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.

Titisee

It's been hard to get a break from the rain this month, but the sun was out today, so I made a run up tot he lake with a good friend and her dogs.  It was a perfect day to be in Titisee!  We were there early enough to enjoy the cool morning and beat the crowds.  We enjoyed a full walk around the lake, not running into too many tourists but we did stumble upon a very small cow pasture.

Once we made it all the way around, we took a seat on the grass and spent the rest of our time gazing at the lake and boat-goers.  All-in-all a very relaxing day.

Elztalblick

Today I reunited with a past student of mine.  She took me to a lovely little "Campingplatz" (campsite) nestled in Simonswald, not too far from where we used to have classes.  It it a truly tiny campsite, however it is as quaint, clean, and serene as can be.  Not to mention the view!

Nothing says summer in Germany like enjoying a cool beverage, watching the sun set over the hills.

And then the rain came down...

...but the flowers, they looked so pretty.

Purple Rain...

Week 2 of rain everyday.  At least it makes for pretty sites at dusk.

Bologna's Ts

According to my local expert, Bologna is most famous for its 3 Ts:

1) Towers

Way back when, in Bologna power was demonstrated through tower building.  He who built the largest tower was obviously the most powerful.    These are le due Torri, or "the two towers".  The one in the foreground actually used to be twice that size, but they had to cut it off in the middle because, as you can see, it would have toppled over.  The tower in the background is open for people to climb up it's ever winding staircase for a well-worth-the-3-Euro view of the entire city.

2) Tortellini

Now this is technically tortelloni, which is what most people outside of Italy would call Tortellini anyways.  Tortelloni is basically large Tortellini.  Tomato, Tomahto, it was the most delicious pasta dish I've every had.

3) Tits

This is one of the mermaid women from the base of the famous Neptune statue in Piazza Maggiore ("Big Square").  As you can see from this photo, the mermaids play a key role in the water fountain's design as they shoot water from their nipples.  According to my local expert, they actually used to cover the naked Neptune so as to not offend/disgust the women of the city center.  But apparently the site of a woman holding her breasts with perky water spouts for nipples was never an abhorrent site to see for anyone.

Ciao, bella Italia!

And the beautiful countryside that is Mercatale.

I visited a good friend of mine in this lovely town (though apparently EXTREMELY lame, as said by a 40-year resident we met at the bus stop) in the countryside near Bologna, Italy.  Picturesque rolling hills dotted with vineyards, all in the bloom of spring.

There were also many seedlings in the air and covering the grass like summer snow.  They were so light and fluffy and at one point on our early evening walk we found ourselves enswarmed with these cotton-like seeds.  It was very surreal.  I took a short video as still photos couldn't quite capture the feeling...