Black Forest

December 31, 2006

We've had a full week. Michelle and Melody arrived on Christmas eve and it's great to have familiar faces around. We spent a lazy Christmas day watching White Christmas, eating and taking a walk. Thanks to everyone who sent presents along with Michelle, it was so special for us. The next 2 days were filled with sightseeing and it was good to show Milan to visitors. Being a tourist is so much different than living somewhere and we enjoyed pointing out all the good parts of the city. On Wednesday night we flew to Frankfurt on a very late flight and got in at the airport west of Frankfurt around 1:30am. After staying in an ugly but comfortable bed and breakfast, we drove to Frankfurt. It turned out to be more modern than I had thought, but I'm glad that we saw it. It was very cold and rainy there, but we enjoyed the cathedral and a nice lunch.

Then, we drove into the Black Forest to our next bed and breakfast in Haslach. It was a tiny little town with cobblestone streets and nice shops. We had a german dinner and played charades that night and got up early to continue our journey. Next stop: France. Since we were so close to the border, we decided to go to Strasbourg. I love this city. It is big enough to have real commerce, but has maintained it's old world charm. There's a river through the middle of the city like in Paris and it seems to have a good balance of history and innovation. The Christmas markets were still on and the city was bustling with people. It also felt nice to speak French again.

After that stop, we drove through some of the French countryside, which was very pretty and then back to the Black Forest. We made our way to Menzenschwand, a small village in the valley of some tall hills that were covered in dense pine trees. It was different than any of the other places and peaceful. We took a long walk and witnessed some kids practicing their ski jumps on a hill of artificial snow. There was no snow anywhere we went this week, although it was pretty cold. We dined on more german food, which is so many potatoes, big slabs of meat and big tall wheat beers. Our guest house there was run by a lovely English couple and they had a collection on english movies, so we watched one and played Uno. The next morning, Ben and I dropped Michelle and Melody off in Freiburg at the train station on their way to Salzburg. Ben and I wandered around Freiburg, which we loved. When we arrived, the sun was just rising and as we walked into town, we were joined by a dozen people all carrying big baskets. After a while we realized they were all heading to the outdoor market that surrounded the big church in the middle of town. It was a beautiful sight, this huge red church surrounded by carts of vegetables, spices, flowers, meats and cheeses. Germans seem so much more peaceful than Italians and we loved being around them.

Ben and I drove up through more of the Black Forest and saw cuckoo clock country, where there are tons of them. We stopped in a couple small towns, but none of them were as nice as the ones we had already been to. We flew back to Milan that night and now are back here. It was a great trip and we are awaiting to see how MIchelle and Melody fared on their own.