Oui, pass the wine: Germany in Snow

So this past Friday - October 26 - my 2 weeks of vacation started!! One of the benefits of this program is I meet assistants from all over the world. It just so happens that I'm friends with assistants from Germany (Bianca) and New Zealand (Petrina) and Bianca invited us to come visit her home in Germany! So for this vacation - I'm going to Konstanz, Freiburg, Munich, and Prague!

We left on Friday and drove about 5 hours to Konstanz - I got to pass through Switzerland to get here - so surreal to me that I can just casually pass through European countries and not even need to show my passport!

On Saturday while we were out and about shopping it was so incredibly cold and was starting to snow! I couldn't believe it - SNOW in October! They said it hasn't snowed this early in over 70 years! Of course it would happen when I arrived haha

To escape the cold that night we made a traditional Black Forest Cake. Oh my goodness it was so tasty but so big!! It's 3 layers of chocolate cake, each covered in cherry schnapps and whipped cream and layer of cherries. Then the entire thing is covered in whipped cream and chocolate. Oh man, I ate my weight in it! haha

Black Forest Cake

Bianca and Me in front of the Harbor. SO cold!

The next day when we woke up there was snow on the roofs and the trees - so beautiful and it was snowing! We had the best lazy Sunday. First we ventured down to the Harbor and walked around in the snow - quite picturesque!
Then we went to this absolutely wonderful restaurant - Pano- it had a cozy atmosphere and the most delicious food! Think Panera bread but ten times better and European! Picture this: we were sitting a a large family style wooden table, watching the snow fall outside, sipping on my Chai tea latte and eating the most delicious and simple meal of a piece of toasted whole grain German bread topped half with rosemary apricot cream cheese and half with basil cream and bruchetta. Oh my word - divine!! Everything people were eating looked simple delectable! The atmosphere was brilliant - I could go to this place like everyday. Then for dessert we all three split some luscious gelato - oh it's my downfall! So we had 3 flavors - blueberry yogurt, banana and chocolate, and tirimisu! The tirimisu was my favorite.

My lunch - oh my word

Gelato we all shared

Coffee bar and ice cream bar

Then after that extremely satisfying lunch, we headed to the spa! I couldn't believe I was about to go swimming while it was snowing outside - but I did! I actually swam outside in really warm water while it was snowing - so bizarre yet cool! Never experienced such polarity in my life.

For dinner that night, Bianca made us a very traditional and soul warming German meal - called Spatzle. She made the pasta herself and even had an Spatzle pasta maker! Then she topped it with this rich and onctuous mushroom sauce made out of cream, mushrooms, onion, salt, and pepper. And on the side we had a German style slaw- cabbage soaked in wine, sugar, vinegar but served warm. It was a very filling meal but incredibly delicious on a cold night!

The spatzel pasta

The spatzel pasta maker

The German style cabbage

Monday - My favorite day of the entire trip! We went to Freiburg Germany and the Black Forest! Oh my goodness. There are no words to describe the tremendous beauty that I saw. I feel so privileged that I got to see the Black Forest not only covered in snow, but in October! We drove through the Black Forest - oh my oh my - just simply gorgeous. Never in my life have I seen so much snow and for them, it was nothing! It was an absolutely gorgeous day - blue skies, crisp cold air, and snow glistening on the earth. Here are some pictures of the Black Forest - these are real!

Yeah, pretty surreal. I have to keep reminding myself that this is my life!
So from the Black Forest, we arrived in Freiburg, which is a very cool city and one that I highly recommend visiting!
Everyday til about 1, there is an absolutely fabulous European market in front of the Cathedral no less. It was awesome and I wanted to buy everything in sight - I used great self restraint ;)
They had flowers, fruits, vegetables, pumpkins, meats, honey, spices, the list goes on and on!
I picked up some local Black Forest honey, Pizza spices, and of course some food to eat while wandering the market!

The market:)

For the first time in my life I finally got to have some roasted chestnuts! I've heard about them in Christmas songs and movies all my life and there is a good reason they're mentioned. They are scrumptious! I can't wait to eat some more and various Christmas markets I plan on visiting! Then I had a very traditional German sandwich - German bratwurst and onions on a Kaiser roll. Oh my, it was tasty and so warming! I also got to taste to traditional Black Forest Ham - rather salty, but still quite tasty.

Chestnuts roasting

Me and my delicious German meal

So after lunch we ventured around the city and went up to a high point and were able to see some gorgeous views of Freiburg. It was stunning! Kept telling myself that this is my life! So completely surreal! Plus add the fact that there are autumn colored trees everywhere and it snowed. So mind boggling! I really enjoyed this day. Simply magical and gorgeous!