Oberstdorf

As we got closer to Oberstdorf, the landscape got hillier and greener, the houses grew stouter with longer eaves and lots of flower boxes, and cows were everywhere. But it was still a surprise how quickly the Alps spring up, with Oberstdorf cradled among them. On our first visit, we arrived by car and felt […]

Weimar

We’ve fallen in love, and our love’s name is Weimar. M said several times he could imagine living here. We would, of course, have to study up on Johann Wolfgang von Goethe to fit in, because it’s Goethe everywhere here. Goethe National Museum, Goethe’s garden house, Goethe’s family house, … Even things that at first […]

Peace and Quiet

We left Copenhagen on a night train to Berlin. It was M’s first time on an overnight train. I still remember a post-college night train from Italy to Switzerland, where they took all our blankets and pillows when we reached the Italian border, despite it being around 4 am. This time we had the compartment […]

A Taste of the Black Forest

Our arrival in Titisee did not look promising. It was hot and the small town was packed with tourists. Our lunch was okay, nothing special. But then we checked into our hotel, Treschers Schwarzwaldhotel. Ahh. Despite being right in the center of town, the hotel blocked the noise from the street completely. Our room had […]

A Little More Bodensee

We recovered from our bike trip with a stay in Immenstaad am Bodensee at the Heinzler am See hotel. Ahh, sleeping in! Actually, the first day we got up relatively early to catch a ferry to go see the dahlias. There are ferries between many of the towns – it’s a great way to travel! […]

Biking the Bodensee Part 3

The interesting public art kept coming. Not really sure what the inspiration for this fountain in Friedrichshafen was – steam punk? shipwrecks? – but it’s cool! I wished I could fit some of the garden ornaments in my luggage… From Friedrichshafen we biked to Lindau, which has a very scenic old town and harbor. We […]

Biking the Bodensee, Part 2

We left Schaffhausen by boat, a two-hour trip back to Stein am Rhein. The Rhine has a pretty strong current – I’d guess two to three knots. So we were surprised to see, along with half-timbered houses, modern homes with big balconies, and lots of waterfowl, these water creatures: The river was not very wide […]

Biking the Bodensee, Part 1

We started our bike trip around Lake Constance (the Bodensee in German) in Konstanz (Constance) at the Hotel Halm. The hotel restaurant where we had breakfast had a Moroccan theme with incredibly ornate decoration. How long did it take to create this?!? Our route is shown below. Our first day took us to the small […]

2 Bikes, 2 Valleys

We’re in the midst of our around-Lake-Constance bike trip, but today’s post is a quick one about our first short bike trip in Oberstdorf. We rented two e-bikes for a day and used those awesome batteries to bike up two valleys, the Trettachtal and the Oytal. Here are some of the views along the way. […]

The Cows Are Home

On Wednesday, the cows came home to Oberstdorf after a summer spent in the mountain pastures. In a traditional event called the Viehscheid, the cows are brought in then divided up to go with their owners. In September many towns hold them. Here in Oberstdorf, it drew hundreds of spectators and there’s food, drink, and […]