A Week Without Classes

As part of our language course, we all awoke very early one Friday morning for a 12-hour excursion to the Bodensee, or Lake Constance, in southern Germany on the border with Switzerland. It takes less than two hours to drive there from Tübingen, meaning that we arrived before the fog had cleared off of the lake. The Bodensee is the largest body of water in Germany, however to us callous Americans it didn't seem that large. However it was absolutely beautiful, and we amused ourselves discussing how the water we had brought with us in our water bottles had originally come from there. (The Bodensee is also a giant reservoir that serves towns all across southern Germany, including Tübingen).

Our first stop was Birnau, where there was a beautiful view of the lake and a quick visit to an incredibly ornate rococo church. As this is one of my least favorite styles of religious art, I did not sneak an illegal photo, but instead will leave you with your imagination. Suffice it to say that it was one of the most ornately decorated churches I have seen, which is saying something after having traveled to eleven countries in Europe and visited countless churches.

From Birnau we took a lovely 45-minute walk through rolling hills covered with wine fields, ending up at a local open-air museum that has existed for almost 100 years. It showcases how the first settlers of the Bodensee would have lived, through a series of houses on stilts beginning in the Stone Age.

Pfahlbaumuseum in Unteruhlingden

From here we drove to Meersburg, where we had a lovely picnic in front of the lake and got ice cream as we walked through the adorable town. Meersburg is home to the oldest inhabited castle in Germany, which offers another beautiful view of the lake. We took a ferry from Meersburg to Konstanz, where we briefly journeyed across the border to Switzerland and spent some time shopping. We had an incredibly delicious dinner in a Turkish restaurant, where we discovered something called Börek. It looks like a smaller version of a calzone, and is filled with all kinds of delicious things. Mine was spinach, tomato, and sheep's cheese, and the best part was the special cleaver-type knife it was served with to help you cut into it.

Back in Tübingen it turned out that our program had some more fun activities planned. One of the fun things to do on the Neckar is to go punting, or, in German, on a Stocherkhanfahrt. Our entire course piled onto three boats to go out on one of the absolutely beautiful late summer days that we've been having.

Sinéad and Catie ready for Stocherkhan!

Our ride was beautiful, and our guide was very nice. He clearly really enjoyed taking us out, and even told us that he did it for the exercise and to be outside, rather than for the money. He asked us if we had a little extra time, because he knew a beautiful place at the farthest point you can go in the boat, where you can get out and wade in the water. After a few adventures where some people had to get out and help push the boat over the very shallow and rocky terrain at the end of the river, we managed to come to an area right before some gentle cascades. So after a delightful ride in the sun, enjoying pretzels, gummybears, and beer, we spent half an hour frolicking in the water :)

Besides these adventures in Baden-Württemberg, Catie and I returned to Bavaria last weekend for some adventures in Regensburg and Munich! I was amazed at how wonderful it was to go back to Regensburg, where I spent seven months in the spring/summer of 2009. I thought it might be weird to be back in a place that I associated with so many people that no longer lived there. My friend Frauke, however, happened to be there for two more weeks before making a big move to Ulm. So I got to see her, and we spent a wonderful afternoon and evening enjoying the city with coffee, cocktails, and dinner at my favorite asian imbiss, Ha Tien.

With Frauke in Regensburg

The steinerner Brücke and Dom in Regensburg

We also climbed a tower in a church that gives you a gorgeous view of Regensburg. It was a little crazy because I had climbed the same tower at the same time of day on one of my last days in Regensburg two years before. That was probably the only time that it felt strange to be in Regensburg, but I was glad that we climbed the tower because it was just as incredibly beautiful as it had been two years ago.

That night Catie and I stayed with her old au pair, who we had met in Regensburg and who lives about 20 minutes from the city. She lives in the most beautiful wooden house, with goats and a gorgeous starry sky, and near her incredibly nice parents. She was so caring and even got up at six am to drive us to the train! Here we are, ready for Oktoberfest, looking like true Bavarian Mädels.

6:00 a.m. on the way to Oktoberfest

Oktoberfest itself was SO much fun. We got to a tent right at 10 a.m. when it opened, meaning we could nab a table that was only reserved after 5:30 that afternoon. We hung out there for hours, singing, dancing, eating, and drinking three maß (liters) of beer each. We made friends with a group of women who sat next to us and gave us schnapps they had smuggled in, as well as the family that took their place. The father kept feeding us nuts in a fatherly manner, and after we bought teddy bears he asked us their names, again like a father. After about five or six hours in the tent we decided it was time to walk around and go on rides. Eventually we randomly ran into another group of Germans, one of whom, Albin, kept telling me he had fallen in love with me, and that I could just come live in his giant house in Munich. He also kept telling us about his brand new BMW and his Audi. It was pretty hilarious. But he bought us roses and beer (from a beer merry-go-round, where you all stand around a circular bar and get served as it rotates), and was very nice. All in all a really fun day, but we definitely collapsed when we finally got back to Tübingen that night after 2:00 a.m.

The crazy crowd

The tent we were in - The Hippodrom

Our new teddy bears Odo and Ludo

The band chugging a maß before their set

Learning about Oktoberfest at an early age

With Albin

The last thing that Catie and I have done in our week without classes is take a day-trip to Heidelberg. We went with some other people from our language program, because we can get there with a Baden-Württemberg ticket and have it only cost five euros if five people go. We went with ten people and two tickets, and it was a lovely day. It turned out that that was the last truly beautiful summery day, and we enjoyed it walking around Heidelberg, another delightful old university town. There is a castle in ruins up on the hill overlooking the city, which we visited after taking a funicular up to a look-out point and walking down some very tricky terrain in the woods. After the castle we enjoyed the afternoon by strolling across the Neckar and getting coffee at a little café. Which is pretty much how we've spent our time in Tübingen as well. Oh, life without classes...

Me and Catie with our Heidelberg Schlosskügeln 

A layer of chocolate, a layer of marzipan, a layer of cake, and a layer of nougat. Ahhh. 

The castle ruins

The largest wine barrel in the world

The view from the castle 

The little inlet where we waded

One last note is yet another thing about food! Catie, Sinéad, and I have discovered the most delicious place we have ever eaten. It is called the Kicher Erbsen, which translates to The Chick Pea, and it serves falafel. Incredible, incredible falafel. The falafel supreme mit alles is most likely the most delicious thing I have ever eaten - it is traditional falafel with lettuce, tomato, onions, tahini, and spice, but then it also has some of the creamiest hummus, delicious sauteed eggplant, and pockets of fried vegetables. To top it off, it has a large chunk of Schafskäse, which is sheep's cheese and tastes like a slightly milder version of feta. The man at the store is incredibly nice, and even waves to us on the street now (Tübingen is a small town, you see everyone all the time). The only problem is that they are not always open when they say they will be, which can cause some true disappointment...

 And now, I will leave you with an image of my day yesterday. My friend Josh has started working in the gummybear shop, so we got some delicious treats from him before heading to a store that sells chocolate/sweets/tea/coffee/everything wonderful, where I bought some marzipan acorns. Happy fall!