Last but not Least... Basel, Switzerland

On Wednesday it was time to wrap up our visit to the Alsace region with one more trip, to Basel Switzerland.  We left Strasbourg in the rain and drove the hour and a half down to Basel where it was also still raining.  Yuck...

Liam and Aidan "crazy hair" getting ready to head out of Strasbourg

We met up with Paul, Aimee, Seth and Fiona once again but this time for lunch in Basel. The restaurant they chose was fantastic and had such wonderful warm comfort foods. Josh and I shared a French onion soup which I haven't had in ages - yum! But the adults also all had a meal called roesti - and each of us had a different type. They all have a base of hash browns and then mine had bacon, onion and melted cheese on top. Yes, a heart attack waiting to happen but my god, so delicious!!!!

The kids all hung out during lunch and it was cute to see Aidan with Fiona. Paul and I had emailed before the lunch and he'd "heard" that Fiona had a bit of a crush on Aidan. When I told Aidan this, he responded that he only had a crush on Lindsey (at home in the States) and that hopefully Fiona would be ok just being friends. Ah the love life of a seven year old!

To digress a moment from our actual trip, I must mention the self cleaning toilet in the restaurant for I have never actually seen one of these contraptions before. I'm sure this is a bit TMI for some but I found it fascinating. After you use the toilet and flush, the actual seat moves around under this cleaning mechanism so it's clean and sterile for the next person. In a sense it reminds me of the scene from CARS 2 where Mater is in Toyko and is leaking oil and so therefore uses the bathroom there that's all automated. I found it hysterical...

There were really narrow trams throughout the city

Rathaus (the town hall) on Marktplatz was built in the 14th century

Ok, back to reality. After lunch Aimee had to head back to work and Paul and the kids had horseback riding lessons, so we said our goodbyes and we headed off to check out the Christmas markets in Basel, making our market count 4 markets in 3 countries...not too shabby right? As I'd been told ahead of time, they weren't much to write home about (and yet here I write home to you) but I'm still glad that we saw them. I still think our favorites were Freiburg and Strasbourg.  

Fiona, Liam, Seth and Aidan after our lunch

Aidan at the Basel Christmas market

The kids were at this point marketed out and so we headed to the airport a bit early, 3:30 for our 6:10 flight.  Our flight was noneventful but I really hate to fly and am reminded of it every time I get on a plane. For some reason the outgoing flight isn't bad but during the return flight I always have this sense of panic and dread even if it's a non turbulent flight. The only way I can get thru it is to play solitaire continuously. I think it just helps me refocus on something monotonous.  The flight last night was smooth and yet I had this panic in me as we started to descend into Barcelona what felt like too early - of course I immediately thought something was wrong with the plane.  Everyone around me was fine and yet I could barely stand it.  Why do I do this to myself??? 

We got back just fine and are looking forward to Christmas here in Barcelona this weekend. Then it's off and running again next week to France (weren't we just there?) to go skiing.  It's going to be the boys' first time on skis and they are very excited.  I'm looking forward to a relaxing time as is Josh...though after 4 days of bitter cold, I'm not 100% sold on going back to the freezing temps!!

Julie

Christmas Paradise - Colmar, France

On Tuesday we woke up to it snowing outside. Once again te kids were elated and Liam reiterated that this time he would eat ALL of the snow. I wished him well knowing that later it was forecast to turn to rain. However in the meantime, I was slightly freaking out about having to drive in said snow. Yes I'm from New England and driving in the snow is par for the course, but I also happily left that small piece of my life behind 2 years ago. Though again, I will admit to being more in the spirit because of the snow.

Snow!!!  And Liam was happy to wear his "neck thing" (scarf) which he then spilled hot chocolate all over, at least it wasn't his neck!

The other side of the river from where we stayed in Strasbourg.  LOVE!

Waiting for daddy with the car...someone looks less than thrilled...

We found our way to Colmar which actually wasn't all that far from Freiburg which we had visited the day before. The outskirts of the town remind me of many villages we've seen in Europe - more built up and modern with the "old town" in the center.  And this old town was stunning, the further we walked into it, the more I loved it.  There were parts where there was a small river that wound thru the center and along the streets - set with the old colorful Alsatian homes, it was just picture perfect.  Of course, this would be when I got a glimpse of sun and so the pictures all have a bit of glare but in my mind it was perfect!

Entering Old Town Colmar

Posing with Frosty

Coming upon our first Christmas market in Colmar

Aidan wanted to pose in front of the snowman

We are a food focused family... pretzel and hot chocolate (that Liam then spilled all over himself)

More food and beverages for all!

Our favorite, a gofre (a waffle with nutella)

Josh with his mulled wine

Rainspot on my camera that wouldn't go away

Small river running thru the town

This rainspot is annoying me - how perfect is this picture otherwise???

Trying again - love the Alsatian architecture!

Aidan told us after that this was such a baby ride...

did he really only figure that out when he got on it?

Sheep in a manger

On strike!  We are not walking any further!

Both kids got a kick out of the horse ride - like a merry go round but yet not...

Wooo!!!

I wish all of Europe looked like this... so quaint!

However when it came to the markets we found that they didn't have as much variety as far as products to sell and food to eat.  Stall after stall sold much of the same thing though it was still incredibly enjoyable.  But if we had to choose one that we liked better for the market, I would say it was Freiburg, however for the picture perfect scenery, it was Colmar. 
After a few hours of off and on freezing rain, we decided it was time to head back to Strasbourg.  We had planned to go to Riqueweir but we were all just so frozen from the rain and temperatures and honestly, we pushed the kids to go to 4 markets in 4 days and we can only push them so much to do the things that we want to do.  That's not to say the kids didn't have fun, but it certainly wasn't their cup of tea.

On the way back to Strasbourg, we saw a rainbow which was pretty cool.  It was hanging right over the edge of a village on the outskirt of some farmland.  Amazing!  Of course it was on Josh's side of the car so I couldn't really get a picture and with all the rain, I think I damaged my brand new camera (will be making a trip to FNAC today for a replacement). 
We had promised Aidan we would go ice skating in Strasbourg so when we got back, I went in search of the ice rink as well as some cheese and bread.  One of the things I love about life here is the fresh bread and pair it with a great cheese from a cheese shop and I'm in heaven.  Aidan and I had walked past a cheese shop the day before and I went out on a mission to find it.  Now keep in mind I speak NO French whatsoever other than Merci and Bonjour.  That's it.  I was determined to go in and get what I needed though it was frustrating not to be able to ask questions.  I pointed to the cheese that I wanted and she didn't even ask me if I wanted anything else.  She told me the total but didn't show me the receipt like they would in BCN so I had no idea how much it would be.  I handed her 10 euros figuring it couldn't be more than that.  She finally handed me the receipt with my change and it turned out she was looking to see if I had the change since it was 5.56 euro.  I did have the change but I had no idea what she had been saying to me.  It reminded me of how frustrating things were when we first moved to Spain and trying to navigate something as simple as ordering some cheese and paying for it.  It all seems so simple in that respect here (there are plenty of other things that are not so simple still) as I've been ordering cheese in Spanish for 2 years now and feel pretty confident about it.  And while it was frustrating to feel like I was back at square one, it also made me feel good to know just how far I have come with my Spanish to feel good about my ability to speak when needed. 

Anyways, I found the ice skating rink too which turned out was just behind the building across the street from our apartment (it was a tall and wide building which is why I hadn't seen it before).  Aidan was happy to hear I'd found it and bonus, it's close by.  We had another casual dinner in a semi-touristy area again but the food was delicious and so it was worth while.  Unfotunately when we went to go to the rink after dinner, it turned out that it was closing in just 15 minutes and so we weren't able to skate.  We promised him that on our next vacation, next week we will find a place to go skating or we will go in Barcelona before we leave for that vacation.  And as a concession we also decided that this was the night to start building a Christmas village - if only we'd decided that when we'd gone to Colmar and Freiburg we could have collected a building from each of those as well.  Oh well, hindsight is 20/20. 

We had these at Paul and Aimee's - chocolate covered marshmallows with a wafer bottom... yum!  Bought a 9 pack to bring back with us, too bad most of them got squished in transit! 

One more day to go and then back home to BCN and the warm weather!!

Julie

The Christmas Journey Continues - Freiburg, Germany

Just a hop, skip and a jump from Strasbourg is the border of Germany. So on Monday, after a leisurely early morning, we headed off to visit Freiburg, Germany.  First though we did a quick spin thru the market by the Cathedral in Strasbourg since we didn't have much time the night before and it was so crowded at night!

Outside our apartment door

Cathedral in the daytime

Christmas market in Strasbourg

Aidan really wants the snowborder guy (almost got him too til we realized it was 130 euro!)

My favorite building in the background

Enjoying a warm drink

Close up of my fave building - check out those amazing windows!!

The Cathedral

Daytime pic of those cool chandelier lights

Interesting tilework on the street... wonder how old it is???

I knew we were close to the border but didn't realize how close...as in Germany is the next town over! But Freiburg, which is located on the edge of the famous Black Forest, was about an hour south of that and as with our journey up from the Basel area, it was a picturesque drive filled with many fields and farms and beyond those you could see quaint villages with their church spire raising up towards the sky in the middle of town. Whenever I pictured Europe before we moved here, I think it was the Alsace region I was envisioning because this is exactly how I pictured it. How I envy Paul and Aimee that they get to live in such a beautiful area!
Upon entering Freiburg I was surprised at how built up it seemed, at first. However, once we entered the old town area it was once again evident that we were in the heart of Christmas-ville. Founded in the year 1120, there is a lot of history in this small city As with Strasbourg, the kiosks are not limited to dry goods but also to food. And we sampled a ton of it. From real gingerbread to German potato pancakes (sooo yummy) to various sausages and so much more. There was no need to go to a restaurant for lunch, we just went from booth to booth. One of the cool things is tht most of them did not give you paper and plastic utensils - my potato pancakes came out on a porcelain plate with a regular fork. And when I returned it to the booth, they gave me a euro back. Josh enjoyed the gluhwein/mulled wine and here too, the glasses were authentic and he opted to forgo the euro reimbursement to instead start a collection :)

The booths were filled with ornaments and homemade toys. Aidan and I have been back and forth on whether we should start a Christmas village or not. I never had an interest before but I was certainly being pulled into the spirit. We decided not to in Germany (but of course on our last evening in Strasbourg decided yes we would so at least we got a few things from here to start and I guess we "must" do this trip again so we can revisit the ones we missed). There were also food redux routs like candy and local spices as well as various cured meats. A huge variety which was nice given that our markets in bcn have pretty much the same items booth after booth.

First thing we saw in the German market was sausages... oh yeah!!  Yum!!

Aidan having a sausage

Mulled wine... Josh's favorite :)

Fresh potato pancakes served on a regular plate with a regular fork, no paper and plastic here...

my favorite!!

Josh with one of several glasses he collected at the markets this week

Christmas village stuff - Aidan and I debated starting one but didn't decide on a yes til our last night in Strasbourg, so at least we have a few pieces from the Alsace area... just wish we'd decided sooner so we could collect them from each town we went to!

Chocolate covered strawberries

Chocolate covered banana

Butterbretzel - yum!

More cool tiles...

German toys / puzzles

We were even surprised during our walk to come across some more kiosks and in the center was a small ferris wheel. Aidan, of course wanted to go on it...with me...not Josh, but me. I hate ferris wheels. But I couldn't pawn him off to Josh on this one. So off we went onto this ancient ferris wheel. I think it had been around since the market started hundreds of years ago, yeah it seemed that old. But I put my trust into German engineering and around we went. Of course at one point we stopped on the top and my heart was in my throat, even more so when Aidan tried to come sit next to me. Yes, I freaked out and told him not o move a muscle and stay where he was. Nothing like inflicting my own fears onto my child, right? A great mom moment. 

Our little ferris wheel which to me might as well have been 100 feet in the air!

Cute mom and Aidan moment... my jacket is just really bulky, I have not gained 50 lbs, I assure you...

Going up!!

I think we spent about 3 hours in Freiburg. It was just enough to get a taste (literally) of the Christmas spirit there and to enjoy some of what they had to offer. Our bodies are now longer used to these cold winters and after 3 hours we were all pretty frozen! So we headed back to Strasbourg where Josh and Liam chilled in the apartment and Aidan and I did some more exploring.

Exhausted!

The Cathedral as we drive into the center of Strasbourg

Entering the center, Place Gutenberg

Cute square

Beautiful stained glass window

Stained glass window is on the bottom...

We had a great dinner just over the river. I took a chance (those who know me know how unlike me that is) and ordered this fabulous dish that was basicalled potatoes, bacon, onions and gruyere cheese. OMG it was amazing! Filling, unhealthy in a million different ways, but amazing! Yum! However dessert was another story. I thought I was getting bananas foster but instead she brought out what looked like a pizza with cinnamon, sugar and some banana slices. She set the cup of rum on fire nd then pored it onto the pizza. I think it should have been the other way - pour then set on fire so that it would melt the cinnamon and sugar into more of a glaze. Instead it was a rum soaked pizza that I could barely eat. I guess not everything can be perfect!

My weird flambee banana

All in all, yet another great day. But it's not over yet. We still had be more full day before our time here came to an end. Tuesday the plan was Colmar and Riqueweir, France. In the end it was just Colmar because the weather was just awful but the time we spent in Colmar was well worth it. Updates on Colmar next!

Julie