Le Clos Saint Vincent Ribeauville

We had spent a pleasant morning visiting Christmas Market in the greater Colmar area in the Alsace region of France. One town more pleasant than the next all decked out with lights and tinsle. In general we had a good day and the people were helpful and frendly.

Sadly our day was marred by the unpleasant service I and 3 other ladies received today at the Restaurant Wistub zum Pfifferhüs in Ribeauville. 3 of 4 persons each chose meals from the menu, the 4th person, a ...

-continued from previous entry-

Anyways, long story short I lost my first connecting train and I had to reschedule (at the ticket office) my itinerary... so on top of the first (very late train), I had to take SIX (yes 6) more trains to Freiburg hehe... All to save about 40or 50 euros (which I definitely need to)... they have faster, more direct trains, of course, but at a premium.

So I ...

Featured Excursion: Full-day tour along the Alsatian Wine Road

"Leaving Strasburg we head for a famous road, the Alsatian wine route, which hugs the foothills of the Vosges Mountains. Charming villages and lush vineyards, producing great white wines, line this winding ...

... where we were to sample another Alsacien tradition – baeckaoffa – a stew of pork, lamp and beef simmered in sylvaner wine, layered with vegetables. A hearty country dish faced our jaded pallets. After a few glasses of sylvaner we were braced for anything, although we were not ready for what happened next. The waiting staff started to bring in large casseroles and set them on a nearby table. The casseroles kept ...

Otra vez en Francia. En la rivera del alto Rhin Colmar es un ejemplo de ciudad medieval bien conservada, con casas de entramado estilo alsaciano y canales llenos de vida. Conserva perfectamente el ambiente urbano de las ciudades centroeuropeas que nacieron alrededor de las rutas comerciales.

Primer contacto con Alemania. Ciudad universitaria por exelencia, donde la bicicleta tiene la prioridad absoluta, el centro es enteramente peatonal. Una de las ciudades mas animadas del viaje, su ambiente nos recargó las pilas después de muchos dias de viaje.
Su catedral es especialmente destacable, y tiene una torre muy recomendable, aunque se encuentra actualmente en obras. Por la mañana estuvimos en un mercado artesanal muy, muy completo.

... a bit of talking we decided to skip Lake Constance since it would most likely be very similar to Titisee and head directly into Switzerland to Zurich. We decided to free camp for the night since it was getting late anyway and looked for a little town off the main road once we had gone through immigration into Switzerland-which took about two seconds! We found a nice little town in the hills but there were not any parks and no one could park along the sides of the streets ...

... with costumes and masks and bands. Damn near froze standing still for that long, but I had a good vantage point for the pictures so I wasn't going to move for fear of losing my spot. After the parade we got stuck into the gluhwein and some hot food then went back to the hostel for a hot shower, then out for dinner. We went to a local brewery that had a restaurant incorporated and had such a good time that we made it a regular while we were there.

... the stairs to look out over the vast fields and village below us. Had a romantic lunch of cheese and bread and drinks and hiked over to the other castle remnants. Its hard to believe anyone carried all those stones up there to build it by hand, let alone rode horses up and down from the mount. I can see Rapunzel letting down her hair though....

... to catch up on some things - given the empty woman's section upstairs, I'm guessing they weren't talking about the chicks in schul. Finally, after sitting there for over an hour, a few men approached me and welcomed me. It was nice, but not nearly like the day before. Next was the torah service. Again, not as beautiful as the day before still pretty cool. First, the ark needed to be unlocked, which I thought was interesting. Next, the pre-bar mitzvah age kids undressed the ...