Travel Notes - Strasbourg

Notes to myself so I don't forget: When in Strasbourg, France stay at hotel "EtC", 7 rue de la Chaine, it's truly fantastic, located downtown and affordable. Each room is painted and decorated differently.

And: go back to the vegetarian restaurant (with lots of gluten free choices): "Poeles de carottes", 2 place des meuniers (petite France). The best food I've had in quite a while, thanks to my friend who is a fantastic travel planer and researcher!

Glenn Tipton

Husband at a Judas Priest Concert. Glenn Tipton is 65 and still rocks on stage!

Ballet Recital

Last practice just before the ballet recital, daughter is second from the right.

One more twirl in the living room before she had to hand her outfit back in...

and with that 6 months of practice, sore toes and extra hours spent at the ballet school were over...

My Beautiful, Brand New, Tiny, White Kitchen

While it is not going to make me a better cook, it makes it so much more fun boiling water for my cup of tea at 4am...:)

Feeding The Elephants

The elephant's name is Zella. She got fed so well, I think she is laughing!

Birthday party at the zoo, which included a lot of little, excited girls, lunch at mcdonalds, feeding the monkeys apple slices and worms and feeding the elephants carrots. Do you have any idea how funny an elephant trunk feels?

An All Girls Sunday Afternoon

Staedtische Lapidarium in Stuttgart, Germany

To me this is a special place: The Staedtische Lapidarium in Stuttgart, Germany. Located at the Karlshoehe, Moerikestrasse 24/1 it more or less is a public garden open only during the summer months. Entrance is free, donations are welcome.
The Lapidarium was founded in 1905 by Carl von Ostertag-Siegle but was not open to the public till 1950. In it you will find peace and quiet from the bustling city. You can bring a picnic or read a book next to one of the statues.
Especially interesting are the ornaments and pieces of houses that got destroyed during WWII. Here they got a new home, just sitting in the grass, to be touched and admired.

Camino de Santiago

Day #4: spent the whole day in Strasbourg, relaxing...

Day #5: Strasbourg to Dachstein, (25km/15miles)

At this point, I REALLY didn't want to hike anymore!

But this sight really made continuing worthwhile - a stork couple feeding their offspring.

Camino de Santiago or Chemins de Saint-Jacques

Day #2: Walbourg to Brumath. (21km/13miles)
Day #3: Brumath to Strassbourg (24km, 15miles)

And so we walked and walked and walked and we bought sandwiches at the local bakeries, had freshly picked cherries for desert. We took care of our blisters and marched on.
We heard a cuckoo sing, purchased homemade ice cream from a farm and had that for lunch.
Surprisingly, the locals knew we were walking the "Jacob's Trail" and liked talking to us. I still don't know what gave us away considering we were nowhere near Spain. Maybe it was our huge rucksacks or maybe it was the desperate look in our faces when we searched for our hotel for the night.

Camino de Santiago

I don't remember exactly how we came up with the idea of walking a tiny section of the "Camino de Santiago", the ancient pilgrim's path of Saint Jacob but I do remember when. It was a cold, snowy December afternoon when my friend and I went online and started booking rooms in odd little guesthouses and hotels along the Jacob's trail in France.

We thought we would start in France, figuring that the hike in Alsace would be a good start, with its gentle paths through a beautiful landscape and accommodating, picturesque villages where we could stop at every second boulangerie (bakery) for fresh baked rolls and danishes.

So, on a beautiful June morning we began walking in Wissembourg...

...all the way to Walbourg, a whopping 31km (close to 20 miles)...

And while they were still smiling, by the time we reached our first hotel my legs felt numb, my shoulders where hurting and I didn't want to think about the next day and the heavy rucksack on my back.