From Somewhere in the Black Forest

I can´t believe its been almost a month since I´ve taken the time to blog. I can´t say I´ve been any busier than normal. But right now, I am writing this from an internet cafe in Baden-Baden, Germany. Susan and I have spent the last week travelling through 4 countries. While she is at a 2-day conference for the American Counseling Associastion, I am trying to keep myself busy with whatever I can find. I had hoped to be hiking right now, but unfortunately, the weather is not cooperating with me today.

So here I sit in this internet cafe and I´ll catch you up on where we´ve been the last few days...

We left Sacile on Saturday morning and drove about 4 hours to the Swiss border. We stayed overnight in Lugano, Switzerland. A very nice little town on a lake surrounded by mountains.

The next day we drove north and into the Swiss Alps. Stunningly beautiful I must say. We passed through "Heidiland", the area where the famous film was set. There were signs on the highway and at the rest stops showing where Heidi´s house was and stuff like that. Then we took a slight detour into the tiny country of Leichtenstein. Blink and you might miss it. We drove into the town of Vaduz, and there is really nothing there worth noting, not even a place to get a stamp in your passport. Just another sleepy town nestled in a mountain valley.

After a couple more hours of driving, we arrived in Zurich, Switzerland. Zurich seemed like a very cool place. Very metropolitan and all kinds of people from all over the world walking the streets. Too bad we didn´t have more time to spend there. We managed to walk the town for a few hours, have a good dinner, and relax in an Irish Pub for the night. By the way, I was pleasantly surprised to see the Dallas Cowboys vs. Washington Redskins game on the big screen TV as I walked into this pub! It made me forget that I was in Switzerland for awhile.

It was late Monday morning when we left Zurich and headed to our next destination: Strasbourg, France. We had the great experience of spending a good two full days here and I think it is one of my favorite places I´ve visited in Europe. Iwish I had more time to tell you more about Strasbourg, but I´ll wait until I have the pictures to share also. Basically, it is a melting pot of French and German culture. The old town is filled with beautiful half-timbered houses. Boutiques, bars, and cafes line the streets and hide in little corners. We enjoyed our time in Strasbourg and I hope I can make my way back there sometime again.

We left Strasbourg on wednesday and made our way accross the German border. After a quick stop at Vogelwey AB in Germany to buy some cheap motor oil, we headed to the real destination of the trip, Bad Herrenalb, Germany. This is where Susan is attending her conference. It is a tiny little town that you´re not likely to find on any map. It is located in the Black Forest which is in the southwest corner of Germany just a little to the east of Baden-Baden.

There really isn´t much to say about Bad Herrenalb, except that it is a nice quaint tiny little village with a handful of hotels and spa houses. I think I counted about 4 or 5 restaurants in the whole town (and one of them wasn´t open!). However, we did eat a great traditional German meal at one of them. This restaurant had the greatest atmosphere for a German place. Wooden beams, antiques and old paintings on the walls, and beer steins perched on shelves around the bar. I felt like I was in an old episode of Hogan´s Heroes!

So that was last night. This morning the rain came in and thwarted my hiking hopes for the day. I decided to drive up here to Baden-Baden and check it out. It´s a very ritzy spa town with all these expensive shops lining the streets.

I should also note that as we travel we also have to keep up with our school work. Both of us are in online classes and we really can´t let them slide for more than a few days. So what I should be doing right now is studying! I have 3 papers to write that are all due in the next couple weeks! *cringe*

It´s about 1130 now and I guess I´ll try to go find some lunch!

Pics to come eventually...

Cheers!