Out of the Schwarzwald again

6/12/2016

Well, after an exciting and drama-filled reunion at the youth hostel where we’d arranged to stay the night, my travel companions and I started off the day with a delicious—and complementary—breakfast. Our goal food-wise was to eat some Schwarzwälder Kirschtorte (Black Forest Cherry Torte cake) by the end of the day, but before that, our goal travel-wise was to pay a visit to the namesake of that most-delicious of treats…

That’s right—we were headed for the Schwarzwald itself!

My phone/camera was, unfortunately, very out of battery today—guess I used it up listening to music in the library yesterday—but it was honestly a bit refreshing, being cut off from the need to constantly take photos.

Despite that, I did get a couple of nice shots from our cable car on the way up!

Hello, The Schwarzwald! Hello, mountains! Hello…France?!

After a bit of hiking, we arrived at a beautiful observatory tower, where we braved the climb to the top despite one girl’s fear of heights. From there, we found ourselves looking down over blowing banks of fog, driven by rushing wind through beautiful, dense thickets of pines. Even though the day wasn’t clear—what a view!

Although we hadn’t hiked for very long at that point, we were all more than ready to call it quits and head back down the mountain. I’m not sure why, but everyone was extremely exhausted all day—myself included! Lucky for us, we had a recommendation for a spot where we could find the ultimate cure-all: CAKE. And not just any cake…

Schwarzwälder Kirschtorte! (Photo credit europeantravelista.com)

Eaten right here in the region of the Schwarzwald!!! (Photo credit to www.cafeschmidt.de)

Despite all the ups and downs, the getting lost and putting my fellow travelers through a lot of unnecessary worrying, it was a pretty satisfying trip! And most important of all—I can now say that I’ve eaten Schwarzwälder Kirschtorte in Germany. I mean, clearly that’s been right at the top of the bucket list all along!

I’m always happy to come back to Mannheim, though.

There’s nothing quite like having a home-base.

Xoxo,

Susan

PIZZAs

6/4/2016

Sometimes you just have to take a day off, you know? Take it easy, sleep in, and make plans to eat pizza later that evening. Today, for example, I slept until almost 11:30—something that’s happened maybe two other times in my life! Despite another amazing and very filling lunch (potatoes and cuttlefish in tomato sauce!), Sophia and I were ready to meet up with her friends for some pizza that evening. Thing is, this wasn’t just any pizza…

Before that, though, we had something else on the agenda: a visit to Camposampiero! It’s Sophia’s hometown, and a really lovely little town with a lot of history.

For example, who knew St. Anthony actually lived here most of his life? Who knew this city hall was almost a thousand years old?! (Photo Credits!)

We saw some historic buildings, ate some ice cream, and sat in the sun. It was a lovely afternoon.

After getting ready, we were off to meet Sophia’s friends in the nearby town of Bassano, where I enjoyed Spritz, an Italian early-evening, lightly alcoholic, fruity beverage.

Pre-Spritz fun times! (Photo credit Sophia Marostica. <3)

It was delicious, and, aside from that, the view from the big town bridge was SO AMAZING.

There are NO mountains anywhere near this beautiful back home! (No mountains at all, for that matter…)

I know what you’re thinking: pizza, pizza. Where is the pizza? That was my question, too, and made more pressing by the fact that I don’t speak any Italian, so it was basically impossible to follow people’s conversations and to understand the evening’s plans. After a leisurely stroll, some time spent chatting, and an early-evening drive through the countryside with those amazing mountains in the distance, we arrived at the pizza place, waited in line, and spent about an hour figuring out what we wanted.

I got a two-person pizza and shared it three ways…the other six or so people in our group ate a pizza meant for SEVEN! My pizza featured fried zucchini blossoms, burrata and another amazing cheese, olives, tomatoes, more cheese, and SWORDFISH!

And of course, we couldn’t forget dessert—especially not with it being my first chance to try some sorbetto! I got lemon 😀

We stayed late into the night, chatting and laughing, and drinking after-dinner liquor (strong, tiny shots—I had lemon!) in a beautiful garden out back of the restaurant.

What did I do to deserve such a PERFECT weekend?

However, I don’t think I can ever eat American pizza again…or ice cream, for that matter! LE SIGH. (It was WORTH it!)

Xoxo,

Susan

VENICE

6/3/2016

The city of my childhood dreams, a city that my German friends told me was a Märchen, truly a fairy tale…

And I finally made it!

HELLO, VENICE!!!

Sophia (who also took most of the pictures in this post) and I spent most of our day touring the Palazzo Ducale—now a museum, it was the former palace of Venice’s Doge, the city’s chief magistrate. It was beautiful, too lovely to be done justice by pictures and words. The art, the art, the ART…!

Trying to blend in with the other tourists…

Across a canal from the Palace is a jail where, we imagined, many prisoners spent a lot of lonely, LONG long days. The two are connected by the Ponte dei Sospiri, or “Bridge of Sighs,” so named because that’s where the prisoners would catch their last glimpse of the water as they were led down.

And what a last glimpse…

It’s called the Suefzerbrücke in German!

A lot of walking and most of the morning was involved in that museum tour, and while it was ABSOLUTELY worth it, we were both really hungry by the end!

Sounds like the right time for a late lunch!

Our next step was a quick trip to a beautiful bookstore, Alta Acqua Libreria, that Sophia had heard about from a friend. It’s so named (the phrase translates as “high water” or “high tide”) because the back of the store opens into a canal, and every morning the water rushes in!

There were books everywhere, yet I couldn’t read any of them… 😦

Our final goal before heading home was to get to one of the islands, and also to buy me a necklace! How can you leave Venice without buying some glass, right? So, one REALLY long boat ride later,

…we stepped off and found ourselves in Burano!

It was evening, the streets were mostly empty of tourists, and the houses were all so bright and beautiful.

The German word would be bunt—colorful!

But the best part was the necklace I managed to find. 😀

For just 3€! Score.

We rode back as the sun set over Venice and rain began to fall, and we took a second boat through the city streets, passing under bridges while everything glowed, wet under the streetlights in the dark. So, I can officially say I’ve taken a boat through Venice, even if it wasn’t a gondola… 😉

Those cost like 80€ per hour, man! Not this time.

It was a little chilly when we got back to the train station, but since when is that a reason to pass on ice cream?

So, the city of my dreams—did it fulfill? Yes, definitely. And what’s maybe best about the trip was just how much there STILL is to see.

Venice…one day, I’m coming back!

Xoxo,

Susan