Livin' It Up In Lindau...

Last week, my friend, Tanya, and I headed to the charming town of Lindau for a short day trip.  We wandered through the streets, checked out some of the cute little shops, enjoyed some coffee, chatted it up in the park, and soaked up the gorgeous views.  It never fails... As many times as I've been to Lindau, I'm still awestruck by the picturesque views! :)

I adore this cute little sidewalk cafe...
Love the modern look combined with the rustic, aged wine barrel.  :)

One of the many quaint side streets that can be found throughout the town...

Such charm! :)

Enjoying the views and a chat in the park...

The view of the harbor...
I love this view!! :)

The detail on this building is simply spectacular! :)

A portion of the skyline...

Tanya and I decided that we needed a selfie of us to remember our day...
Our goal was to get the lion and the lighthouse in the background as those are the two most famous landmarks in Lindau...
Needless to say, we failed on our first shot. :)

... And 9 attempts later, we finally got one! :)

After our lovely day in Lindau, Tanya and I headed back to good ole Friedrichshafen to meet up with a wonderful group of fellow English-speaking ladies at Lukullum for the monthly English Stammtisch!  And what a fun time we had! :)  But, apparently when you have this many English speakers in one room in a foreign country, we tend to get a little loud... So loud, in fact, that we were actually asked to leave since we were bothering the other guests... Oops! :)  (Gotta love Germany and their quiet eating habits. :))  Oh well...  It was still great to see all of these lovely ladies that I've missed so much, and it was the perfect end to a fun-filled day!!

Motivation...

I joined my friend, Kim, for a run around Affenberg the other day.  This was our view...

Jealous yet?! :)

It was the perfect day for a run... Sunny skies, perfect temperature, beautiful scenery.  It was just the motivation I needed to get out and get some much needed exercise thanks to the copious amounts of delicious German breads, cheeses, spatzle, and bier I've been consuming as of late! :)

Now, as most of you know, I'm not a runner (I'm only doing it now since I have no gym to go to at the moment)... I love to exercise and all, but running just doesn't do it for me.  Well, that and the fact that I tend to get shin splints every time I do run... Bleh!  But, I have to say,  if I could only find a place around Detroit that looks like this, I might become motivated enough to run on a much more regular basis! :)

A Trip to Ravensburg...

The other day I hopped on a train and headed to the city of Ravensburg.  Ravensburg is a very old city - dating back to the year 1088!  The town center is alive with history and is still very much intact, as it includes three town gates and over 10 towers dating back to medieval times.  It's almost as if you are stepping through the pages of history as you stroll through this historic city.   No matter how many times I've visited this city, I still am awestruck by it's beauty and antiquity... Oh, Ravensburg, you never cease to amaze me! :)

One of the 10 medieval towers found throughout the city...

Strolling through the pedestrian only zone in the downtown area...

The history is so evident in the architecture here...
I love it! :)

A Lovely Summer Day...

We have been blessed with gorgeous weather throughout our stay in Germany thus far, and we have definitely been making the most of it while we can!  I took complete advantage of the delightfully sunny day this past Monday and headed to the small village of Langenargen for the afternoon.  I hopped on a bike and pedaled the 14 kilometers (28 km round trip) along the scenic bike path to the village of Langenargen, where I proceeded to enjoy my lunch by a castle and spend the afternoon strolling through the village.  It was such a perfectly relaxing afternoon.  On my way home, I spotted a road side stand selling strawberries and picked myself up a carton.  Once home, I sampled my purchase and was amazed at how lusciously delicious they were!!  They literally tasted as if I was biting into a big ball of sunshine... They were outstanding! :)  (Which resulted in me gorging myself with strawberries until I could eat no more... Ooops! :))  Afterwards, I headed back into town to meet Brian and our friends at a local bier garten for drinks before we headed to Uberlingen for a yummy dinner at a besenwirtschaft (These are restaurants/bier gartens that sell food and drinks made from the produce from their farm. They are only open for a couple months of the year.)  I managed to fall asleep that night with the biggest grin on my face, while feeling more relaxed than I have in a very long time.  Overall, it was such a lovely way to spend a summer day.  :)

On my way to Langenargen! :)

I forgot just how pretty the path to Langenargen is!
I loved cycling past the many gardens, orchards, and lush, green fields!
You can't help but to smile as you soak up the view!  :)

Enjoying some lunch by Schloss Montfort (Castle Montfort)...
How often can you say that?! :)

Schloss Montfort...

Downtown Langenargen...

I love the shutters here in Europe! :)

Langenargen is filled with gorgeous floral displays!
It's always been one of my favorite places to visit on the Bodensee...

The Langenargen Maypole...
The Maypoles are erected on May 1st on the main square of virtually every city/town/village in Germany.  There is usually a big celebration.  The different symbols on the Maypoles represents the crafts/trades/industry that are represented in that particular area.   

Side view of the St. Martin Kirche (i.e. church)...
Gorgeous! :)

St. Martin Kirche

The most scrumptious strawberries I've ever tasted! :)

Enjoying drinks with some friends at Lammgarten... :)

While at Lammgarten, the local Musikverien (music groups) were marching down the promenade and playing music to celebrate the 150th  Geburtstag (birthday) of Graf Zeppelin (the creator of the Zeppelin that Friedrichshafen is known for!)...  We were lucky enough to be sitting in the perfect place to be able to watch the celebration! :) 

Mostfest is the "Most" Fun! :)

One of my favorite things about Germany is the fact that every city holds a festival (i.e. "Stadtfest") during the summer.  The festivals are held in honor of various things such as brezeln (pretzels), flowers, fruit, lake rabbits (more on that one next week! :)), wine, beer, and so on...  There are a wide variety of  food and drink tents, parades, theatrical performances, rides, fireworks, musical performances, and arts and crafts markets.  Most of the festivities take place out in the open-air; however, some of the festivals take place in truly unique settings (i.e. on castle grounds, along lake fronts and rivers, in former military airports, smelting works facilities, in harbors, etc.).  Each and every festival offers up something that is truly unique to that city or region.

During our time in Germany, the one thing that we have learned is that the Germans take their festivals very seriously!  Every German takes pride in the festival of their own city.  It is not uncommon to hear Germans explain why they think that "their festival" is the best one in Germany.  As outsiders, Brian and I have always found this discussion quite humorous as we find all of the festivals to be quite fun and entertaining.  We have found that each and every one is unique in its own sense, and by partaking in the festivities, we've gotten a taste of each city's local "flavor".  Overall, we've found that German festivals are a great place to soak up some local culture, enjoy great music, sample delicious foods, and drink some tasty German beer/wine! :)

While we're here in Germany this summer, there are a great many festivals taking place in this area.  We experienced our first festival of this trip just last night when we headed to the Ahausen Mostfest.  The Ahausen Mostfest honors a special type of wine, called "most", made from various fruits in the area.  The Mostfest took place in the heart of Ahausen and entertainment was provided by many of the local music groups! We took part in the festivities with a great group of friends, and needless to say, we had ourselves a "most" wonderful time! :)

Here's a little peak at our evening... :)

On our way to the fest! :)

Brian and Joerg prepping themselves during the walk there. ;)

Our friend, Kim, was busy at work in the food tent. :)

Most = Delicious!

The Ahausen Mostfest!

Prost to the Mostfest!

Brian and Benjamin were having themselves a "most" wonderful time (I'm hilarious aren't I?! :))

The newlyweds! :)
I love the fact that the guy in the corner of the picture is wearing a shirt with the name of the festival on it! :)

Denise and I...
Love her! :)

Kim was keeping an eye on Michelle's purse and making sure it didn't go anywhere! :)

Katrina and I practicing our picture taking pose! :)

Love these girls! :)

Carrying four biers through a crowd of Germans without spilling any...
This man has skills! :)
Impressive, Markus... Very impressive!

The whole gang! :)

Feels Good To Be Back! :)

Greetings from Deutschland!!  I'm not quite sure if I mentioned it in my previous posts, but during the month of July, Brian and I will be out of the country... Yep, that's right!  Brian and I are spending 5 weeks in one of our favorite places... Germany! :)  Brian had to come over for training for work, and since I'm a teacher and get my summers off, I decided to tag along and make a holiday out of it!  Ahhh... The joys of being a teacher! :)

We arrived in Friedrichshafen (our previous home of three years) last Saturday and since then we've had a busy week of meeting up with old friends!  It's been such fun to see everyone again! :)  It's amazing at how quickly we re-acclimated to this place and picked right up where we left off!  It sometimes feels as if we never even left. :)  While Brian has been busy at work, I've been spending time with friends and partaking in some of my favorite activities around the area.  I can't describe how happy this makes me! :)  It feels so good to be back!

Here's a little peak at our past week...

Our very sweet welcome to Germany! :)

Our friends organized a suprise "Welcome Back" party for us when we arrived last Saturday!!
It was such fun and so wonderful to see everyone again! :)

We're staying with friends while we're here...
This is their adorable front gate. :)

Coffee with Eva on her balcony... What a view! :)

Der Bodensee... Love it! :)

I don't think I'll ever get tired of this view! :)

Heading to the Scholsskirche...

The Schlosskirche...
I miss walking by this on a daily basis on my way to work. :)

Walking past the many orchards in the area... :)

Drinks at the Beach Club... 

Scenes from my morning jog... Gorgeous! :)

This view never gets old! :)

I adore this cute little house around the bend...
Someday this will be mine. :) 

Enjoying a day at the beach with Denise, Joerg, and the girls... :)

Just another day at the beach... :)

The German and EU flags...

We've fully Americanized them! :)

Getting right back into the swing of things... :)

Finally... Some relaxation! :)

Tiffy was loving her red, white, and blue! :)

I miss the German houses!

4th of July breakfast with some of my favorite Americans! :)

Kim baked a very yummy cake for the occasion! :)

The four of us reunited! :)

Watching Savanna perform in her school play... So cute ! :)

Happy 4th of July!
Enjoying our American style BBQ! :)

Cheers to the red, white, and blue!

We felt very festive with our red, white, and blue straws! :)

Wandering through the local Farmer's Market...
Oh how I've missed this!!

So many flowers!! :)

My favorite bread man!!
This man sells the most delicious breads! :)

Enjoying lunch by the lake... :)

Picturesque Friedrichshafen...
This view never fails to make me smile.  :)

Typical Biergarten... :)

My old path home... :)

Love the orchards!

This is another one of my favorite houses! :)
So charming!