Grape Bandits and Wine-Drinking Jet-Setters

We are winding up our time here in Germany and have already done and seen hundreds of things! We arrived here at Steve’s parent’s house on Tuesday, September 16 and the week has, of course, flown by. Steve’s parents live in the southwest corner of Germany; right on the border of France and Switzerland. In fact, we have been in 6 countries over the last few days!

Our first full day in Germany we were able to do the Route Du Vin in Alsace, France. I was able to put to practice my high school French and was even scoffed at by an old French lady in Auggesheim at a Degustation wine cave…quite the authentic French experience. We did find some really delicious wine and had it with our Racclette dinner that night. (One of my favorite meals from this region.)

The following day we did all the usual German things like, walk for 5 miles through the vineyards behind Steve’s parents house, while Steve whizzed by on his mountain bike. We also stole a few grapes on our walk, which is a crime here in Germany, but is especially prohibited during harvest season. In fact, during this time of harvest you aren’t really supposed to go walking around the vineyards, but since Ed and Dorothy live here, we can kind of get away with it. And we did, thankfully. Can’t tell you how sweet those grapes tasted, but it was something like Riesling wine bottled in a grape…seriously unbelievable. So good, I had to steal another one….and another one, and another one….

The following day, we decided to take a little field trip, you know….down to Italy!! Lake Como, home of George Clooney’s villa and his other villa. We, unfortunately, did not run into this handsome and quirky actor, but did find a fantastic place to stay by walking around many little villages asking people if they had a spare room. It appears that many people in Europe will build separate apartments in their house, or have “zimmer frei”, “free rooms” that they will rent and offer like a B&B, except WAY less formal. Anyhow, we drove over the alps to get to Italy and at the top found a lone Bratwurst stand, selling, what else? Grilled Bratwurst. Up on the top of this mountain it was a warm 32 degrees. The couple that ran the stand had basically been doing this for years, over every season. In fact, there was a lake nearby and they told us that during the coldest months of winter (cold being a relative term here), they sell broiled chicken on the frozen lake…guess that’s what you do for fun when you live in the middle of nowhere. When Steve’s dad asked how long they would continue to do it, without hesitating, she said, “Until I die.” Okaaaaay…we, with frozen fingers, decided to eat the rest of our Bratwurst in the car and drive down to sunny Italy.

When we got down to Lake Como, the temperature was at a perfect 73 degrees and the sun was shining. All of our spirits lifted, despite our lack of shelter for the night and we started our search for a place to stay. Ed and Dorothy had met a family a few months ago that they had heard had an apartment for rent, that was totally renovated and in four-star condition. We decided to check around elsewhere first, for fear we could not afford the price tag of such a nice place. We first checked the tourist office ---no dice. Then we went into a slightly larger town and walked down to search for their tourist office…Steve went out to ask a fisherman where it would be and instead was lead on a walking tour of the town, going from café to café, asking if they had a free room for four people, for one night. A request that no one was too eager to accept. I guess for two nights they will clean a room, but for one the effort is not worth it and the price goes up 50%. Who knew?

Anyhow, the hour was late and so, we headed back to the village where Ed and Dorothy had met the three women a few months before. After a slightly tension filled moment of having no place to stay and finding the correct village the apartment was in, we found it! We walked up the narrow alley to where their house was and as luck would have it, Claudia was there, sweeping the stoop! She remembered the Moehls, and we asked for a room. The apartment was free and she was willing to rent it to us for one night. She gave us a very fair price and our only complaint was that we couldn’t stay longer. The home she lived in used to be a major restaurant in the town, complete with a wine cave/cellar. She invited us down, served us a glass of wine and some fresh trout from the lake she had prepared for a big dinner party. It was all very delicious, not to mention gracious of her to let us into her house. We had a wonderful time touring around as many dark alleys as we could find in the different villages and taking ferry rides across the lake. Quite a memorable time even though we were there for such a short time.

On the way home, we made the drive more interesting by taking another route over the Alps, driving through St. Moritz, and then continuing our drive through 6 countries in 9 hours! We started in Italy, then spent a lot of time [getting lost] in Switzerland, finally made our way into Lichtenstein, ate dinner in Austria (Steve’s birth-country), drove through a corner of France, and landed in Steve’s parents’ driveway in Germany at 12:40am. A very full day and many memories to boot.

The last few days have been filled with church services, vespa rides, and reconnecting with Joni Marble, a friend of mine from Westmont College. She is currently a Resident Advisor at Steve’s old boarding school, Black Forest Academy. Tonight, we had her over for dinner and shared a very traditional Schlact-platter (pardon the spelling) which is sauerkraut, potatoes, and a variety of pork products…yum! One of my new faves…sorry friends who are Jewish or hate pork; you are missing out.

Right now, we are preparing ourselves for “the real adventure,” the part where the security of friends and family melt away and it is just us, our backpacks, a train schedule, two around the world plane tickets, and two small brains to get us there. I hope it will be sufficient, but we have been taken care of thus far and have many adventures ahead of us. My mom recently shared a quote with me, “When given the choice to buy things or experiences, always choose experiences.” We have certainly done this so far, and I hope to have even more encouraging things to tell in support of this theory. Beacause, at this point, we’re kind of locked in.

Tomorrow, we will be heading to Fussen to see Neuschwanstein Castle and learn about crazy King Ludwig and we will move north into Munich for Oktoberfest, departing the evening of September 25. (Mom and Dad---we did find a place to stay…so don’t you worry. My best friend, Priceline really hooked us up last night. Man I love that site, an immaculate hotel room, in booked-up Munich, for 70% off. Thank you, thank you, thank you, modern world.) Until the next time, Auf Wiedersehen.