Festival of the New Oils

The olives are being pressed now and Sunday we attended a celebration in the small town of Tequanda. In addition to tasting green, fresh oil, we also sampled pecorino cheese (sheep, fresh or aged), fig salami, sausages, local wines, and warm polenta. This was our kind of festival! We then drove the small roads enjoying the Tuscan landscape, stopping to see yet one more walled city, Mintepulciano.

Venturing Further Out - An Abbey and Medieval Towns

We left about 10 am Saturday and drove a short while to the Abbey of Monte Oliveta Maggiore founded by the Benedictine monks in 1319. Lunch was at a nice restautant on the grounds where both of us had veal scaloppine and Steve tried the Truscan Bean Soup. From there we visited the walled towns of Buonconvento and Montalcino, famous for its Brunello wine made from the Sangiovese grape. Of course we did a little tasting!

Off to Italy!

We fly from Spokane to Rome tomorrow, arriving on October 20th. We'll be renting a car at the airport and driving to Asciano, a small town outside of Siena, where we'll stay in this home. Our goal is to sleep on the plane so we don't sleep driving to Asciano!

Last Day in Freiburg

For our last full day we decided to visit the open-air market around the cathedral once again and actually go into the Munster, as it is called. We also loaded up on neuer seusser (new wine - like apple cider) and brats in anticipation of walking for the rest of the day. Since we were using public transport we caught a tram and a connecting bus to the area where a ski lift operates to go to the Schuinsland. Unfortunately it was closed this week, so back on the bus and the tram for a walk up from Freiburg to a little church about 5 km. from the city center. Of course we got a little lost, but with the help of some very helpful ladies doing nordic walking we finally reached St Ottilien in time for a late lunch before heading back down the mountain. We are packing tonight and heading to Frankfort tomorrow before flying to Seattle on Friday.

Sound of Music Revisited

Today we did something totally not on our list.  We had a driving tour into the Black Forest planned with various stops.  But at the first stop to see a church which is now the arch diosese for Freiburg, we saw people walking up the mountain.  We asked at the Tourist Information Office and found that there was a wonderful walk up over the moutain to the next village, about 8 km.  So we ate our sandwiches and drank a beer and took off.  3 hours later we arrived in St. Margen and, after some liquid refreshment, took the bus back to our car and came home.  Could we be becoming impetuous?  Probably not, but it was a great day nonetheless.

Back to France

The weekend seemed like a good time to go back to France since there is no truck traffic on Sunday, we left about noon on Saturday to re-take some pictures in the St. Germain area for Steve to send to his siblings.  Then on to Gerardmer, a mountain town sporting a ski hill and a large lake (that reminded us of Lake CDA).  We checked into a charming little hotel right in the center of town and enjoyed the best meal of our trip in the hotel dining room.  Sunday morning we drove to the bottom of the ski hill and did a 10 km. circuit of the mountain including a 360 degree view of the Vosges from the ridge.  Before coming home we visited the site of the French/German trench warfare in the this area from 1915-18 when 10,000 French soldiers lost their lives. The actual trenches have been preserved and stand as a memorial to the absurdity of war.

$witzerland

We took the train to Basel on Friday to see a great exhibit at the Fondation Beyeler. It was an amazing collection from the art community in Vienna at the turn of the century.  In the afternoon we toured Old Town and enjoyed some unexpected sunshine and warmer temperatures.  We had stops for beer and coffee before taking the train back to Freiburg. Our impression of Switzerland, at least Basel, is that you need a lot of dollars to live here!  The prices were noticeably more than in Germany (the exhibit was $25 each).  We specifically made a stop at Starbucks to see just how much they could charge for coffee!  An interesting aside: we watched a film crew preparing to televise on the Rhine while we were walking around.  When we came home we watched a live production of Aida on TV from that venue!