Outside my window

I spent the entire day thinking about how to fashion my "last post of Summer 2008" post. While scrubbing the corners of the rooms, mopping the floors, and schlepping the last loads of laundry up and down the stairs, I thought, "how can I best capture the spirit of my summer?"
As I finished the floors, I walked back to my bedroom, and this is what I saw outside the window:




Okay, it is not totally uncommon to see one or two hot-air balloons fly by our windows, although usually not so close. As we watched the Ritter Sport balloon lower periously close to our neighborhood, we ran to the front window to see where it would land. Here's what we saw outside our front skylight:




What a perfect way to sum up my wonderful, relaxing, travel-heavy summer break. I'd imagine that this summer was like flying in a balloon. It wasn't until the sun set that my feet, ready for new challenges, touched the ground.

Where on earth is Mulhouse anyway?

In one final hurrah, Joern and I spent Monday night in France. He has a lot of customers lying along the French border, so it made it simpler to stay overnight. Of course, it is much more enjoyable when you get to stay overnight somewhere together, otherwise, you tend to spend your evening getting a quick dinner and then alone in your room.
So, we spent most of Monday along the French border, a beautiful area, bordered by the Black Forest on one side and the Rhine River and Vosges Mountain range on the other side.

It is also beautiful wine country. Okay, I know I can't drink now, but it still makes for beautiful landscape.
We made it over the border, the Rhine River, by driving over a bridge with a simple sign that says France (but in German, so actually, the sign says "Frankreich.") That's all. The open borders in the EU is really a lovely concept.
The area of France which borders Germany is called Alsace, or Elsäß in German. The region was disputed between the French and Germans for hundreds of years, and the area finally came under French control in 1945 following World War II. Driving over the border to France is really interesting. There is no transition. You drive onto the bridge in Germany, and when you drive off the bridge, there is no doubt that you're in France. But Alsace is incredibly charming, and when you look a little deeper, you can clearly see the German influences that still exist.
We stayed in a small town, Mulhouse. Driving along the border of the town, it appears an industrial town, as there is a large Peugot factory along the outskirts. We quickly learned that the center is quite the opposite. There is a charming center, with cute hotels, and a wonderful atmosphere.
We stayed in the Hotel de Bale. It was a charming hotel, with unbeatable rates.

After getting our stuff settled in the hotel room, we walked towards the town center. The town center is full of winding streets lined with shops and restaurants. The exact center, Place de la Reunion, was incredible! The town hall, or Hotel de Ville, an amazing, albeit slightly tacky, over the top pink building covered with Trompe-l'oeil painting.


It was so enjoyable to just stroll around the adorable town center,


to gawk at the Hotel de Ville and to admire the towering spires of the cathedral.

By the time we decided on one of the many restaurants, it was already dark. Our dinner was amazing! I had salad with warm goat-cheese, and Joern had a Flammkuechen, a traditional Alsactian pizza-like dish.

We sat outside, and were amazed that the later it got, the more the center filled with people. And what a spectacle for Germans, the restaurants were all full!!
On Tuesday morning, we had a lovely breakfast at the hotel, of croissants and bread with butter and jam. The hotel had a wonderful breakfast room.
After breakfast, we headed back to Germany for Joern's work day. He was finished by 4, and back over the border we went, this time to Geispolsheim to our grocery store. We love going to grocery stores in foreign countries, and we frequently visit this one grocery store.


We bought lots of great food, like goat cheese, quail eggs, baguette, croissants, Diet Coke with orange (!), mustard, pastries, and oh my gosh, lobster bisque! It was a wonderful few days, and I feel so lucky to be able to spend some of my vacation time with Joern. It really wrapped up my vacation in a special way!

Vermont- Part IV

We spent the weekend after our Massachusetts trip at home. I figured that it made more sense to be home on the weekend, so that Joern could visit with more of the family.
So, after a fun weekend, including a cookout at my godfather's and a night at the races, Joern and I headed out for Vermont on Monday morning. The drive took us up through the middle of Connecticut and Massachusetts. It was quite a nice ride. We also drove up through quite a bit of Vermont, to Stowe, about one hour from the Canadian border. The coolest part, to me, was the rest stop in Vermont. It was so unlike any CT rest stop. It was quiet, clean, they had tons of information about the area, and FREE Green Mountain Roasters coffee!

The ride was about 4 hours.
When we got to Stowe, we decided to check-in to our bed and breakfast first. Wow! The B&B, the Timberholm Inn, was the quintessential Vermont B&B. Nestled in the mountains, the Timberholm was amazing.



Our bedroom, the blue room, was so cozy. The owners were extremely kind and accomodating, it was so enjoyable just to talk with them. Sadly, while we were checking- in, and checking-out the B&B, it started raining, so we left most of the exploratory activities to either in the car, or indoors.
Stowe, itself, is a winter-sports heaven. But, in its other life, it is a traditional, charming small New England town. The center is adorable. The skyline is dotted with simple church steeples, unlike the highly ornate church spires in Europe.

After looking at some maps and brochures, we decided to head out to Ben & Jerry's, which is actually in Waterbury, but located along route 100, just like Stowe. We were immediately drawn in by the cow print bus and gigantic factory with those distinctive white puffy skies on a blue background. Yeah, it was like heaven. We were so excited to take a tour, only to find a sign that stated ice cream is not made on Mondays on the desk of the ticket-seller. Of course, we could tour the factory, but where would the fun be in seeing a video instead of the real thing?
Dejected, we left Ben & Jerry's determined to return the following day to see the full show.
We drove back along the main road, and found a shopping center, with all Vermont products. We went to the Cabot Cheese sales annex, and enjoyed many samples :)

I also went into the Vermont Teddy Bear Company, and finally got to see them in person. After doing some shopping, we decided to head out to Green Mountain Coffee Roasters. Although I was disappointed to find out that we could not tour the factory, there was quite a bit of information available on the coffee and the region. Plus, they had many, many flavors of coffee available that were quite difficult to find in the stores. I bought two packages of my new favorite, Wild Maine Blueberry, and some Hazelnut. Yay!
While we were in getting coffee, the weather cleared. We decided to drive towards the mountain area. What we encountered first really made us laugh. As one drives out of the town center towards the mountains, you encounter many little shops and hotels, all with Austrian names. There is a heavy Austrian influence, beyond the Trapp family, that exists here. Unfortunately, the area resembles much less the Austrian Alps, and much more the Black Forest. Weird, huh?

We drove through glorious mountain forests, and stopped to enjoy the sun and a little babbling brook.

From there, we drove toward the Trapp Family Lodge, yes, the Sound of Music Trapp Family. It turns out that it is a lot more than a lodge. It is a huge hotel, with rental villas and now a growing community of private villas. Their property is huge and glorious! The funny thing was how very Austrian the hotel looked. I realized just how spoiled I am when I remarked to Joern, "why would I stay here, when I can stay in any hotel like this in Austria?"

Boy, where did I come from?

We finally made our way back to real life, and got dinner at a great restaurant, Gracie's.
We decided to head back to the B&B after dinner and enjoy the relaxing common room. There are couches and plenty of reading available, and of course, incredible sunsets. Also, they provide homemade cookies and tea at 4:00 in the afternoon. The owners keep the leftover cookies out, so we had to indulge. They also offer hot chocolate and tea until about 11:00 pm. In the common room, we also met another woman staying at the B&B, she was from Canada. We had a very long and interesting converstaion that wove through Canada, the housing markets in the US and Canada, and all the way to talking about our families.
It was a lovely, relaxing evening, just what I was expecting from Vermont.
Of course, the major surprise was what we came upon when we entered the dining room of the B&B on Tuesday morning. Breakfast! The owners of the B&B are hobby chefs, but incredible hobby chefs! Breakfast consisted of fresh pressed orange juice or fresh Vermont cider, a homemade sweet potato bread, and the most incredible ham quiche I have ever eaten made with fresh eggs from the owner's chickens. It was amazing! After we had stuffed ourselves silly, one of the owners came out and asked if he could get us anything else, Joern said, "sure, a little more quiche." The owner explained that he couldn't give us more quiche because he had made only enough for all the guests, but instead he made a ham and cheese scramble. Joern only regretted asking because he was stuffed beyond all means by the time we left the breakfast table!


These are some of the beautiful Vermont natives who showed up on the balcony while we ate breakfast.

As we waddled our way out of the B&B, we decided that due to the extreme cloud cover, going up Mount Mansfield would not be a good idea. So, we returned to Ben & Jerry's for our factory tour, which on Tuesday, included seeing the acutal production process.

The factory tour was really cool. After a brief video about Ben & Jerry, the co-founders, we went to the production area. Unfortunately, you are not allowed to take pictures, but what we saw was really cool. You can see the entire process, if you are there long enough. We got to see the cartons being filled. And towards the end of our stay, we got to see a huge vat of ice cream pushed over to the swirl filling area. They added a caramel swirl- yum! After seeing the production, we went downstairs to the sample area. Samples are free, you get to try one of their newer ice creams. Ours was One Cheesecake Brownie. Okay, not really my favorite, to me it was an odd combination. But, it was free, and it was Ben & Jerry's, I am not complaining. After the samples, the tour is complete. You can return to the gift shop, where we bought a few t-shirts and an ice cream scoop :) Of course, we then went to the ice cream shop, where Joern bought Cinnamon Buns ice cream, and I got Coconut Seven Layer Bar. Both flavors were EXTREMELY delicous!!!
Before we left, of course, we made our way to the Flavor Graveyard, and paid our respects to flavors like, Cool Britiania, Economic Crunch, and Wild Maine Blueberry.

Since our tummies were now extremely full, we decided that since the sun was shining, we would take the gondola ride up to the top of Mt. Mansfield, the highest mountain in Vermont. The gondola ride was a little expensive, $20 a person, but to do once was definately well worth it! The ride goes up to the summit of the mountain, which is 3625 feet above sea level. That is amazing to a girl from a seashore community. The view was unbelievable! It looked like a wonderful place to start a hike- yes, since I am not the most active of all people, hiking up would be a bear! I would be willing to hike down. We walked around for a while, just taking in the incredible scenery, and letting nature hit us full on.

We decided to go to the Cliff House Restaurant. The restaurant, which is also at the summit, has won many accolades, and was named an Editor's Choice Restaurant in Yankee Magazine. Since we weren't very hungry, but had to take advantage of one last Vermont food opportunity, we split a Vermont cheese platter. It was so delicious!
Afterwards, we headed back down, and enjoyed the views of the Green Mountains, Stowe Mountain Lodge, and the mountain.
Before leaving for CT, the clouds started coming in again, and since we weren't ready to leave cuddly little Waterbury, we stopped at the Cold Hollow Cider Mill. Vermont is well known for cider, and the Cold Hollow Cider Mill is the number 2 most visited attraction in Vermont after Ben & Jerrys. It turned out to be a gigantic store, with all Vermont made products, which was actually pretty cool. The cider press is in the back of the store, and they offer free samples of the sweet, cloudy drink. It turned out that we spent quite a long time there, and bought many Vermont treats, like a maple syrup sampler, maple walnut pancake mix, maple mustard, and honey which was also made at the cider mill. These small memories of Vermont are serving us well here in Germany, and every time we see them and use them in our kitchen, we begin discussing our wonderful trip this summer!



After the Cold Hollow Cider Mill, we decided it was time to go home. We desperately want to return to Vermont, as there was so much that we didn't get to see and do. Our two days simply whet our appetitie to return and experience all that the Green Mountains have to offer.

Salem and Cape Ann - Part III

The trip from Boston to Salem takes about 45 minutes. So, we were quickly out of the city, and into the adorable, yet infamous, town of Salem. After parking, we walked through the town and made our way over to the Salem Witch Museum. Since I had been to Salem before, I suggested to Joern that the witch museum would be a good introduction to the history of the city and the Witch Trials. As I remembered, the museum did not disappoint. I was reminded of this dark period early in our nation's history. The Witch Trials seem to be a study in mob mentality, as well as highlights some of the beliefs and prejudices held by Puritans living in Salem.

After the museum, we explored the adorable town center. We also witnessed part of the show, Cry Innocent, a re-enactment / audience participation Witch Trial. We decided not to go to the part for which you needed to pay, even though I wanted to see it. But, I will put it on my list of things to do by myself, or with a bigger spender, next time I am in Boston.

After a bit of miscommunication, we decided to head out to Cape Ann, which turned out to be a wonderful decision. Cape Ann, on the northeastern coast of Massachsetts is absoluely incredible. We first drove into Gloucester to find a hotel. We found a beautiful hotel, the Ocean View Inn. Our room had an absolutely fabulous view of the Atlantic!

After checking in, we drove around, and found ourselves in Rockport, known for being an artist's colony. We wandered around the downtown area, and out onto Bear Skin Neck, lined by adorable shops, and out to a lookout point in the harbor. We even thought about going on an evening schooner ride, but unforunately, we couldn't find anyone in the office- which is one of those wonderfully quirky expriences only to be found in small town America.


We had a difficult time finding an open restaurant, but finally settled on the Portside Chowder House. It was awesome to enjoy my lobster while looking out at the harbor.


On Wednesday morning, Joern, battling jet lag awoke to a beautiful sunrise over the Atlantic and shot some beautiful pictures from our hotel balcony.

Once I was up, we set out out for the beach. We went to Good Harbor Beach in Rockport. The beach far exceded any expectations. The sand was soft, the beach was gigantic, and the Atlantic was COLD! But the cold didn't seem to deter anyone. We joined the hearty souls, and spent a good 20 seconds in the water before our feet started to go numb.



After enjoying the sun, and finally going for a 10 minute up to my waist swim, we headed into Gloucester for the afternoon. Our hotel works with a whale watch company, Captain Bill and Sons. They booked us onto an afternoon whale watch. We arrived from the beach about half an hour before the whale watch, which gave us some time to explore this wonderful, historical port city.
We explored along the water as well. Saw the Fisherman's Wives Memorial, the Fisherman's Memorial, and the sign for Gorton's.



The whale watch took off from the dock at 1:00. We were told that they had good sightings in the morning. Since this was my fifth whale watch, I thought good sightings meant sighting a dorsal fin, a fluke print, or in a really lucky case, an actual fluke. I had no idea what an incredible show we were in for! Once we left the harbor, we started seeing water-spouts from the whales about 40 minutes out. The tour leaders decided not to stop for these whales though, as we were not yet in Stellwagen Bank, a site known for excellent fishing and whale feeding grounds. As we entered Stellwagen Bank, again, more water-spouts. Sadly, this is also when the camera battery died- thank goodness the company offered a CD with pictures from the trip! This time, we neared them, and found a pair of humpbacks. They were beautiful! As we moved on, we came upon another humpback feeding, and we were just in time to catch it's fluke as it dove. As we watched this beautiful whale, off in the distance, a whale was breaching. As the boat drove towards the whale, then past it, I figured out why. We could get much closer to another breaching calf. Okay, he wasn't a total baby, one of the crew said he was like a teenager. It was amazing, he must have breached 10 times! We were able to see so much of this whale's face, and gigantic body. We were up so close to the whale, you could feel the impact as this incredible creature crashed down into the water. There are no real words to describe the sight, but it was an experience I won't soon forget!


After the whale watch, we went to get dinner. After dinner, we returned to Rockport for some delicious ice cream. We spent a lovely evening on the deck of our hotel enjoying the beautiful moon and the sound of the waves crashing.

I awoke on Thursday feeling completely relaxed yet quite sad that our lovely break was coming to an end. We returned to the beach for a few hours. This time, we spent about 20 minutes in the water. It was actually a lot of fun!

From the beach, we returned to Gloucester, so that I could buy a sweatshirt. We then went back to Rockport for the rest of the afternoon. We did some shopping, enjoyed a coffee at Helmut's Strudel (Helmut immigrated to Rockport from Austria- what a life!), and tried hard to file every last sight, sent, and sound into our memory banks.

Our trip from Boston to Cape Ann was really a wonderful look into some of the wonderful places in New England! I think Joern really enjoyed it. I know I did!