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:

Another beachy Christmas

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

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.

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.

Doors of Brugge

Such a great town!

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

Hiking through Freezing Fog

We have been experiencing quite a bit of frost this past week.  Not only are we already up in the clouds at this elevation, but the colder temperatures have pushed the moisture down towards the earth.  The result has been freezing fog, which leaves a beautiful icy layer over everything.  Oh, and it's very cold.

John and I have enjoyed hiking around in this countryside.  We hike to sight-see, exercise, and often, to gather our groceries.  You've never felt so connected to your food as when you hike a mile and a half to get it and then carry it all back.  It leads you to buy little and often.  Food is also a lot less expensive here than in the states.  It has been a great way of life thus far and keeps us from over buying, which we often do in the states.  I'm currently imagining our pantry full of food back home, completely untouched for two months.

This particular hike took us to Gersfeld, about 7 km away from our town of Oberweissenbrunn.  It was a new hike for us and proved to be quite beautiful.  However, it was pretty far and quite cold, so we ended up taking the bus back rather than hiking another 7 km through the freezing fog.  It just didn't sound like fun once we got a beer in us.  Sometime soon, once my arthritis calms down in my right foot, we will plan to hike there and back, all 14 km in total.

Is it not so beautiful, still, and lovely?

Kloster Kreuzberg

This is perhaps my favorite photo of this trip so far.  It's so still and peaceful with a wonderful balance of white and black.  If you can believe it, this picture is in full color.  There are no black and white tricks or settings.  I have not even edited it; it's straight out of the camera.

This scene is from our trip to Kreuzberg, which is a pilgrimage destination for Catholics in the Rhön region.  Kloster Kreuzberg is an old Franciscan monastery that was owned by the Bishop of Würzburg.  It is also one of the highest ridges and is great for skiing.  We caught it on it's last open day for the season, and also on a snowy day, making it a perfect day to visit it's beautiful area.

Today's pilgrimages are more for the sights, skiing, and beer than the monastery itself.  It's brewery is a great example of how monasteries and monks supported the colony with beer brewing, as the monks actively brewed beer until 1992. Currently, the monks supervise a layperson as the Braumeister.

Kloster bier is sold throughout the Bischofsheim region today.  I've had it.  It's good.

However, it was a super cold and blustery day.  The kind of cold that froze my fingers as I tried to work my camera to take pictures of snowfall.  The kind of cold that this Southern girl does not know how to deal with.  So I snapped a few more pictures and then drank a warm cup of hot chocolate!  Good for the soul, that is!