Colmar, France & Baden-Baden, Germany

Whew, it is Friday. What a week it has been. My father passed away, so I took a few days off from blogging. 

I am going to share our weekend in France and The Black Forest of Germany. 

Next week, I will share our time in Stockholm. 

Then, I will be going back to the US for two weeks, so the blog will be on vacation. Kind of like when the horses took a six week holiday, the blog will be taking two week holiday. 

Let's get to it, shall we?

Colmar

Wow! It was beautiful and quaint. We wanted to go for the section that is known as "Little Venice".

BUT first, there is a Statue of Liberty. It is on TripAdvisor as a thing to see, but wasn't on our list of things to see. However, we just happened to drive past it.





The start of Little Venice







We arrived around 8pm, so we just walked around in the dark for a bit. We found an Irish Bar to have some beers and watch some soccer.



Colmar is also pretty well known for their wine. So I had to try some. :)

The next morning we woke pretty early and headed out to see Old Town Colmar, the shops, and The Museum of Little Toys and Trains!



Nature



The huge park in the center  of Colmar!



Fountain



Mmmm, a prezel shop! It was so cute.

After this, we found an entire CHRISTMAS store! So we were able to buy our bulb.





Some pictures of Old Town





Day time in Little Venice.

Then, it was time for the museum! We paid 5 euro each and entered into a serious stage of nostalgia.



We played checkers. Blake shared this "rule" that I have never heard of. But with that "rule" he won pretty fast. We still had fun thought :).



Old school legos.



Polly Pockets!!! This was my favorite toy as a child.



All the barbies.



Gaming systems!

There were a bunch of dolls, but they were creepy. I will spare you the photos. The entire third floor was trains. I was mesmerized!









It was amazing. It made me want to play with trains!

Lunchtime was up next on the agenda. On our way to eat we found a wine shop and bought two bottles. The grapes are grown about 3km from where we bought the wine! I am excited to try them. :)



We got pizza! While we ate this pizza, we realized that every place we have been too, except for Cologne, we have eaten pizza. So far, Heidelberg was the best! #WeLovePizza



We hopped in the car and started the 1hr 15min journey to Baden Baden!



Awe, Haribo on the pillows. It felt good to be back in Germany! It was so crazy that within a 2 mile span people speak complete different languages.



We stayed in that off white-ish colored building on the right. Hotel Rathausglockel. Rick Steves recommended it, and if you mentioned him when you stayed you got 10% off. #ThanksRick
The hotel gives you directions to follow to get there, because if you follow your GPS it will not work. :P

IT was lovely. It had 12-15 rooms, the staff was sweet and friendly. It had parking down the road. It offered free breakfast. We enjoyed our stay!

We explored around a little bit on Saturday.



So many stairs!



A church.



Another picture of our hotel.



Tree lined streets!



I love that there are so many pedestrian only zones in Europe.

We found the casino! Rick mentions this casino in the Germany book. We wanted to go, but we felt too underdressed. It was a very classy establishment.

In the yard outside the casino there was a live band and several tables with food tents set up. We listened to music, ate sausages with bread and had a few drinks!



A place for the children to play while the parents drink and listen to music!

We went back to our hotel, rested up a bit. Then headed to the biergarten to watch Deutschland play.



Beer, soccer, prezels!



Blake enjoying a beer!

After the AMAZING game, and a Deutschland win we went to sleep. We had a special morning planned for Sunday.



Sunday morning we were off to The Friedrichsbad, a Roman-Irish bath spa.

"The changing temperatures and the healing thermal water in the various baths have a regenerative effect on body and soul."

That is a direct quote from their website. We were ready! Well, there is one catch! The entire experience is done completely nude. Now, being an American, nudity isn't something we enjoy, so I was a little freaked. But I read a few other blogs of people who had been, and everyone said it is no big deal. That you, and everyone else are nude. You keep to yourself and you just relax. So that's what we did! Men and women bathe separately on Mondays, Thursdays, and Saturdays. The rest of the days are mixed. It is a 17 step process.

You can buy 3 different packages. We chose the highest package, which gave us the 17 step bath, plus a soap & brush massage, as well as a cream massage. It allowed us 4 hours in the spa.

They supply everything. Shoes, towels, soap, locks for your locker, even hair dryers for when you're finished,

If you are interested in the 17 steps, you can read them all here.

I will just share a few of my favorite steps.
You shower at least 3 or 4 times throughout. And these showers are something you dream about. Huge rain shower heads. Warm thermal water. It was just the best 4 showers I've ever taken.

The soap and brush massage was, odd. It felt good, but even with the soft brush it was still rough. I can't imagine what the hard brush would've felt like.

My favorite step was the Thermal Steam bath. It was just the most incredible thing I have ever experienced.







These are some pictures from flickr.com and The Friedrichsbad website that show stage 11. I can't even tell you how amazing it was. You actually forgot you were naked.

The second to last step, is relaxing. The workers come wrap you up in warm towels and blankets and you actually sleep for 30 minutes.

It was a perfect morning! We utilized about 3 of the 4 hours we were allotted. I have read that some people do it quicker, and others longer. We just did the recommended time at each step, and finished in about 3 hours.

I am glad we did it, and I HIGHLY recommend anyone who finds themselves in Baden-Baden to also do it!

After our baths we headed home.





We saw some rainbows :).

Ciao! We are off to Stockholm this evening.

Berlin

Last week I had the pleasure of meeting up with my dear friends Ali and Brian one last time before they headed back to the US. 

They were in Berlin! So I hopped on the train and met them there for the day.

I took the train from Wolfsburg since Blake drives there for work anyways. It was all going fine, until it wasn't! There was a 30 minute delay to my train. A train arrived about 20 minutes later, so I got on... It said Berlin HBF (my destination), and I paid no attention to anything else. Well, guess what? It wasn't my train! My train was still coming in 10 minutes. Whoops. But, thankfully I did not get in trouble and all was fine! A quick hour and ten minutes later I was there.

Berlin was lovely. It is a HUGE city. But we had great weather, and a full day planned.

We saw museums. The day was packed with a boat tour, and a walking tour. So we didn't have time to go in any of them. But Blake and I have plans to go back. So I am sure you will see a lot more of Berlin!

This is part of one of the museums.

 

Time for a boat tour. :)

Some neat pictures from our boat. It was really fun to sit back, enjoy the sun and see some of the sights!

We were awfully close to some of the bridges. You weren't allowed to stand up when passing. For obvious reasons...they wanted everyone to still have their heads.

After our boat tour, we grabbed a quick lunch and went on a free walking tour! Truthfully, our guide was excellent. He was witty, and kept our attention, all whilst making us laugh. BUT. It was INFORMATION overload. I couldn't keep up. Or half the time I couldn't hear. But all in all it was good!

I found it the most interesting when he talked about the Berlin wall. There is a piece of it. 

We saw some Trabi's. 

We visited the Holocaust Memorial. 

Truthfully, we saw a lot more. But I forgot to take pictures because I was trying very hard to pay attention. And it was 1000 degrees outside. So I will blame the heat on my forgetfulness to photograph. 

The tour ended at the Brandenburg Gate.

I thought this was a lovely picture. 

After our tour ended, we didn't have a whole lot of time before I had to be on the train again. So we walked to the train station, and found a place to eat before I went on my way!

It was a lovely last day with Ali and Brian. It offered a good glimpse of Berlin, but there is much more to see. Look forward to another Berlin post. :)

On the way home, I quickly tried to snap this photo of the VW factory. 

Tomorrow I will be sharing Colmar, France. 

July/Update!

Hi friends, I feel like it has been a while. That is probably because it has! 

It is already July. Can you believe it! It will be weird not celebrating the 4th of July like we usually do! Before I share my July goals, I want to share how I did on my June goals! Let's recap what they were.

My June goals:
1. Read 5 new books
2. Workout at least 5 days
3. Plan vacations
4. Enjoy the outdoors

Now, we(I) reflect on how I did!

1. I read 3 books! Not quite 5, but still more than May :) Next month (this month) I will do better.

The three books I read were:

Attachments by Rainbow Rowell

This book was strange, in all the best ways! It was light and refreshing. Half the book is email messages, which made it incredibly easy to read.

Cancel the Wedding by Carolyn Dingman

An amazing surprise! This book is perfect for the beach or a rainy day or whenever really! It was not as light hearted, but it was really good. The plot and characters were both well developed. I also love a story where the main character does something bold!

First Comes Love by Emily Giffin

Well, this book only came out June 28th. But yes, I managed to finish it yesterday on my train ride from Berlin! I love, LOVE, love Emily Giffin. I had this book pre ordered 6 months ago. It certainly didn't disappoint, but it wasn't my favorite of hers. However, I still enjoyed the story. 

2. Workout at least 5 days

I had every good intention of doing this, and I did well... until I didn't. After Amsterdam, I was sick. And I didn't work out for a week! As soon as I was better, I got back on the horse and tackled my workouts with a vengeance. I was not taking it easy!

 So for July, I hope I don't get sick so I can keep doing this!

3. Plan vacations

You are probably thinking, well that is easy, so I hope she at least did that! 

Well, let me tell you something. IT IS NOT EASY! But yes, I did do this. In its entirety. I didn't just plan one or two. With the help of Blake, we sat down and planned out the rest of 2016! We bought a lot of flights, and made a really pretty Excel sheet. My wanderlust heart is happy.

4. Enjoy the outdoors

Another one I can say I did! Even on the rainy days. I walked through the park, and rode my bike. It was really nice and refreshing. Even on the days I was sick, I got up and walked outside for fresh air. 

So I did OK during June, but I surely need to try harder for July!

My July Goals Are:

1. Read 5 books. 

I am putting this on there until I do it. All 5 in one month! Then hopefully, I can read 5 books every month. I love reading, and sometimes I will read 15 books in a row, but then not read a book for 3 months. I am just trying to be more consistent. :)

2. Continue working out

This may seem silly to you, to put this on there again, but I am probably going to have it on my goals list until I die. #IfWereBeingHonest It is the best way to hold me accountable. 

3. Spend 30 minutes a day on German

My classes start next month! YAY. But, I want to come in prepared. I have books and CD's and Online Courses. I want to set aside 30 minutes everyday where I do nothing but learn German. 

4. BBQ with Blake

I am putting this as a goal because we bought the BBQ, but have only used it twice! If I make it a goal, it will encourage me to plan that for dinner instead of something else.

5. Start running outside.

I need to do this IN addition to my workout DVDs. In September, we have plans to climb this mountain in Switzerland. I read it takes 4 hours and you don't have to be advanced. But I would rather not die after 3 minutes. I really don't like running in general. But I have this idea that if I just start doing it, maybe I will start loving it? Who knows. 

This week we celebrated Blake's 25th Birthday! It was a fun sweet day. :) 

 

In Germany it is customary to bring in a treat on your birthday. You leave the treats on your desk and you get many visitors throughout the day! 

I made an attempt at making my chocolate chip cookies from home. I bought a hand mixer and a food scale. And most of my ingredients. I couldn't find vanilla extract, but I found vanilla bean paste and decided that would do.  They also do not sell moist brown sugar. The packable kind that make cookies so amazing. So I used white sugar and molasses and made my own. But it wasn't the same. Lastly, they don't sell chocolate chips like we know them. I found some small chocolate bits but they came with a hefty price tag. I longed for some Nestlé chips! All in all the cookies were good, but not great! I made him cupcakes to have at home. :) 

We went to OX Steakhouse in Braunschweig. Wow. That is all I can say. It was delicious. 

 .

You get to visit the salad bar. Mm olives and cheese. 

They brought us each "soup" in a shot glass. It tasted like hot salty beef broth. You can see mine above. I am not sure why they do this!? It was interesting. 

We each ordered a filet and I didn't take a photo because we ate it so fast. It was amazing!!! We were loving our meal. Blake agrees- his birthday was pretty tasty! 

Come back next week to read about my Thursday day trip to Berlin! 

We're road tripping this weekend to a small town in France and The Black Forest in Germany. I will be sharing it all next week. :)