Calling all coconut lovers!

Robert recently found another European delight which is a close second only to the famed Magnum Bar...freshly baked coconut macaroons. I took one bite of a delightful cookie that was bigger than a house (see photo) and I was in heaven. It was perfectly browned with a slightly crunchy outside and a chewy, soft coconut-ty inside and I was transformed. YOU, potential future visitor, will be treated to this delight - courtesy of the Thompsons - when you come to visit. It's well worth the trip =) We will sacrifice and dispose of all macaroons unclaimed by our visitors so don't feel bad if you don't like coconut.

Strasbourg, France

Strasbourg is a wonderful combination of a French town with some German influences (as it has been controlled by Germany in two separate instances). Founded in 12 BC by the Romans it has a long, rich history and is the 7th largest city in France and is also called the European Capital. It is home to: the coucil of europe, the european court of human rights, youth center, science foundation, and parliment. We started our visit by taking an audio tour of the city. Our first stop was the beautiful cathedral which was the world's tallest building for over 200 years, has impressive stained glass windows and an Astronomical Clock built in 1547. Stasbourg lies on the Rhine and has a picturesque walk along the edge which highlights half-timbered houses, an area dubbed 'Little France', a lock system, the terrific 'covered bridge' and a medieval dam. For lunch we enjoyed some local beer and Tart Flambee a regional Alsatian specialty (which is essentially a poor man's pizza). Our last stop was a visit to the Contemporary Art Museum which featured a special exhibit of George Raualt. Robert's camera battery took a turn for the worse only 30 minutes into our visit, but he was able to take a few photos before the tearful discovery was made ;-)

Garmisch-Partenkirchen

This weekend we visited our friends, The Huber's in Garmisch-Partenkirchen, Germany. It's located in Bavaria - half way between Munich and Innsbruck about 4 hours northeast of Basel. We have been to visit our friends several times and always seem to bring bad weather with us and Saturday was no exception: rain, clouds and cold. After catching up with the family, Robert Huber took us to the beautiful Parnach Gorge a delightful sight even in the rain. Afterwards we visited a wonderful old church, St. Martin's, and then wandered around the old town looking at the historic houses ornamented with colorful paintings. For dinner we went to a traditional restaruant with music and dancing - Nancy had Kaiserschmarrn and Robert had veal and potatoes. Afterwards we went to a quiet, but trendy bar for a few drinks before calling it a night. Sunday we were up bright and early because we heard the weather would be perfect to visit Germany's highest mountain, The Zugspitze ~3,000m...from the top we were able to see mountains in 4 countries: Germany, Austria, Italy and Switzerland. We rented some sleds and had a great time! After returning to earth we went to visit the area that hosted the 1936 Winter Olympics' bob sled, speed skating and hockey events...a natural lake! They had information posted about the winter games and it was great to it in person. After the best risoto lunch we've ever had we headed back to Basel on a terrific drive thru the mountains. You can see all of our pictures here. Thanks Robert, Gaby, Daniela, and Florian for another great visit!

Ecomusee

If you have ever been to Conner Prairie, New Harmony, or Greenfield Village you know the general concept of the Ecomusee. The Ecomusee is similar to these museums, but also a bit different. Similarly, it is an open-air museum which allows you to enjoy a beautiful day, see some houses from the past, and allows you to get up close and personal with some farm animals (cows, chickens, pigs, goats, donkeys, geese, etc.). It's a bit different because its purpose of the museum is to show French building styles and techniques over the past 500+ years with actual buildings from the general area that have been painstakingly moved to their new location. It has a great variety of houses, barns, stables, chapels and even a bee house, a train station and a tower. This is also the home to around two dozen storks which are perched on top of almost every structure with a grand nest and use strange clicking sounds with their beaks to call on another. Although the grounds and structures were open today, there were no services or workers on-site...they usually perform demonstrations of period trades and customs. Located 30 minutes north of Basel in Ensisheim, France - it was well worth the short drive. C'est magnifique! You can see our pictures here.

The Black Forest (Schwarz Wald)

Today we ventured into Germany's fabled Black Forest. It's only 5 minutes to cross the border and you're in the rich heritage of cuckoo clocks, black forest cake, and age old traditions. We started our adventure in Schonach (75 miles north of Basel), the cradle of the cuckoo clock industry AND the world's largest cuckoo clock. Afterwards we ventured into Triberg (less than a mile down the road) to visit Germany's highest waterfall and the great Black Forest Museum. It had a lot of great exhibits about wood carving, straw thatching, traditional dress including the red-ball hat, the Black Forest Railway and the largest collection of barrel organs (street calliopes) in Europe. After lunch we each tried a piece of traditional black forest cake which was laden with whipped cream and lots of cherry liquor in the bottom layer (YUMMY!). Off to Furtwangen to experience the German Clock Museum and the headstream of the Danube River (which ends 1795 miles away in Romania into the Black Sea!). We ended our trip in Titisee, a traditional village set on a beautiful lake. It's hard to believe we've been here over a year and this is our first Black Forest experience - we'll be back!

See all of Robert's great photos here!