Freiburger Eats

Here's a nice google map that I made with some recommendations of local restaurants in the area....
There are some really nice choices!


View Freiburger Eats in a larger map

Hunawihr and the Lonely Planet

So we made a 5 day bike trip in Alsace and passed by a lovely little town called Hunawihr.....in fact it's featured on the Lonely Planet France cover!  So we tried to snap the same picture.....




























Suffice it to say, it was an awesome trip with some very picturesque little towns, great food, (and superb Alsatian muscat and riesling), with some breathtaking scenery!

The Best Subway System in the World

I've been to my share of places, and usually, when exploring, I make use of the public transportation system.  I now declare, hands-down that Madrid has the best subway system in the world.

Totally unexpected if you ask me.....Spain is not exactly known for efficiency and punctuality, yet the extensive system, which covers a large area was amazing.  The stations were clean, the system unified, the electronic ticketing system easy, and the most I ever had to wait for a subway was 3 minutes.  And it only costs 1.50 Euro for a single ticket, and 9.30 for 10 trips!

It has many lines, that intersect in useful places, and even has a circular line (Line 6), which encircles the downtown area in both clockwise and counter-clockwise directions.

It really was a treat to take the metro in Madrid, it walks away with the best subway system in the world!!  (For sure it kicks Toronto's ass, speaking of which Toronto may have one of the worst systems in the world, as far as I can tell)

About time....

It's about time that airlines in Canada stop deceiving travelers with their fare advertising given the new regulations.  Entirely misleading, advertising fares without service charges and taxes and extra fees, the advertised fare can be at times a third of the real price.

The only question is why this took so long to implement?

Mom and Beer

Here's Mom again, drinking huge amounts of beer......

We never knew that she was such a Beer guzzler.....

Another Black Forest Secret

We took the Höllentalbahn to Schluchsee, and hiked about 2 km away from there, where a nice lookout tower was built.....called the Riesenbühlturm.



What a great view of the Fischbachtal and the Schluchsee - moreover, we were the only three people there! Away from the tourist throngs at the Titisee.....it just goes to show, if you're willing to hike 2 km, you can reach some great gems, with hardly a soul in sight, especially in the Black Forest.

Rain in Graubünden

Look at these two courageous souls, braving the wind and rain in Graubünden. Are these hard core hikers or what?







Honestly, I've never been to Graubünden before, but from their description, we should be putting this place on the list.....it's a nice place, with less North American / Asian tourists....rather, it seems to be frequented by European hiking enthusiasts, who are much less insufferable ;)

Schwarzer Adler

In the midst of the Kaiserstuhl in a little town called Vogtsburg, lies a nice restaurant called the Schwarzer Adler:



A great restaurant, recognized with a Michelin star......the meat was oh, so tender.....

Three of us went for a lunch on a Saturday afternoon, and look what we ordered.

This came with a set menu: Stück aus dem Vorderwälder Rinderrücken mit Spätburgundersauce, Bohnen & gebackenem Kartoffelknödel



and some Lamb: Filet vom deutschen Weidelamm mit Gremolata Paprika-Tomaten-Mousse, Artischocken und Parisienne-Kartoffeln



This one was the best of them all: Filet "Rossini" vom Kaiserstühler Kalb mit einer Sauce von schwarzen Périgord-Trüffeln Blattspinat und Kartoffelravioli

The Flunch Deal

Well, I have to say that when it comes to value meals, it's tough to beat Flunch. This is a casual restaurant chain, in a cafeteria style. Don't expect any gourmet food, or top-notch service. Getting your food is self-service, but the portions are great, the food quite tasty, and the prices unbeatable.

The first time we tried it was in Aix-en-Provence last year, but we made another trip to Colmar just last Saturday. What made it especially delicious was that we had biked over 50 km to get there, so we were starving when we arrived. Needless to say, Flunch hit the spot!

Although, in my opinion the Flunch in Aix has a much better layout and atmosphere than the Flunch in Colmar. But hey, Flunch isn't for atmosphere, it's for good, cheap eats....(and the 50 km bike ride back enabled us not to pack on the pounds)

Schluchsee

Tourists visiting the Black Forest seem to end up at Titisee....I guess it's the commercial stores selling cuckoo clocks and the like that attract them there. A much better lake (the largest in the Black Forest) is the Schluchsee. Much better scenery, and instead of tour guided photographing visitors, there just to snap photos, one sees hikers and nature lovers instead.




It's really some great Black Forest scenery....

Mmmm....meat in Bad Krozingen!

Our bike excursions took us again into the Markgräflerland, where we stopped in Bad Krozingen for lunch. Some great meat dishes were served at a food stand, while a wind orchestra was playing some music.

The meat was really tender and delicious!

Betty had the Pork Hocks (Schweinshäxle) which is really a Bavarian specialty. This was the best one we ever ate in Baden, where it's also served at times. Usually Pork Hocks in Baden cannot compete with those from Bavaria, but this came close:



I had the Grillbraten (I assume pork) with Knödel, which is really a bread-ball, which was awesome:


A nice 50 km under our belt today, on racing bikes.....we'll have to venture further next time!

Straußwirtschaft in Opfingen

"Go west young man", and so we did.....west to Opfingen, a village about 13 km away from Freiburg.

A nice little Straußwirtschaft called the Sonnenbrunnen Strauße (the Sun-Fountain) was there, with outdoor seating:


We enjoyed some of the local made grape juice and Gutedel wine (Chasselas)


Betty was on a Wurstsalat binge, so here was her dish:


While I opted for the house specialty: Cheese-Potato balls, with ham, cheese, and other garnishes:


Some Rösti at the end really hit the spot:


A very nice Day 2 to our long weekend!

Lindenberg, St. Peter, and St. Märgen

Without a doubt, this hike is one of the most pleasurable hikes in the Black Forest.
It starts at the Obertal bus stop in the Eschbachtal, and after a short hike, one reaches the pilgrimage church of Maria Lindenberg. From there, one can see a beautiful baroque church in the Black Forest town of St. Peter. On the way to St. Märgen, one gets to take in a beautiful Black Forest panorama.

Some pictures that Betty took on this hike:

Straßenwirtschaft in Köndringen

So today was another day in the year of the Straußenwirtschaft....but this time we headed north to a little town called Köndringen.


Betty took my new racing bike, so it was alot easier for her to keep pace (she could have gone faster, but was following me on a normal trekking bike).....

Check it out, a brand new Giant Defy 2 (2010 model):

Ain't it a beaut?

Arrving in Köndringen, we ate at Blum's Gutschänke. Along with with a glass of Müller-Thurgau, we enjoyed a nice pork steakfilet, wrapped in bacon, with Baden-style salad:


and some yummy potato salad to go with it:


It rained pretty hard on our way back though, so we were soaked by the time we made it home!

Il pesciolino rosso

We spent a nice long Easter weekend in Stresa, Italy.......a nice small (albeit touristy) town on the shores of the Lago Maggiore.

The last lunch we had was at the restaurant called "Il pesciolino rosso", translated as the Goldfish. The clientele other than the two of us, were all Italian, and suffice it to say, the Pizza we ordered was the best traditional-style pizza we've ever eaten (Pizza con salame piccante).



Buon appetito!

Straußenwirtschaft in Gallenweiler

Another beautiful Sunday in Freiburg...April really is the nicest month here. This one was a bit cool, with a high of 17 degrees. We decided we would try the Markgräflerland once again, here are a couple of pictures with a view of the Black Forest from close to Bollschweil:





Gallenweiler (a really tiny village) is where we stopped for lunch at the Straußenwirtschaft called Belchenblick, named after one of the highest peaks in the Black Forest called Belchen.

Good stuff, I got the Schweinegulash with Spätzle.....


while Betty got the Schweinerückensteak.....


45 km on a bike, great scenery, and yummy food - too bad the weekend is only two days long!

Blanquette de Veau à Paris

French food.....mmmmm.....

At the Polidor in the Latin Quarter in Paris, you can dine for reasonable prices....here's a picture of a Blanquette de Veau which I enjoyed with a bit of Sauvignon Blanc from the Touraine region:


While in Paris, you might as well see some of the sides....

Here's a picture of the Palais de Luxembourg in the Luxembourg Gardens.


The Eiffel Tower is always a nice view at nighttime.




Of course, unfortunately, the main problem with Paris is the endless hordes of tourists.....

2011: The year of the Straußwirtschaft!

I declare 2011 the year of the Straußwirtschaft.....

This weekend we had 27 degrees Celsius of bright, sunny weather....so we did a very nice 50 km ride:
Freiburg - Hexental - Staufen - Heitersheim - Kirchhöfen - Pfaffenweiler - Freiburg

And given that 2011 is the year of the Straußwirtschaft, we stopped by the Lorenz-Straußi for a nice lunch. These Straußwirtschaften are great - they make their own wine, and serve very nice dishes.

Here's a nice view of the Black Forest from between Staufen and Heitersheim:


And some good eats: Bärlauchpfannkuchen mit Schinken und Käse and a Mixteller (Wurstsalat, Brägele, Frischkäse)


A closer look at the Bärlauchpfannkuchen....

Südschwarzwald Radweg

A perfect time to take a 4-day weekend on the Südschwarzwald Radweg. What great weather God gave us!

Following this sign for 4 days, for a total of about 240 km....

....we cycled through the Upper Black Forest, the Upper Rhine, the Three Nations Corner, and the Markgräflerland....

Starting from our doorstep in Freiburg....

and cycled through the Dreisamtal to Kirchzarten

where we bravely climbed about 500 m in height by taking the train called the Höllentalbahn to Hinterzarten.

We cycled from Hinterzarten, through Titisee, Neustadt, and on the Bähnle-Radweg
where one can see beautiful scenery of the Upper Black Forest:


...stopping in Lenzkirch for a late lunch.


After lunch, back on the Bähnle-Radweg towards Bonndorf where beautiful fields stretch as far as the eye can see....


before racing downhill to Stühlingen where we stopped to rest for the night. We biked 68 km the first day....

Views from our hotel were marvellous!


We start Day 2 continuing downhill through the Wutach valley towards the Upper Rhine.



The Upper Rhine forms the border between Germany and Switzerland...truly majestic!



We biked through the Upper Rhine region and stopped for lunch at an idyllic town called Laufenburg, which has a little bridge across the Rhine to a town in Switzerland with the same name.


It was a neat feeling to just walk across the bridge into Switzerland!

About 10 km more, and we arrived at our destination for the second night: Bad Säckingen. A bit larger than Laufenburg, it's also a town right on the Rhine, with a bridge to Switzerland. In the late afternoon, we even fit in a 6 km hike, back into the Black Forest, to enjoy the views of Switzerland across the river.



Altogether, we cycled 54 km on Day 2.

Day 3 would be the shortest ride of the journey, but not easy at all. We continued along the Upper Rhine towards Rheinfelden. From there, we took the variation towards Lörrach through the hilly Dinkelberg region, with great panoramic views.


We arrived in Lörrach for lunch, and then checked into our hotel, having cycled a total of about 44 km. We managed to hike in the surrounding hills in the afternoon.

Day 4 would be the most challenging and strenuous day, a fitting way to end our trip. We cycled through the hilly region from Lörrach to Bad Bellingen where we met up again with the Rhine river, this time flowing north, and forming the border with France. We continued along the Rhine about 10 km until Neuenburg, where we stopped for lunch.

After lunch, we biked through the flat Markgräflerland, loaded with picturesque vineyards, and a gorgeous view of the western edge of the Black Forest.



After biking a total of 77 km on Day 4, we arrive back home in Freiburg, quite exhausted, but enriched from our four days on the Südschwarzwald Radweg!