This weekend is the first of the Christmas Market (Weihnachtsmarkt) season. Lily hung back with a friend for a birthday party, so Jay, Ty, Memaw, Papa, Kaycee and I hopped in the car and headed south the the Schwarzwald – The Black Forest. We stayed at a beautiful Air BNB in Titisee-Neustadt.
SNOW!!! We woke up to about a foot of snow on the ground, covering the trees. It’s beginning to look a lot like Christmas!Saturday morning Jay and I took Kaycee for a walk around town to find a bakery. There is a pretty lake in this town (the German word for lake is “see”) and lots of cute shops along the coast.
We had a few hours to kill so we walked around Freiburg’s Altstadt (old city) area. So cute!!
“Hey Ty, will you stand here so I can take your picture?” “Why mom?” “Just do it Ty.” (Giggling) “MOM!!!!!!!”The cathedral in Freiburg was another incredible structure. These Europeans really know how to build a proper church. One that is not only pretty to look at, but can withstand the test of time. The construction on this one began in 1200. How many structures are we building today that will still be around in 800 years?There was a fun market around the cathedral – not a Christmas market, just the normal weekly market. It had a lively atmosphere, several different street performers singing and playing instruments. We had tickets for a 2-hour time slot to visit the Ravenna Gorge Christmas Market, set in a valley underneath a HIGH train trestle bridge. It was a small-ish market, so 2 hours was plenty of time to explore.Plenty of time to drink Glühwein (hot wine).Plenty of time to collect souvenir mugs.Plenty of time to eat lots of yummy food. Yes, I bought some Black Forest ham.
No trip to the Black Forest is complete without a slice of Black Forest cake.
The Black Forest is the birthplace of the cuckoo clock. this cuckoo on the side of the building puts on a show every hour.Sunday morning we drove through Triberg. Such a cool little town! Lots of shops with things made from the wood in the Black Forest – cuckoo clocks, incense smokers, nutcrackers, and more! There is a beautiful stream that flows down some waterfalls through the town. This shop in Triberg is SO COOL! So. Many. Cuckoo. Clocks.1000 to choose from, so not an easy decision, but I finally landed on this one. The street sign out front says “Frankfurt”. It is being shipped to our home in Bettendorf to await our arrival next year.My Auntie Shell had a collection of smokers and nutcrackers. This little guy came home with me. We had one final meal in the Black Forest before heading home. Black Forest ham for me, please!
This was such a fun weekend, exploring a new part of Germany, kicking off the Christmas market season with Memaw and Papa, enjoying the first big snowfall of the year from a cozy home. Perfection.
I asked everyone what their favorite part of the weekend was. Food and drink, cuckoo clocks, Freiberg. I have a feeling we will be making another trip to the Black Forest in the future.
The kids had “2nd Fall Break” – a 4-day weekend in November. We grabbed some friends and hopped on a 3 hour flight from Frankfurt to Crete, Greece. It’s definitely the end of the tourist season. In fact, we were some of the last guests to leave our hotel, Mitsis Renela in Heraklion. They were shutting it down until March. We tried not to let the cooler weather drag us down. We at least saw some sunshine and a few brave souls swam in the Mediterranean Sea and the pools. Not me. Brrrrrr.
Wheels up!!We arrived after the sunset, but we still found the sea! Trust me when I say it is behind Memaw and I.“Hey dad, I’m going to need you to blow up this floatie….” #dadoftheyearOne of my favorite parts about arriving to our destination after dark is waking up, pushing back the curtains, and looking outside. This view did NOT disappoint!!On Friday morning the girls went to the spa. Lily is going to have to get a really good job when she grows up to afford her massage addiction.The boys went fishing. The water was like glass and the fish were biting like crazy! They probably caught 20 fish each. Some of the fish that they called Sunfish had actual fangs. They also caught some Pufferfish. I wish they had taken a video of those. They had a great day on the water.Deanna and Maggie weren’t going to let the cold water stop them from playing in the waves.Lily wasn’t a big fan of the cold water, but she wasn’t going to let dad’s hard work blowing up the floatie go to waste. She was in her happy place.No way in hell was I going to get in the water. I was perfectly happy staying dry, listening to the waves.Memaw and Papa had the perfect perch to watch our sand volleyball match from their balcony.Friday evening we ventured into downtown Heraklion to experience some local Greek cuisine at Antipodas. We might have ordered just a teensy bit too much food, but it was all SO GOOD!
On Saturday we piled into a van with our tour guide, Costus, and explored the island. We headed inland and started climbing. Our first stop was the Aposelemis reservoir, which was at pretty low levels. The island definitely needs a good snowfall this winter to replenish it. I was surprised to see an entire village that was deserted when the dam was built. The residents were treated extremely well by the government to relocate.
Unfortunately the Palace of Knosos (the most important archaeological site on the island) was closed. Bummer.
The first stop was the Greek mythology thematic park. I don’t know much Greek mythology, so I am probably the worst person to comment on this. But I can say the work that went into this particular park was pretty incredible. The photo above is a replica of the Trojan horse. Unfortunately the cave where Zeus was allegedly born was closed. There were goats everywhere. They were not wild – they all had owners, but they all ran free. there were also so many cats running around. Lasithi Plateau Windmills. The view from up here was beautiful.This is a really old tree. The sign said it was a few centuries old. Our tour guide said it was 2,400 years old. The world may never know…Panagia Kera monastery. Well, it is now a convent, not a monastery, but in any case, it was a peaceful place. Costus said that in 5 years of leading tour guides he has only seen 3 nuns. We were not allowed to take pictures inside the church, but there were chains hanging on the wall if you wanted to add a little weight to your prayers. I knew that Greece was one of the top producers of olive oil, but until you see it, it is hard to imagine. There are olive trees EVERYWHERE. There are about 30 million olive trees on the island of Crete. If there was a patch of dirt that could support a tree, one was growing there. So a stop at an olive oil factory (press) was a must.
Costus said there are 3 things to look for to select a high quality bottle of olive oil: first press, cold press, and extra virgin. Anything beyond that uses chemicals to squeeze a little more juice out of the olive. Also fun fact – the olives that are used to make olive oil are tiny and are not the olives that we usually see on a charcuterie board. Some are black (ripe), some are green (not ripe), but they all come from the same tree. The color variation is caused by the location of the olive on each tree, as compared to the sun.
The farmer harvests his olives by hand and brings them to the press. The factory usually keeps about 10-20% of the oil from each farmer’s olives, which they package and sell. In addition, the factory sells the “waste” from the first press to companies that are able to squeeze just a little more oil out (see the chemical comment above).After taking a shot of the fresh oil (using a technique similar to wine tasting), we shipped a couple bottles to Germany. Yum!We were all pretty hungry and thirsty, and the Lyrarakis winery saved the day! We tried 5 different wines and ate a light lunch, which of course included olives and olive oil. I mean, this airport runway…..
I am glad I saw Crete, but we kind of wish we would have gone to Athens, at least at this time of year. 4 days was definitely enough, especially since the weather was cool and rainy. But, the time spent with friends and family was perfect. We all needed a little recharge and we got it!
We crossed something off the adventure list that we hoped we wouldn’t have to do – spend a night in a German hospital. Ty got a concussion at rugby practice, and the coaching staff thought it would be best to get him checked out. I took him to one ER, where we waited 3 hours to be told that they don’t have a pediatrician on staff. So we got in the car and went to another hospital and waited about 2 hours before being told they want to monitor him for 24 hours. We got to our room at 1:00 AM. The mom and son that shared the room with us had a flurry of activity at around 3:00. Needless to say, we didn’t get much sleep.
So what is the same and what is different than US hospitals? Crappy cafeteria/hospital food = same. Caring nurses = same. Sleeping accommodations for mom = better in Germany. Delivery of pain medication to Ty = only after asking multiple times. Checkout process = much easier in Germany.
He’s out of sports and resting as much as possible for 10 days, then we will see what the Dr says. we are all a little sensitive about brain injuries so I’m not in a hurry to get him back on a field.
We had some unplanned mother/son bonding time.
Something we were all looking forward to was MEMAW AND PAPA arriving in Germany the day they released Ty from the hospital!! They will be here for a whole month – lots of fun posts coming!
Kaycee is in his happy place. He has missed memaw snuggles.Kirk got a taste of our Sunday hike fun. He walked with Lily and Jay to Rotemüller, where Memaw and I met up with them for dinner. Memaw is a fan of schnitzel. Yum.Hey, Sherry. What do you want to do this weekend? Train to Paris? Ok, sure, sounds good to me. Sherry’s first time on a subway. By the end of the weekend she had it mastered.
We dropped our bags at the hotel then found a cafe nearby that had amazing French onion soup. Then we wandered the streets and did a little shopping and a lot of people watching.
We had dinner reservations at Le Sens Unique on Friday night. One of the specials was Parmentier de Canard. It is kind of like a shepherds pie with duck confit at the base. I thought I would give it a try, and oh man, it was SO GOOD!!!We stayed at the Marriott Champs Élysée, a perfect location for our primary activity – SHOPPING!!! The Arc de Triomphe is a must-do selfie spot.Kirk, Jay, and the kids went to Stuttgart on Saturday to check out the Porsche museum. Jay’s souvenir is built, but it wasn’t in Stuttgart yet so they didn’t get to set eyes on his new ride. Soon!!!Sunday morning we woke up early and walked slowly through the quiet city towards the Eiffel Towel. I wish I had my video camera rolling when Sherry FINALLY saw the tower. She was like a kid at Christmas. It is kind of surprising that you can’t see it from everywhere in Paris. I built up the suspense for 2 whole days. Her reaction was worth the wait.We ate breakfast at a sidewalk cafe where you could see just a little bit of the top of the tower, then made our way to the entrance for our 9:30 tour. Pro tip. Book the first tour time of the day. Get there a little early. Find an English speaking tour group to stand next to. :). We were in one of the first elevators and didn’t have to wait long at all.We had some time after the Tower so we hopped on the subway and went to see Notre Dame. It is still closed for renovations but is getting closer!
I am so proud of Sherry. She checked off so many “firsts” this weekend, and she just rolled with it. We had yummy food, shopped till we dropped, logged thousands of steps wandering the streets of Paris, saw some bucket list things. I asked her if Paris was like what she expected it to be or not. “Oh it is so much better.” I have to agree.
Shearer Adventure 