Today's DIY post is actually my mom's mother's days gift!  I hope she likes it. :)

There are lots of tutorials out there for simple bags like this.  I found the most clear instructions in this tutorial by Very Purple Person.  So if my instructions aren't clear, just go look at hers.

I began by making a pattern.  I just traced one of my own reusable shopping bags and then edited it a little (made the strap longer and the body shorter).  It was just easier for me to visualize what the finished product was going to look like that way!  I didn't have any paper large enough, so I traced onto cardboard, made my changes, cut it out, then traced the cardboard pattern onto the fabric.  It worked pretty well, although the cardboard was kind of hard to cut.  For future pattern making, I think I'll try to find some butcher's paper or something.

You'll need two yards of fabric (1 yard each of two fabrics).  I chose to make one side patterned, one side solid.  That way mom can have a fun, bold bag and a more toned down bag in one. :)  Note that you'll be able to see the "inside" fabric along the strap of the bag, so make sure you pick two fabrics that look good together.  Place your pattern on the fold of your fabric and cut out four pieces (two in each color).  Darts are optional, but I think they help give the bag a nicer looking shape.  If you have good scissors, you can do what I did and just lay all four pieces together and cut the darts out at once.

Then sew in your darts, right sides together, on all four pieces.

Sew both of the matching pieces of fabric together, rights sides together, around the bottom edge of the bag (where I drew the dotted line).

And you will end up with two bags that look like this:

Turn one of these bags right side out and put it inside the other.  Make sure everything is lined up then pin the outside bag to the inside bag.

Sew the outside bag to the inside bag along the edge of the straps, but only about half way up.

Then you have to turn everything right side out through the opening in one of the straps.  It is tricky, but don't worry - it will work!  When you're finished, it should look something like this:

Sew the ends of the matching straps together.

Then press the edges of your straps under and pin.

Top stitch them together.

I ironed the body of the bag so that it would look nice.  And that's it!  You now have a nifty reversible bag!

Avocado Salsa for Cinco de Mayo!

There are few things I love more in life than delicious fresh salsa.  This is a fantastic, simple salsa recipe I've been making for years, and it seemed appropriate to share it on Cinco de Mayo!

INGREDIENTS

3 ripe avocados, chopped
5 large roma tomatoes, chopped
1 sweet red bell pepper, diced
1 banana pepper, diced
1 medium onion, diced
4 cloves of garlic, minced
Hot peppers, as desired, diced*
Large handful of fresh cilantro, chopped
Salt to taste

DIRECTIONS

Mix it all together and enjoy with tortilla chips and a nice cold Corona!

*A note on the hot peppers: I like to experiment, and try a different assortment of hot peppers just about every time I make this.  It really just depends on how spicy you like your salsa!  A couple of jalapeños are a pretty safe choice to start with.  I tried adding an orange habanero once - that was a little too hot for me.  Just be careful and wear disposable gloves whenever you handle them!  I had an unfortunate incident once where I handled some hot peppers with my bare hands.  Hours went by, and I washed my hands numerous times, but I discovered there was still some hot pepper oil on my hands when I went to take my contacts out later that night.  It wasn't fun...