European Detour: Food, Friends & Family

Aloha all,

it’s been about 15 pounds since our last post. I’m not exactly sure; we don’t dare to step on a scale after going through this ‘culinary trifecta’: One week of eating at my favorite restaurant in France, one week stuffing ourselves with the German comfort food of our youth around the Lake of Constance and one week of enjoying the hearty Bavarian cuisine and drinking Bavarian size beers. In some places one liter (32 ounces) is the only size they serve! Our stomachs don’t feel like it, but we actually did more than eating and drinking during the past three weeks, so let’s catch up:

Our daily aperitif at the Hotel Alpages in the Jura

My parents have a favorite little hotel in the Jura region of France. Every time we go there, I think of the German proverb “Leben wie Gott in Frankreich”. It literally translates into “Living like god in France”, the phrase I came up with while looking for an English equivalent, is “Living the Life of Riley”. I don’t know who Riley is, but I am surprised we didn’t meet him at that little hotel in France.This seems to be the perfect place to spoil yourself. It’s the most charming, family operated hotel in a beautiful, uncrowded region of France and it’s home to my favorite restaurant in the whole wide world! It’s not super fancy, but super good! 

 Just a few samples...I usually don’t take pictures of my food,
but it's my favorite restaurant in the world!

You can’t be a picky eater there, since there is no menu to choose from. Your room comes with breakfast and a five course dinner, which is always “chef’s choice”. That way I get to try things I would never order and I’m loving it! Our expectations were so high from previous visits that they were hard to beat, but every single course on every single night was spectacular. I’m not really a foodie, but it is just that good! 

Sandra at the Lac D'Etival in the Jura

Luckily there are plenty of hiking options and lakes to swim in the Jura for us to work up an appetite. The beautiful landscape, with multiple plateaus, rock walls, waterfalls and lakes, was formed 150-200 million years ago. In fact, that’s where the Jurassic period got its name from. I had missed this the first three times I was in the Jura. Ironically, the son of our hotel hosts was wearing a Jurassic Park T-Shirt…and seemed to be equally unaware of the connection. Or maybe my French is not as fluent as I think it is. 

Paradise for moss-lovers

On our way back to my hometown we stopped in the town of Ensisheim in Alsace. This visit was way overdue since the street I grew up on is called ‘Ensisheimerstrasse’, but I had never been to the namesake town. It’s not a particularly big or famous town, but we had two more connections to Ensisheim on our road trip this year: Ensisheim is the sister city of Castroville, our favorite Alsatian town in Texas, where we met so many friendly people three months ago. And when we visited the meteor crater in Arizona, Ensisheim was mentioned because one of the earliest recorded meteors came crashing down in Ensisheim in 1492. As promised in the museum in Arizona, we were able to view a piece of that meteor in the old town hall of Ensisheim.

We spent a few days in my and in Sandra’s hometowns, visiting friends and family along the way in the Black Forest. As much as we love our life on Maui and on the road, every now and then it is nice to re-connect with our original homeland, our families and our past. We feel blessed that we have friends and family who welcome us with open arms even after being absent for years. We wish we could meet all of our friends on every visit, but there never seem to be enough time.

My parents on the "Mainau" flower island

We wanted to avoid that Sandra’s mom spends 16 hours a day in the kitchen cooking for us. So Sandra, her sister and I took her mom to a hotel at the Lake of Constance for six days and bought one of those tourist cards that turned out to be a tremendous value. It’s pretty impressive that Emma kept up with our program, which included four gondola rides to different peaks in the Alps, three observation towers, three museums, several boat rides, a canopy walk and even a tour of a zeppelin factory. And not just any zeppelin factory; Friedrichshafen is the original zeppelin factory, where even the infamous ’Hindenburg’ was built. Looks like they implemented some improvements to the construction since then. It was fascinating to see a zeppelin close up; I had no idea how they are constructed and how light they are. Even the newer, much smaller zeppelins are about 8400 cubic meters, roughly 100 times larger than an RV, but they weigh about the same as Joy.

We visited the zeppelin museum and the factory in Friedrichshafen

My favorite of the various gondola rides was the one to the “Säntis” in the Swiss Alps. I am sure the view from the peak would have been even more impressive if we had hiked up to 2500m. But we had a very nice 84 year old excuse with us and we all enjoyed taking the gondola to the summit. I’ll be happy if I am still able to go there when I am 84, even if it’s with a gondola. At about $60, the gondola is pretty expensive, but with our “BodenseeCard”, we basically saved more the more we spent. 

Love is in the air at the Säntis

At the summit of the Säntis there are a variety of viewpoints, a little museum with a movie, various restaurants, cafes and plenty of options for little trails to walk. We did not have the perfect clear alpine panorama, but the view into the surround valleys was awesome and the clouds moving in and out made the view a constantly changing spectacle. 

Gondola to the summit of the "Hoher Kasten"

The second gondola to the “Hoher Kasten” was equally impressive and by then the clouds had cleared and we could see from Switzerland to Austria and Germany. Just for variety and to get even more value out of our BodenseeCard, we also went to the summit of the “Hochgrat” where we saw pretty much exactly nothing, but at least it was cold enough that I was able to enjoy a “Glühwein”. 

With Sandra's mom at the summit

The other absolute highlight that week was “Rigoletto” on the lake stage in Bregenz. I am not a huge opera fanatic, but I do enjoy an opera at the right location occasionally. So far my favorite had been “Aida” at the Arena Di Verona with an actual live elephant on stage. Now my all time favorite is Rigoletto. Or maybe I should say my all time favorite stage is the “Seebühne” in Bregenz. I knew they had a stage built over the Lake of Constance, but I had no idea what kind of stage! Luckily, the day before the show I met someone on my little walk at the summit of the Säntis who told me about the backstage tour of the stage in Bregenz. That way, we got to see the back side and hear the back story how they built this amazing set and how it operates.

Rigoletto on the Lake Stage in Bregenz before the show

For Rigoletto, they built a 45 foot head on the floating stage. Together with the massive hands it looks like Rigoletto is peeking out of the lake. That’s already impressive, but during the show, the whole thing comes alive. The eyes open, the head and hand moves and at the appropriate moment, the hand even raises the middle finger. And when Rigoletto is loosing his face in the story, the Rigoletto head is literally loosing his face: the nose falls off and the 8 foot eyes come out of their sockets. At one point, the balloon in the left hand soars to almost 200 feet above the lake!  Half a dozen times, actors end up in the lake. Oh, and the singing and acoustics were really good, too. What a spectacle! I think Verdi would be tickled that his opera is still performed 168 years later, let alone on a scale like this!

The same stage coming alive during the show

On our way to Munich we stopped in the city of Ulm. Sandra’s cousin is the commander of the fire department and gave us a very personal tour of the main fire station. I had done a similar tour on Maui. But after seeing the top-of-the-line equipment in Ulm, if I had to choose one, I think I’d rather be stuck in a burning building in Ulm. 

Yep, that's me, Sandra and her cousin up there!

On our last few European tours, we never made it back to Munich, so this time we made a point of spending more time there to visit our college friends. Plus, it’s still one of our favorite cities in Germany. 

I love the Olympic Park in Munich 

We spent a wonderful afternoon in my beloved Olympia Park, close to where we used to live and still my favorite place to work ever (I admit mostly because it let me attend all the big concerts and sporting events for free). Of course we went up the Olympic Tower (because we always do) and we visited the new memorial for the 1972 terror attack during the games. 

Memorial for the 1972 terror attack at the Munich Olympics

There was no real memorial yet when I worked there in the 90’s. As a tour guide, we were free to talk about the attack, but we were asked not to dwell on it. Now they went above and beyond to design a really deserving memorial. It’ gives a lot of background information and it is architecturally so inviting that I can see by-passers unknowingly walking in and learning something about the history “by mistake”. I learnt that the newspapers on the following day had incorrectly reported that all the Israeli athletes were freed, when in fact they were all killed in a botched police ambush. I truly think that the 1972 Olympics were both, the most joyful and the most tragic Olympic Games.

So nice that our friends don't forget about us!

 We also got to take quick dips in the Starnberger See and the Isar, use an e-bike for the first time, visit a few beer gardens, dine at a lovely Lebanese restaurant, see our old home and sample “Weisswurst” ice cream, which surprisingly, I did not like. It was really good ice cream and tasted like the really delicious Bavarian sausages, so who would have guessed that sausage and ice cream does not go well together? I also found out that the Munich city hall has an observation tower, which I had never been on and the university has a memorial for the “White Rose” Nazi resistance, which we did not know about. And just to make us feel home, we also saw the two urban surf spots.

Surf Spot in the Englischer Garten in Munich

Munich has been called the beer capital of the world and obviously, many American breweries have German origins. But over the past 20 years, I feel that American craft beer has caught up and in many cases surpassed German beer. We were glad to see that the craft beer wave has gone full circle and is now coming back to Germany. I always said that the Germans have been drinking the same (good) beer for centuries while I can have a new and delicious beer at the Maui Brewing Company every time I go there. This was our first visit back in Germany where we saw at least one new, interesting, local beer choice in pretty much every place we went to. In that spirit, we also did a very in-depth tour of a new, tiny, organic brewery and we participated in a private beer tasting of eleven local lagers. I have to admit that I picked the one as my favorite that tasted most like an IPA, which are not very popular in Germany yet. So from a beer point of view, I moved to the right country.

Beer tasting with our friends in Starnberg

It was such a pleasure to re-connect with our friends and family! And even though we still prefer living in America, there is much we like and miss about Germany. I am constantly in awe going back home: When things are still as they were 25 years ago, I am amazed that they have not changed in our absence. When things are different, I am equally amazed that it’s not the way it’s always been. And yes, I do realize that things being the same or things being different are the only two possible options. Now we are back in Las Vegas to continue our road trip in Joy….and to start our diet and detox.

Aloha, Servus & Auf Wiedersehen!

Chris & Sandra

Joy without Joy in Europe

Aloha all,

we are so enthralled by our road trip that we feel we could keep driving around the US mainland forever without running out of new places to visit. But this month we mix it up a little bit with a detour to Europe. First we spent a few days in Stuttgart to celebrate Sandra’s sister’s birthday with her and her mom. My favorite trip took us to Schorndorf, where we stumbled over the birthplace of Gottlieb Daimler, which offers a little exhibit about him and Mercedes Benz. The main highlight was an exposition with spectacular flower arrangements and beautiful gardens; and a roof top bar:

Sandra with her mom and sister at a roof top bar in Schorndorf

Our timing was also very lucky so that we were able to attend the diamond wedding anniversary of Sandra's aunt and uncle. Happily married for 60 years, now that's a fun challenge we gladly accept!

Wedding picture of Aunt Rose & Uncle Jörg with Sandra's parents

My brother’s family has long moved from Sweden to Switzerland, but they still spend their summers up north. So we flew to Sweden to visit them in their charming summer cottage. It might not have flush toilets, but it has its own little disc golf course, which in our family is way more important. Our first day was my nephew’s birthday. We went to an escape room which he won in an impromptu scavenger hunt and we were actually able to break out of the room with four minutes to spare. 

Successful Escape Room with Hannes on his birthday

 Since Hannes is now the star disc golfer in the family, we played three rounds of disc golf on his birthday, instead of the usual two. And he celebrated his birthday in style with a hole-in-one on the last basket. 

We are not the only disc golfing family in Scandinavia. It’s a fairly popular activity and we stopped at a disc golf super store that sells more discs than I every imagined existed. For us it was the equivalent to the proverbial “kid in a candy store”. I wish I could tell you how many discs we bought, but by brother has sworn me to secrecy.

Three happy kids in the Disc Golf Super Store

Sweden has a lot of lakes and those lakes have a big advantage over the ocean around Maui: Calm enough water that even beginner Stand Up Paddlers can feel like they know what they are doing. We were actually inspired to buy two SUP boards on Maui, I’m only afraid that $600 later, we’ll find out that our progress in SUP skills will be wiped out by the tiniest waves.

I love Sweden....in the summer!

Even the destination for our 5 day trip together was determined by the quality of the disc golf courses. That might be the reason why we made it to Finnland for the very first time. The best disc golf course in Scandinavia just happens to be on the remote island of “Lappo” in the Aland Islands, so that’s where we went. These islands are geographically and culturally half way between Sweden and Finnland. We visited a historical site, a fort that the Russians built and lost to England. As always with European history, I was quickly confused, but I like the end result of the complicated history: Aland is now a demilitarized, semi autonomous, Swedish part of Finnland and the buffet on the ferry to the islands is spectacular. 

Aland Islands

In order to get to the disc golf course on Lappo, we had to drive across the main island of Aland and then take another ferry. Lucky for us, they have another disc golf course and a brewery along the way, making the long journey very pleasant. From Lappo we took two day trips to other islands by bike. To one of them, there is a free on-demand ferry service. Even for just a family on bicycles, on a push of a button, the ferry comes over and takes you to the next island.

Carfree and carefree days on Lappo

For the next day trip, we rented an ATV because 20km is a little long to push my niece, who is still struggling with her knee after yet another surgery. What a great excuse to cruise around the islands on an ATV. I felt a little guilty disturbing the peace and quite of these remote islands with this loud machine, but boy was it fun! And what were we supposed to do? Leave Ronja behind?

ATVing in Aland

The running joke when we play disc golf is that my brother suggests that we play ‘just for fun’ without keeping track of the score. But my nieces and nephew are just as competitive as my brother and I. We all play at pretty much the same level, so I don’t think we’d be able to play without comparing scores, even if we tried. But we played well over a dozen rounds, including specialties like an overhead, lefty, blindfolded round, a round from the lady’s tees, an early morning round and one that we didn’t start until 10pm (I love the long Scandinavian days in summer), so by the end of the week, I think everybody won something and everybody screwed up a putt that was easier to make than to miss.

The best 7 disc golfers in the family:
Hannes, Petra, Sandra, Chris, Ronja, Linnea & Jan

Next, we went to my home town of Breisach. Besides the obvious pleasure to see my parents, we also did some sightseeing together. In Freiburg we went up the newly renovated church tower, saw and heard the enormous church bells at noon, enjoyed the view and visited the botanical garden for the first time. About time I see the botanical garden of my birth place after visiting gardens all around the world.

With my parents in the church tower in Freiburg

My parents are very good tour guides and tailor each trip to the interests of the guests. Coming from America last year, they took us to the home for Bartholdi, who built the Statue of Liberty, but I had no idea that there is another American connection so close to my hometown: Selestad is a picturesque little town in Alsace and they have a historical library with the very first document mentioning the name “America” for the newly discovered continent. Amerigo Vespucci was not the first European in America, but opposite to the vikings he kept pretty good records and published them. And opposite to Christopher Columbus, he knew where he was. I would somewhat enjoy America being named after my namesake (“United States of Christophica” sounds pretty good, doesn’t it?). But given the fact that Columbus never set foot on the actual continent and still thought that he had been close to India until he died (as I just learned), makes the name America a pretty reasonable choice.

Spiral Staircase in Selestad, Alsace

The same little library provided another treat for us: The best virtual reality experience I have seen anywhere so far. We visited ten of the most interesting libraries of the world, all while sitting in this small historic library in a little town in Alsace. Both the content of the presentations and the technology of the VR experience were spectacular.

"La Bibliothèque, La Nuit" - Virtual reality library tour

Next we got to spend 5 days in my parent’s favorite little hotel in the Jura region of France. The restaurant at this hotel is my favorite restaurant in the world. I might wait with my next post until I figure out a way to include some smells and flavors in this blog.

Aloha,

Chris & Sandra