Here's to the libation that enables glutony
All 5 of us slept like crap last night. Maybe it was the dorm we were sleeping in. Beds touching. It actually wasn't a big deal since we were the only ones in there beside Jorge. This night we kept the windows open so it was nice and cool, but that didn't keep all 5 of us from waking up for several hours. No matter, today we were in transit.
Breakfast at 7:30, the same wonderful European breakfast w/ more cheese, yogurt, bread. I found the keys from the Hutte we stayed in the previous night. Sigh. We called the hosts, but they didn't answer. The lady minding the current hut suggested I mail the keys. Fantastic answer.
We made the 9:30 train down the mountain. The skies were bright blue, the clearest it's been since we've been here. Sun shined on the bright green grass as we chugged down the mountain. We found the post in Lauterbrunnen and I mailed the keys.
Back in the trusty ol van. Only $30 for 2 days in the garage, probably the cheapest thing we've encountered in Switzerland. The drive to France was lovely. Travis asked uncomfortable physcological survey questions from a Forbes article and the men got deep while the women got uncomfortable. We wanted to stop for coffee so I naturally searched for coffee on Google. I found 'World of Coffee', let's go there. Google took us through farmland, back alleys, definitely the scenic route. We pulled up to the "cafe". It was actually the headquarters of Jura the coffee machine manufacturer, however, they had a visitors center and they made amazing coffee.
On to Marckolsheim, we took the back roads, a beautiful lovely drive. We opened up the house to let it air. Jumped over to the SuperU grocery store- one of my favorite places! We found $50 wine for $10, endless aisles of cheese. We spent $140 on 5 bottles of wine, 5 large chunks of cheese, meat, etc, so much food! We probably paid the same price for soup in Switzerland. We were so happy and delighted w/ our food/drink purchases. We headed home to unload and ventured off to Freiburg for dinner. We stopped at a farmers stand along the way and got some schnapps for tonight.
The kids in the back seat were getting hangry, asking for snacks. Just hold on, Andy said, you will not be disappointed! They trusted him in this dark hour. However, they knew he would deliver. We parked and almost ran through the city to the Löwen gasthause. The initial look on Andy's face wasn't good. It was only 6 but it didn't look like we were going to get a table. But alas! Andy negotiated with the server. As long as we ate fast,we could finish before the next guests arrived with reservations. No worries, I knew it wouldn't be an issue. The food was more than amazing, it was some of the most delicious food we've ever eaten. Four orders of pork shoulder, I ordered something else to sample more food (a meat that melted in my mouth with lingonberries and horseradish sauce). We enjoyed every bite. That fantastic meal was only $90. How are these amazing food and drink so cheap here? Have Bay Area prices killed our perception of realistic prices?
A short stop for espresso at an outdoor cafe and we headed back to Marckolsheim for schnapps and cheese. Because you must eat cheese after pork shoulder and potatoes, schnapps is the perfect disgestif. It was another good day.
Breakfast at 7:30, the same wonderful European breakfast w/ more cheese, yogurt, bread. I found the keys from the Hutte we stayed in the previous night. Sigh. We called the hosts, but they didn't answer. The lady minding the current hut suggested I mail the keys. Fantastic answer.
We made the 9:30 train down the mountain. The skies were bright blue, the clearest it's been since we've been here. Sun shined on the bright green grass as we chugged down the mountain. We found the post in Lauterbrunnen and I mailed the keys.
Back in the trusty ol van. Only $30 for 2 days in the garage, probably the cheapest thing we've encountered in Switzerland. The drive to France was lovely. Travis asked uncomfortable physcological survey questions from a Forbes article and the men got deep while the women got uncomfortable. We wanted to stop for coffee so I naturally searched for coffee on Google. I found 'World of Coffee', let's go there. Google took us through farmland, back alleys, definitely the scenic route. We pulled up to the "cafe". It was actually the headquarters of Jura the coffee machine manufacturer, however, they had a visitors center and they made amazing coffee.
On to Marckolsheim, we took the back roads, a beautiful lovely drive. We opened up the house to let it air. Jumped over to the SuperU grocery store- one of my favorite places! We found $50 wine for $10, endless aisles of cheese. We spent $140 on 5 bottles of wine, 5 large chunks of cheese, meat, etc, so much food! We probably paid the same price for soup in Switzerland. We were so happy and delighted w/ our food/drink purchases. We headed home to unload and ventured off to Freiburg for dinner. We stopped at a farmers stand along the way and got some schnapps for tonight.
A short stop for espresso at an outdoor cafe and we headed back to Marckolsheim for schnapps and cheese. Because you must eat cheese after pork shoulder and potatoes, schnapps is the perfect disgestif. It was another good day.
