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Published: December 15th 2009
Our first weekend trip! Saturday December 12th-13th Ulm, Ravensburg, Beinfurt
Our first weekend trip we headed south to visit Nick's family. We made a few stops to do some sightseeing. The weather on the way there wasn't too bad. Cold and a few flurries with no accumulation.
Our first stop was in Ulm to see the Ulmer Minster. One of the tallest churches in the area. I remember studying this church back in my art history days but unfortunately I didn't remember too much information. It took us quite awhile to find parking- in that some places you have to have a certain pass to park on the streets. So we kept winding our way through the village untill we found an open spot. Once you were near the center of the town you could hear the gluwein crowd and we knew we were headed in the right direction. We made our way to the front of the church. They had a small orchestra playing different music. Nick recognized one of the songs that was in The Godfather. We walked around the side of the church and went inside. We were able to walk all around inside and take
pictures. For a small fee of *4 Euro(sorry for the previous incorrect price listed. I blame Nick for that one) you can climb up the steeple but we chose not to at this time. The inside of the church was amazing. The ceiling and arches inside were so tall and decorated beautifully! All the statues and paintings and carvings were still in great condition. The stained glass windows were absolutely stunning. The pictures we took do not do the place any justice but we still wanted to share them with you!
After the church we went outside to take a look around at their christmas market. There was also a large nativity scene with real animals. Even a little baby sheep! He was so cute and looked like he too was freezing his tail off!
There were so many stalls to go through. Wooden ornaments, glass ornaments, carvings, food, carmalized almonds (my favorite!) , more food and baked goods, and gluwein! Now when you buy a glass of hot wine you have to pay a deposit on the cup/mug cause they are glass and somewhat nice. Here we decided to keep our mugs as souvenirs (plus the mugs
in the hotel room are very small). A great purchase for only 5 Euro or so. We also ate some very long bratwursts. I would say a foot long (Nick thinks more like 15")although they are much skinnier then the ones we are used to seeing at a BBQ back home. Mine was especially delicious cause the sausage was a little spicy but there was also a cucumber like salad on it also which was a little sweet. So it was absolutely delicious!!! We browsed a little longer and decided it was time to head back to the car. We paid for only 2 hours and didnt want to get a ticket. So with Nick's excellent sense of direction we made our way back to the car.
Our next stop was going to be his cousins Bernd's. This was only about another hour away. Its very beautiful driving through all the old little villages. They have winding narrow roads and tall skinny houses with smoke coming out of the tops. Very surreal! Nick's cousin has a very nice house with wooden beams painted white that decorate the ceiling. A very comfortable place to stay. They also had a nice
trying to find parking
Ulmer Minster in backgroundroom set up for us! If you are ever in that area check out Brenner's Metzgeri! They have the best meats and wurstsalat I've ever had!. Our first night Bernd had some catering he had to help with so Nick and I went to ravenburg to see their christmas markets. That was maybe a 10-15 min drive if that. This one was also very nice! We tried some spetula (sp?) They used a huge scoop to scoop it out and pile on the plate. We split it so that we wouldnt ruin our appetite for dinner. It was delicious! But still not as good as my mother in laws!!
After this we headed back to Bernd's to head out to dinner at a nearby Italian restaurant/Pizzaria.. There we met their sons friend Micheals parents. For appetizer Nick and I shared a different dish Ive never had. Filet Mignon-RAW- sliced so thin you can barely pick up with a fork. You pour a very thick balsamic vinegar syrup over it and squeeze some lemon juice over it. VERY TASTY!! I should have taken a picture of it. For dinner Nick and I both choose a pasta. His was a tomato
meat sauce I chose a tortellini with ham and white sauce. DEVINE! The best pasta I think I have ever had! (Too bad I left out leftovers at their house) I For drinks I went with a fruity wine and Nick went with the beer. Then came the shots. Schnapps! ugh! That I did not like at all. I prefered the one that is similar to Jager. The owner left the bottle at our table. We left the restaurant feeling full and fabulous.
The next morning was not the best. Feeling sick and still affected with jetlag (being my 2nd morning in Germany and all. For breakfast we had cold cuts and meat spreads with bread and pretzels. This was also good and very filling. We for the most part layed around and watched tv and talked. Later in the afternoon we head over to his cousins wifes fathers birthday party. Bernd supplied the catering and it was delsih. We met some of their family from Lutzia's side. Lutzia and Reiner (sp?) both speakenglish very well so we chatted with them most of the time.
We stayed about an Hour or so and left to go back to
Bernds to get our stuff so we could head home. With goodies from the metzgori we packed the Audii and headed back to Stuttgart. We ran into one traffic jam which was a 3 car fender bender. It was a little snowy and wet. we made it back safely to Stuttgart in an hour and 40 min.
Phew our first long funfilled weekend was over. Now what to do next weekend!
We will try and keep all our trips and outings and pictures on here. Right now Im not working so I should have plenty of time to keep you all informed!
chow!
ps...I have also been advised that my picture of a tunnel is incorrect. That they call them "Nature Passages." ??
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