Weekend adventures: ROOOADTRIP!

Weekend Adventures: Roadtrip to Germany, Luxembourg and France

(October 22-25, 2010)

We set out Friday night with a lot of territory to cover; specifically, a lot of countries to visit! Preston met me in our fancy rental Volvo (we're fans of the Diesel engine ... amazing gas milage despite the all wheel drive) and we began our journey.

Germany was our first stop and where we'd be staying Friday night. We pulled off the highway en route to Hotel Lyssach for dinner. We ate our way through most all of a fondue pot (delicious but the fact that we did that by ourselves is sortof gross!) and were overcharged by about 35%. Ugh.

We continued on and drove through the Black Forest and some really cute villages over the boarder. I commented that the roads in the Black Forest were amazing, "It looks like a really long driveway!" Preston, of course, commented that he wished we were in the Boxster (and that it was daylight!).

We pulled up to the Hotel Romerbad, a five-star property in Bodenweiler, Germany, a spa village. The receptionist was very nice and showed us to our room "Sorry about the double doors, this place is 400 years old!" Preston booked us in a really big standard room and even though all of the tv stations were in German, our vacation was off to a great start and we were happy.

Hotel Romerbad

Saturday morning we had a great brunch at the hotel after Preston went for a run and came back to report, "All of the wine shops are already open!" We spent brunch commenting on all the other guests and enjoyed a game of "how old do you think that guy with the young girl is?"!

We walked all through the Bodenweiler village, bought German wine for our Luxembourg hosts (Preston said Gutwurtzmeiner is what Germany is famous for so we picked some of that up in addition to the bubbly and chardonnay) and visited shop keepers that all spoke to Preston in German; I was impressed. 

Kunst Palais in Bodenweiler

Little flute player in the center of
town that made me think of my Mom (ex-flute player)

Loved these flags because this German village really was at the
crossroads of Switzerland, France and Germany

Preston taught me that "Rathaus" is
Cityhall in German -- hilarious, I thought

Outside a little boutique in town

We toured the town's famous Roman spa ruins as well. Unfortunately, the two euro admission was the closest thing I got to a hot stone massage.

Sleek German design over the Roman spa ruins

Preston checking out the ruins

As we toured the town I was particularly shocked at the lack of English-speaking tourists around and the lack of English signs (for example, the signs throughout the ruins were only in German). I commented "this is REAL DEAL Germany!"

He jumped in the car for our fall foliage drive through the countryside and back through the Black Forest.

In Germany with the Black Forest behind us

We stopped for gas right before we entered France -- with this week's strikes, reports say one out of three petrol stations are still without gas.

Preston told our new European Tom Tom to take us backroads all the way to Luxembourg so we could enjoy the autumn scenery. 

Over the boarder back in France

I think we navigated through a zillion "roundabouts" and took a detour through the French town of Baccarat. 

The Baccarat store in the French town of Baccarat
(again with Swiss and German flags included too!)

We also stopped for a few self portraits in the French village of Hablainville with the gorgeous French countryside in the background.

French countryside

We drove through Reclonville (a ridiculously small town) and followed the detour (or "deviation" signs) which made Tom Tom VERY upset.

I heard a lot of "this is a fun road" from Preston throughout the day and I may have even heard a "yeeeeeeee haaaaa" at one point on a back counrty road. Stylin' in the Volvo wagon!

Looks pretty fun to drive, right?

It was a beautiful day for an autumn drive and
 I loved the sky at that moment

When we ventured off the country roads Preston
got so excited, "YES, we get to see real life French
protesters!" We don't think they actually were but
he was really excited for a minute!

We arrived at our destination, Chez Otepka in Luxembourg, at 6pm. I had met Sara, our lovely hostess and the Otepka's reason for being in Luxembourg (she's an Amazon superstar and also on an expat adventure), a few times through Seattle pals and while we think we met Matt, her amazing husband, at Dan and Abby Zink's wedding, we weren't sure. Any awkwardness just plain didn't exist and the amazing hospitality of the Otepkas was demonstrated as Matty yelled from their third floor window, "Park over there!" as we drove up. I asked Preston if we two blonde Americans really stuck out THAT much but, the truth is, the Otepkas really are just that friendly.

We settled in to their gorgeous three-story house and caught up about living abroad, both our adventures and some of the best places in the U.S. to fish (Matt and Preston share a love of fly fishing). Rudy, Matt and Sara's two-year old, was a little charmer too -- they all made us feel at home immediately in this new country.

Matt cooked us a Saturday evening feast and we enjoyed probably a few too many bottles of wine (we had A LOT to catch up on!).

Sunday morning Preston and Sara went for a run (I think I intimidated Preston a bit before he left when I said, "You know Sara WON the Seattle marathon, right?!) and then we all enjoyed breakfast and multiple rounds of coffee. When we were ready to venture out we explored Luxembourg city, with the town's highlights literally right outside the Otepka's door.

The Otepkas ... right outside their door!

Luxembourg is also a land-locked country (like Switzerland), is only 999 square miles and is the world's last remaining Grand Duchy, a region whose head of state is either a Grand Duke or Duchess. I enjoyed walking by the Duke's stately home, right up the street from our host's home.

The home of Luxembourg's Grand Duke and Dutchess

We stopped for lunch and continued our walk through some of the city.

I loved the colored homes throughout Luxembourg

Beautiful Luxembourg

The Otepkas

The Walls

Hilarious ... "What's the dog doing Rudy?!"

We bid our hosts goodbye around 4 to make our way to Bourgogne, the French wine region famous for red wines (pinot noir grapes) and chardonnays. This time, we took the highway!

Along the French highway

Even saw a rainbow along the way

We arrived at the lovely little hotel, Chateau de Challenges in the town of Beaune. Preston surprised me with a suite because "this hotel was only a three-star." Nice husband (and believer in the Expedia hotel discount!).

The receptionist recommended a Michelin-rated restaurant, Le cheval noir. Preston picked out a bottle of local wine and we loved how the restaurant became packed at exactly 8pm (a trend we've been noticing throughout France and Switzerland). Our server brought a delicious cauliflower mouse and smoken salmon appetizer  and we placed our orders.

Who knew that so many years of French lessons could go SO wrong for me?

The fish I thought I was ordering turned out to be frogs' legs. NOT a pretty picture for me. Dear readers, if you see "les grenouilles" on the menu ... well, now you know. Preston thought this was hilarious and even said, "I'm going to pay the roaming charges to upload THIS as my status on facebook ... best dinner ever!"

Needless to say, more wine was ordered and a cheese plate was required (my favorite was the goat cheese with a local dijon mustard crust ... yum). We struck up conversation with the people dining next to us (we think the restaurant put all of the English speakers in its far corner!) who happened to be the Solomon ski rep and the ski buyer for REI outside Seattle. Small world. Preston was thrilled to hear they had been skiing the few days earlier and I (after a lot of wine) promised the next skis I buy will be Solomons from REI. At least you can get Continental airlines mile credit by using REI's online store!

Monday morning we explored the adorable town of Beaune, it really had it all. 

The carousel in the center of Beaune

Boutiques and cute shops and many wonderful restaurants. We paid admission to the Wine Museum (not worth it ... I commented that it looked like a French version of a 6th grade show-and-tell).

Even this little pup was adorable in the center of town

Wine museum

History of wine glasses

HOW, dear readers, did they do this?! :)

The next stop was Hospices de Beune/Hotel Dieu.

Hospices de Beune/Hotel Dieu

Hospices de Beune was founded in 1443 and was still a working hospital until the 20th century. It is said to be one the 15th century's most magnificent examples of French architecture with its glazed tile roof as the main focal point.

Where the poor people stayed

Where the more well-off people stayed

Back in the courtyard

For our last spot in town we visited a wine shop. When I asked if the shopkeeper if there was a selection of wines in the 15 euro or below range he said, "Not really." Stupidly we purchased two bottles (one for 15 euros and one for 12 euros) from this uppetty man but we look forward to trying them out.

We spent the rest of the afternoon driving back to Switzerland so Preston could be home in time for his daily work call and I could catch up on work email. 

Loving the fall foliage

We had a really lovely roadtrip, we highly recommend driving through the European countryside to admire its fall foliage and we love those Otepkas!

*******

Weekend Roadtrip to Germany, Luxembourg and France


Dates: 
Friday – Monday, October 22-25, 2010



Where we stayed:



Germany  Grand Hotel Romerbad
Luxembourg Chez Otepka!
France Chateau de Challenges



The Walls' Review:
Hotel review: We stayed in room 74 at the Grand Hotel Romerbad, on the top floor. The hotel's ballroom was beautiful (you walked through it on the way to the breakfast buffet), the grounds were extremely well-kept and the hotel was in the heart of the German spa town of Bodenweiler. Preston commented that while it was a beautiful property, it didn't seem to be up to the five star standards he was expecting. Then again, we're picky Americans!

We were in Suite 104 at Chateau de Challenges and while the room was lovely and the bathroom gorgeous (really much nicer than the five-star property from Friday night), the room was located at the front of the building on the first floor (that's floor two coming from the Americas!) and it was really loud. And we were there on a Sunday night. I'd recommend staying in a room along the back of the building.


Other comments: We didn't make it to Champagne this trip ... Preston says we needed to keep an excuse to go back!

Weekend #4 of European Living: Brussels, Belgium

Weekend Adventures: Brussels

(July 2-4, 2010)

As you know from our last weekend post, our great pal, Juan Jose Perez, planned a European adventure around a week-long Microsoft training program. Since Juan was flying into Zurich and flying out of Brussels, and we had such a great time in Brienz, why not see him two weekends in a row?!
 
Preston flew to meet Juan Thursday afternoon. Let's just say Preston looked like he had finally recovered from Thursday around 5pm on Sunday ...
 
After work Friday I flew in from Geneva and the weekend fun (at least for me!) really began. I took the *bus* to the airport (first time venturing with public transport to an airport and it was easy-breezy from the Expedia office - the #10 straight to the airport) and had a lovely flight via Brussels Air. The airline even offered free wine and a meal on the hour-long flight. Amazing.


Even more amazing? I just walked across the terminal to the hotel. Juan was in training near the airport and he decided to stay at the Sheraton there; so we booked at the same spot to be close to our pal (it worked out really well). 


When I arrived the boys (looking terrible from Thursday night) were in the hotel lobby bar with Juan's new friend from training, Micael. Micael is from Stockholm and I think he's recruited Preston to go fast car driving with him throughout Europe. He also gave me good pointers for holding Expedia meetings, "If they are unsure about you, the American marketing girl, and they give you grief just say, 'Hold on one moment ...' and come back with a bottle of Veuve ... Everyone's happy." Needless to say, we all love Micael.


We left the hotel bar at halftime of the Uruguay/Ghanna World Cup match and headed in to town. We went to a square packed with outdoor tables and people cheering on the match via a cab with incredible technology. Through the gps system the driver was streaming live tv. Wow.


We hung out at a bar called Coco and watched the momumental game (Juan's parents are from Uruguay which made it even more awesome). The best player on the Uruguay team got a red card for preventing a goal via his hands at the end of the game and it went to a shoot out. When Uruguay pulled off the win, we were all speechless.

We had a late dinner at Zywieg's and sat outside. We shared a table with three guys that live in Brussels and a South American character ("my son-in-law has the unfortunate disability of being an Argentinian") that lives in Washington, D.C. He does business in Geneva so we got talking about the city and all its rules ("children are brought up to learn 'no' before all else", the "no flush" after 10pm rule, etc.). The guys from Brussels were saying Geneva is the Singapore of Europe (and while they were at it, the French are the Argentinians of Europe!).


We slept in Saturday (Preston needed it from Thursday!) and took a ridiculously old train for $13 (one way!) to the center of town. Let's just say Brussels is my new favorite European city despite its old train system. We walked around the gorgeous Grand Place, had a Belgian waffle at Aroma Cafe, shopped in cute boutiques and hid underneath the table umbrellas with espresso as the rain showers passed.

We bought more tourist umbrellas (a regular occurrence since moving to Europe) and when the rain got really bad, ran into a French bistro for a glass of wine. Love Brussels!


Our day of being tourists continued and we visited the famous Manneken Pis (little boy peeing). How cute is he?!

Next we hit Brussels' third most famous landmark, the Atonium. The Atonium was built for the 1958 Brussels World's Fair and is 102 meters tall. Like the Eiffel Tower, it wasn't supposed to be a permanent structure; but today Atonium it is a symbol of both modern architecture and Brussels. 


On the grounds there we also visited Mini Europe and saw the top EU landmarks 1:25 scale. Preston commented the monuments in Mini Europe are looking a bit tired these days though!

Saturday night we ventured back to the same square we were in Friday and had a great dinner at Coco (which, obviously, began with a bottle of Veuve).

After dinner we wandered into the Belgian EU Presidency celebration, aka the "I heart EU" concert. It was a free show with singers, dancers and acrobats. We even got a pre-Fourth of July fireworks show courtesy of the event.

We started Sunday with some moules frites in Grand Place and even found the "Jeanneke Pis" the little girl counterpoint to Mannekin Pis (although she's super hidden within the city) ... 

As if Brussels could get any better, Sunday's real activity was venturing back to Atonium to watch the TOUR DE FRANCE!!  We spent the day with our friend Stephanie, who's boyfriend is Washington's own Tyler Farrar. This tour is Tyler's second with Team Garmin and we were so excited to watch our friend be favored to win the stage (after finishing seventh in the prologue Saturday!).

Unfortunately another cyclist got caught up in Tyler's bike in the waning meters of the stage and Tyler didn't win. But we'll obviously be rooting for him throughout the rest of the tour (and it makes bike racing a lot more fun when you know a major contender!). 


Preston and I ran back to the airport where Juan met us with Starbucks and promised he'd be back soon to visit with Krystal. Thanks for two awesome European weekend adventures, Juan!

Complete photo album here: Two European weekends with Juan Jose 


*******
Weekend Trip to Brussels, Belgium
Dates:
Friday – Sunday, July 2-4, 2010

Excursions:

• Saturday: Walk around Grand Place, visit to the Mannekin Pis, shopping in Brussels, visit to the Atonium, walk through Mini Europe, dinner at Coco on Place du Luxembourg and Belgian EU President celebration on the Esplanade in front of the European Parliament
• Sunday: Back to Grand Place, visit to Jeanneke Pis, tour through the inside of the Atonium, Tour de France Stage 1 with Stephanie, bye to Juan at the Brussels airport

Where we stayed:

Sheraton Brussels Airport Hotel

The Walls' Review:

Hotel review: The hotel really couldn't have been more conveniently located in proximity to the airport (I didn't even walk in an uncovered spot from the terminal to check-in). The hotel was very clean and the hotel bar makes a great martini! The one thing we would recommend when staying in an airport hotel is ask for a room as far from the elevator as possible. While we were staying relatively near the end of the hallway, we still heard all of the early morning travelers trying to rush out to catch their flights. Stay further away from the elevator for a restful night's sleep. 

Other comments: I heart Brussels. Oh, and I would love to return for the flower carpet (it only happens every two years in August) in Grand Place.