Mom's Alghero Italy Get Away

One of the best (second only to food adventures) aspects of living in Europe is experiencing the many cultures. We love our German host country, but are also mesmerized by the Italian culture. So, it was with great anticipation that I booked a trip to the beaches of Alghero with my mom (recognizing fully that brother John should be with us). 

Day 1: Mom's first adventure of the trip began with Ryan Air (GhettoAir), which is an entire college course in Sociology within one flight. I believe there was an entire village of Italians on our plane. What an interesting group.... I wonder if Italians can talk without their hands.... 

The rental car/hotel fiasco: I have rented many cars in my lifetime, and it's been easy every time. Well, that streak changed as I stood in line for 1.5 hours, being only number 5 in queue. I was beyond frustrated. No worries though, they wouldn't use my card since it didn't have some bumpy thing. So, I had nothing else to weigh my patience (sarcasm intended). Suddenly, I developed Italian speaking hands. It looked cooler than it sounds! 

The rental car was a neat little Smart Car, perfect for whipping in and out of traffic for the 15 minute ride to our hotel. Well, 1.5 hours later, 1 run in with the Alghero Policia, pending roaming charges on my phone, and a healthy tour of the city, we finally made it to our hotel. Which, just so happened to be in the home of the nicest Italian couple on the planet. The funny part: I am pretty sure they think my mom and I are married. I am not going to tell them otherwise, what a great story they now have!

Day 2: I learned some things today; I love snorkeling and Italians are not afraid of their bodies. Yep, lots of skimpy swimwear on people who don't need it. Kinda begs to question how they fit in their thimble sized showers! 

The water here is azure blue, cold, and a welcomed reprieve from the sun. Our first beach was gently sloping, drenched in a cool ocean breeze, and the perfect place for a nap, and nap we did. We hit the road just as the beach got crowded. We decided to make our way to Neptune's Grotto, a set of caverns carved out of the cliffs from 100's of thousands of years of erosion. What an amazing 640+ step walk down and back up... Whew!

After baking in the hot sun, we decided to make a pit stop at a tiny beach that was all of 30 yards across. This area was nestled amongst rocks and coral, making a great locale for some snorkeling. Got some under water video of that! Couldn't coax mom to snorkel. That's okay, the nude sun bather next to us probably made her think twice about getting in the water:)

We wrapped up the day with a 45 minute drive to the 800+ year old village of Castelsardo. We ran across a tortoise making his way slowly along the road. My sister always would stop to help them venture safely across roads. She said it was because I loved tortoises as a boy. I know she loved them too, so it we decided that God placed us on that road for a reason! 

Dinner in Castelsardo was excellent, tried something that I have wanted to for a while... Salted/Cured mullet roe. That's right, cured fish egg sac... Yum! I had mine served garnished over a bed of fresh pasta tossed in buttered garlic and chili pepper. It was 100 times better than most people think it would be. I really loved it! Mom wouldn't even try it, her loss! Castelsardo, what a beautiful place!! 

Day 3: Decided to take it slow today, so we rolled out of bed at 9:30 and walked the old town of Alghero, had a cup of espresso on the old city wall, and enjoyed the cool Mediterranean breeze. I love Italian cities! 

Well, our slow day turned into an adventure after a trip to the visitor center. I had read somewhere that a Spaghetti Western had been filmed in Sardinia. I understand it was the Clint Eastwood Classic, "For a Few Dollars More." I love old westerns and thought it would be cool to see this. I was able to find someone at the center who understood me, and tried to tell me it was no longer there, but the area it had been boasted a wonderful archaeological site, Therros. We opted for this 2 hour drive gladly taking the coastal route, and oh my did we choose right!

 Therros was absolutely fascinating. The ruins were remnants from a Phonecian city (8th Century BC), which was built a top remains of a settlement dating back to 1900 BC! WOW!

Well, still being focused on that Spaghetti Western movie set, I asked the ticket person for Therros. He, like the previous person, told me it was long gone. Even showed me a picture from long ago. He did tell me where it was. Being stubborn I decided that it was worth one last try. Found it!!! 

Our day ended with a great dinner back in Sardinia. Look at the view from our table! 

Wetzlar Germany and Schloss Braunfels

Dropped Austin off at the airport this AM and took a short jump to a couple really great stops. First, we visited Wetzlar to check out the famed Dom cathedral. This church was begun in the 800's and has been in continuous construction since. With that amount of time it has seen drastic changes in architectural styles giving it a pieced together look. It literally has one whole corner that is unfinished, and at least 4 different styles throughout. I have read about this place before, very cool! Check out the video of the organ playing inside: http://youtu.be/6IyJ8x5zL1k. There was a farmers market at the church too, and boy am I glad... Had the best Schafskäse (sheep cheese) I have ever had!

Our next stop was the completely awesome Schloss-Braunfels. It is regarded as the medieval version of Germany's Neuschwanstein (model of Disney castle). Awesome tour and stunning views! Here is the website: http://www.schloss-braunfels.de/en/for-our-visitors.html

Schloss Braunfels

Michelstadt Ostereirmarkt

We made a day trip to Michelstadt today to browse the Ostereirmarkt (Easter egg market). What an awesome town with the coolest building (first pic) outside of Rome I have seen in Europe so far! It has quite a history dating back to 1484, pretty cool! The highlight was my meal, Eirpfannkucken Rolle MIT Mett-Gemüsefüllung dazu Salatbeilage.  It was a crepe-like concoction filled with meat and veggies served with a cabbage and carrot salad paired with a glass of Apfelwein (Apple wine)..... It was A-M-A-Z-I-N-G!!! 

Frankenstein's Castle

Lisa, Grammy, and I stopped off at the original castle of Frankenstein. Great evangelische church and cemetery at its base. These monuments pictured are commemorating villagers who served in WWI are in almost every village in Germany. Pretty cool!

Neustadt Mandelblüten Festival

Made the short trek to Neustadt on the Deutsch Weinstrasse (wine road) today. Lisa, Grammy, and I took advantage of the Mandelblüten (almond bloom) festival. Today's excursion included good wine, great views, fun music, and my favorite German food, leberknödel (liver meatball) served on a bed of sauerkraut! I'm the only one that will touch it, but let

It be known that leberknödel makes Jason a happy man! It was served on a biodegradable wooden plate with a biodegradable wooden fork, love Germans and their respect for the environment!

Check out today's music (http://youtu.be/i7jxqKhmjdY), my Okie friends will love what it has to offer. 

Fasching in Herschberg Germany

Lisa and I joined some of my staff for an evening at a Fasching Festival. Fasching is among the stronger traditions here in Deutschland. Fasching, also known as Carnival, is a series of pre-lent activities here in Catholic Germany. For tonight's event we visited a small local village that is known in the area to be a gathering for some great parties. One of which involves 3-4 surrounding villages putting on a series of musical numbers, dance routines, plays, etc. In my year and a half living here it may have been the most entertaining "festival" type events I have been to. I heard one person refer to it as, "A Lawrence Welk show put on by a drunk village." I'm not sure about that, but boy was it fun! Check out the video to see for yourself! 

http://youtu.be/B-dUhaZMTa4

¡Adios Spain! Hallo Deutschland!

The gang and I wrapped up our final full day in Spain with a long, rainy, day trip out of Malaga to some of the most wonderful villages seen on our trip. We took a very long and windey car ride to the Andelucian village of Grazalema where on the way we stopped to admire the "Quercus suber" trees that have their bark harvested every 9-12 years to be used as cork for wine bottles . Here you can see a few trees that have recently been cultivated. Absolutely awesome to see!

The village of Grazalema was just awesome, filled with sweeping views, great locals, and fine food. I dined on asparagus soup and fresh local queso de cabra. That's goat cheese to you and me. We all finished off our meal with what must be the best dessert known to man called, Natillas. It's simple, perfectly sweet, and as creamy as can be. One has not lived until you have eaten Natillas! Our short stay in Grazalema ended with some great "pictures don't do justice" photos! 

As we left ... The road seemed to climb beyond the clouds dusting our car with the finest of mist. The road was impossible to see from the fog/clouds and it wasn't until we broke out of them that we realized what a gem of a ribbon-like road we were driving on. Our final destination for the day was reached just as the village of Arcos de la Frontera began to awaken from it's daily siesta. This village, as we found to be the case with most of our Spain trip was littered with slum-like areas that were shadowed by the most insanely rugged, picturesque, and balancing on the edge of ruins old town areas. In this case Arcos de la Frontera takes the prize. The cathedral we visited, Iglesia Parroquial de Santa Maria (which has a history of its own worthy of research) had phenomenal artwork, "mummies" of saints, alter pieces, etc. that were in serious need of restoration. None the less, I found myself intransiently (if that is even a word) in awe of it all. I don't know why.. It just moved me! As we exited my eye was caught by  tiles embedded in the village walls with quotes from seemingly important people. My Spanish vocabulary is completely reliant on Lisa, which she willingly translated for me. I really don't remember what she said, too distracted by how beautiful she sounded with those Spanish words flowing from her lips. 

We ended our stay in Arcos with a great meal, me with Venison that would melt in your mouth, a few final photos, and a cold rainy walk back to our car. Adios Andelucia, adios Arcos de la Frontera!

Hallo Deutschland! 

What a stark contrast from the warm, sunny, rocky, rugged, dusty, beautiful Spanish countryside we had as our plane landed in Deutschland. As long as I call Germany my home I don't think I will get tired of its countryside. Lisa and I both marveled at the green, rolling, fog-filled hills dotted with the "straight off a postcard" villages, we quickly pinched one another... I can't believe we live here! 

As I end my blogs of Spain I want to give a shout out to the Stringer clan of Richard, Michelle, Braylon and Rane for including us in your trip. You are great family to have! I also want to thank Sue McClain, love traveling with you.... Always the best tour guide with your Rick Steves books and maps in hand! To my kids, Austin and Corie, you will forever be changed by these experiences. I can't wait to hear you tell stories in 10 years when it finally all sinks in. Final thanks goes to the best woman on the face of the earth (other than my mom), Lisa. You are the best travel companion in the world. I swear you are like the energizer bunny.. Go Go Go:)! Also, Lisa.. Thanks for translating, ordering food, tickets, etc.. I will forever remember the look on Corie's face the first time you stepped up to order food and rolled those R's and spoke like a pro... Priceless that she didn't know you could do that!