Sunday, December 30, 2012

Carolina Cider Company

Driving home on I 95 from our Florida Christmas today was very frustrating.  Not only was there a ton of cars on the road, but we were at a standstill in several places. The silver lining in all of this was an impromtu visit to Carolina Cider Company.  We had seen this company's products in the Charleston Farmers Market and around the state, but we had never felt the need to detour our trip.

The place was full of ciders, jams, sauces, grits, pies, and pickled items. John kept asking me to make a decision on a cider but all I could do was look around. We did end up with half gallons of strawberry and peach ciders in hopes of delicious beers to come.

I managed to snap a few blurry photos with my phone:

Friday, December 28, 2012

Another beachy Christmas

After a German start to winter, it was very nice to feel the warm Florida sun on my face.

Tuesday, December 18, 2012

The second snow


Our last week in Oberweissenbrunn was insanely short due to the amount of travelling we did.  We felt we merely came home to sleep and wash clothes, all to turn around and pack again.

We did, however, experience the region's second snowfall this season, in all its beauty.  We found as we were taking the bus towards the train that would eventually lead us to a plane back home that we would greatly miss the beauty of the place.  Yes, it was really far from the train, and there was no grocery store within our town's limits, and we spent so many days under a foggy cloud cover, but it was a lovely place.






Monday, December 17, 2012

A train ride through the Alps


Ok, I know, it's been forever, but I'm not sorry.

Our last week of European travel was just that: travel.  We went to Leipzig and back, Munich to Graz and back, to Amsterdam and back, and then we flew home, which was journey enough in it's own right.  To get from Oberweissenbrunn to Columbia, SC, we had to take a bus, two trains, three planes, and a taxi to our apartment well after midnight.  All in all, about 20 hours of travelling in one day.  Needless to say, we have spent a week straight lounging around the house, leaving only for food gathering and light Christmas shopping.


After many loads of laundry, and tending to the kitty who needs to show how much she missed us at every moment she can, I have finally gotten around to emptying my memory card.  Good thing I took two 16GB cards . . .

So back to the topic at hand: The Alps!  As a native Floridian, mountains aren't really something I grew up with.  At all.  Even the rolling hills of the Midlands here get me excited, so imagine my being glued to the window of the train as we rode through some of the most majestic mountains I have ever seen.  And then it started snowing.


We watched the mountains at a distance at first, fast approaching.  Then we were alongside next to them.  Then we plunged into yet another tunnel, only this time when we came out, we were in the mountains!  I will never forget the feeling of being so small amongst them.  John and I agreed, Strauss's Alpine Symphony made a lot more sense now.  He hummed along as we snaked our way through.

Listen to this as you view the rest: Alpine Symphony- At the Summit. I promise it's worth it.



We ate our train picnic (beer and a Bavarian sandwich) with this magnificent backdrop.  Unreal.



Oh look, there's a castle on that mountain top.  How could they possibly have built that there?!

In all seriousness, I would fly back over there just to do this train ride again.





Saturday, December 1, 2012

Doors of Brugge







Such a great town!

More from Brugge to come, but for now, we are still travelling!