A Sunday in Rottenburg

While in Tübingen, we decided to take a short train ride to Rottenburg, a small town rumored to be quite beautiful.  It was rainy and quiet, everything was close and barely anyone was out and about... but I can concur it is a lovely little town.

Tübingen

This weekend we went to visit a good friend in the little University-town of Tübingen.  Here are just a few of the sites, for your voyeuristic intention.

We took a walk along the river.  In truth, the river is disgustingly dirty, dirty water (Charles River dirty, I'd say), but it was a lovely stroll nevertheless.  Besides, once the sun started to set all of the fall foliage took on beautiful hues, and the murky water served as a surprisingly ideal backdrop.

Simply love the exposed beams and sloping roofs of old German houses.  This one has obviously been touched up a bit and doesn't have the natural, dark ruggedness that is usually portrayed; but the lines and the coloring of the light, yellowy wood against the light blue, cloudy sky are so appealing to the eye.

Graffitied home to a (democratic/social) movement of sorts.  A house of ideas and speech, perhaps.  Honestly I don't really know, i couldn't get enough info from our host about what it really was other than these vague ideas.  Regardless, perched at a busy intersection it certainly stood out from the dull greyness of its modern city surroundings.

Birthday/Halloween Goodies

For my 3rd Birthday/Halloween in Germany, I celebrated with all of the many indulgences I've grown to love:

A lovely b-day package from mom allowed me to nom on some Halloween-themed Mac 'n Cheese.  Oh, edible nostalgia!

For my birthday dinner, I treated my guests to my favorite-to-make Halloween meal: stuffed Jack-O-Peppers (pictured) and stuffed intestines.  I made both meat and veggie versions (for the Peppers, I used kidney beans instead of ground beef, and for the intestines I added ground beef).  Check out the recipes and try them for yourself!

mmmm... I attempted some Chocolate Whiskey Cupcakes for the first time and they were yummy!  I didn't bother with the ganache, since I thought it would make too much of a mess (and, quite frankly, I didn't have any extra time to fuss with it), but I'm sure it makes them taste even more amazing.

Lastly, a shot of 'Brain Hemorrhage'.  This was at a bar, so I didn't make it myself, but it had Bailey's in it, which always makes for a tasty treat in my book.  :-)

48 Go Green

The last weekend of September my good friend Hannah and I participated in the 48 Hour Go Green Film Festival.  Standard 48 hour proceedure, however all films deal with an environmental theme and the videos are uploaded online, not sent in.  Our theme was "save the forests.'

It was lots of fun!  We had tons of ideas to go with, but we ended up going with an artsy/sci-fi approach by twisting reality and using some excellent mimes.  You can check out our submission here.  Voting has just ended for the people's choice award (darn my infrequent blog posts!).  We'll find out the contender on the 13th.  If we do end up as said contender, I will certainly be pushing for votes come December when the 3rd and final group finishes their films.

go green!

Winzergenossenschaft Glottertal

Today we voyaged into the vineyard-dotted area of Glottertal to the "Winzergenossenschaft Glottertal" to celebrate the birth of and welcome to the world a little bundle of joy.  Her parents couldn't have chosen a more perfect setting - a private tour of a small vineyard with a wine tasting and some homemade nibbles to follow.  It was truly a delight and I whole-heartedly recommend a visit to this vineyard.  Prost!

One of the larger wooden wine barrels.

I spy...

A paraglider!

Badische Staatsbrauerei Rothaus

Today we ventured to the Rothaus Brauerei (brewery) in Rothaus, near Schluchsee.  We had a delightful uphill trek through the woods, with a crisscross of pavement here and some cows there.  Once atop, we had a some beer, a tour of the facilities, and then some more beer and a 'traditional Black Forest lunch' (as it was called).  As the sun set we descended back to 'see'-level and took the train back home.  A great way to spend a Thursday!

Bottled, foiled, and ready to be boxed.

Where the yeast rises.  Or settles, I can't remember which...

Sun setting on Schluchsee

Zähringer Berg

Took a little walk this summer's day just across 'town' to the Zähringer Berg with some friends and a dog named Mr. Bailey.  We got lost in the woods for a bit, but the view was well worth it.  The countryside looked just like a painting of a landscape.

My what big fruit you have...

Some of this summer's yield from Alex's dad's garden...

Zucchini versus a bottle of Spätburgunder rot wein.

Zucchini versus a bottle of Malibu

Tomato (yes, that is one tomato) versus my hand

Hello, Tour de France

Today I took a bit of a road trip with some friends down to der Schweiz to catch a glimpse of the Tour de France.  Our travels took us into the hills of the Delémont region.  We did get a bit lost on the way there, however that just provided us the chance to see some of the lovely scenic countryside.

This was my first "official" bike race (aside from a couple Dana Alia races I attended with my good friend Johanna) and it was tons of fun!  Of course, since I went along with 2 cycling enthusiasts, that made it even more exciting.  The hills of Montavon were a-buzz, and then almost eerily quite in the moments leading up to the emergence of the riders around the bend, which then led to various eruptions of encouragement by flag-wielding fans.  It was quite the experience.

All-in-all a great day.  You can check out further stages and obtain further Tour-related info at their official site.