Poor Cows?!

Quite a weekend.
Saturday morning we woke up bright and early and hit the road. Since Switzerland is so close, for this weekend trip we took the car, rather than taking a train.
We entered Switzerland and bought our sticker for driving on the road. The road tolls are very expensive (supposedly... though we never actually came upon one) but if you buy a sticker, you pass through the tolls without paying. According to everything my parents had looked at before we left, this was best way to go. Only now does it seem ridiculous to have paid $40 for a sticker we never used. Oh well!
The plan for Saturday was to drive to Mount Pilatus, and take either a cogwheel railway or a cable-car to the top of the peak. However, once we got to the ticket booth, and discovered it cost $65 a person, we scratched that plan. Hiking to the top was also out... due to the fact it would take 4 hours. So, from there we moved on to our next adventure.
My dad had mapped out a driving loop that would take us to the Swiss Alps. There was only one problem with this plan... the "driving" part. Not on my dad's end, he has done a phenomenal job of navigating the insane traffic in Europe. No, the problem came from my end. Something about the swaying of a car, and the scenery passing by quickly just lulls me right to sleep. Especially when I'm only running on 1 1/2 rounds of REM sleep. So, pretty much any time I say "we drove..." it generally means I passed out in the car.

But I was awake for a bit of the Alps at least! Which were gorgeous. It was amazing to go from village to village tucked in the footfalls of these massive mountains. It had been a slightly hazy day, so we could fully see to the top of the peaks, but we got the gist of how high those suckers go!
The neatest part to see was the random spattering of houses up the side of the mountains! It was remarkable that they didn't just slip right off the side. There were also cows grazing in pastures everywhere you looked! My mom made a comment at one point, saying, "Those poor cows! They have to stand on a hill all day! That has to be really hard!" At which my dad responded with, "Poor cows?! Look at their view! These are the luckiest cows!" And through the whole conversation I couldn't help thinking... you two are talking about a bunch of animals that are being raised to slaughter and then eaten, how lovely to give them emotions now, and not think twice about them when they are sitting between two hamburger buns. But, hey, that's just my vegetarian side showing.

After awhile of car traveling, it was time for some food. But the problem was that we were going from tiny village to tiny village, places that really don't have restaurants. We did find a cute country restaurant to eat at though.
After that, we moved on and stopped in a small shopping village. So we got out and wandered around, looking in some shops. After that, it was time to start heading to Basel to check in to our hotel for the night.

This turned into quite an adventure. We found the way to our hotel just fine... at least we found our way to the street our hotel was on just fine. Getting to the hotel was an issue. There was a festival going on, and because of it, the road was blocked off. In the end, we parked in the city parking and walked to our hotel. The man at reception told us that that was good, because he would have told us to park there anyways!
So we got all checked in, and then wandered down to the festival. There was live music in the center, and food booths set up all around it.
Now, in case you were unaware, in Switzerland... they don't speak French, or even German, they speak Swiss. So neither I nor my dad could understand anything. Granted, Swiss is a bit of a mix, and together we could understand a few things here and there, but it was very disorienting to not understand anything.
But we were able to find something for dinner just fine. I got a crêpe with chocolate (yummy) and my dad got a typical german/swiss sausage meal. It's essentially a very large bratwurst, and they give you a slice of bread, or sometimes a roll to eat with it.
Then it was time for bed, so we went back to the hotel room. Did I mention that the hotel only had one room available... and it only had one bed? Luckily, it was a large bed, so the three of us fit comfortably.  At least until my dad's snoring started...

Sunday we got up and enjoyed a wonderful breakfast in the hotel dining area. Then we set out for the Rhine Falls. This was really cool. It is the largest waterfall in Europe! Although... to those familiar with Niagara Falls, it can't compare. It is actually more along the lines of really intense rapids. But cool just the same. You can actually walk out onto a platform, and part of the rapids is rushing right underneath you. Kinda freaky to put all your trust in a single pole that is slowly being worn away from the powerful water 24/7...

After this, we drove to Zurich and visited Lake Promenade. Which is a really neat area around a lake with grassy areas and benches and things. There were tons of people milling about, having a relaxing Sunday afternoon in the beautiful weather.
My parents got lunch, my dad getting a bratwurst again, and my mom getting really delicious potato salad, with french fries on the side. I got a really yummy pretzel.
Then we decided to drive back to the Alps, to see them one last time. After that, it was time to head back home. Not of course, without stopping somewhere to attempt to find an open restaurant before 7:00 (19:00) on a sunday... ummm... hello mom and dad! What are you not understanding about restaurants not doing this? Someday they will remember that we are not in Kansas U.S. anymore.
And for those of you wondering whether Grandma Wonka ever got Swiss chocolate... have no fear. It was a very close call, but on our way out, she ran into a gas station and grabbed a pill of bars. Probably not the proper way to have gone about it, but when do the Zillmer's do anything properly?

While we were sitting, having lunch on Saturday, a bunch of people with a herd of cows, all dressed up fancy came down the street! It was quite a sight. Notice the giant cowbells around their necks? This was when I said, "Poor cows."

This was the first car of a wedding parade that went by while we were wandering through the small village on Saturday. There was probably a dozen cars (the rest were normal, this one decorated for the newlyweds), and they all threw candy out the windows!

The sun setting on the Alps (at least the baby alps) as we drove home Sunday night

Checklist

Well, today mom and I did much better on our checklist.

1. She got up and out early enough to the post office to mail her cards
2. We got the tickets all straightened out!
3. Got a notebook for wedding notes
4. Found 2 cute cards to mail to Carter (only mailed one)

Before we checked off our list, we went to check out a market that goes on during Fridays. It was really neat. Although, the boucherie shops were super gross. They had skinned rabbits. Eeeeeeewwww... But we each found awesome scarves for 5€! Then we wandered around, trying to check off our list. We finally got everything taken care of, and then we headed home. Now it's time to pack for our weekend trip to Switzerland!

The Cat's Outta the Bag!

Well, I can now officially talk about the new developments in wedding plans! Thank you John for finally telling your mom! : )
So far, I have the place. It's perfect, and beautiful, and EVERYTHING I could ever have asked for, but never thought would ever be possible. You know those dreams you have that you think, "Well that'd be great and all, but no way..." Well, one of those came true for me when mom gave the go ahead for the place I'd been ogling over for two days. We just have to tour it in December when I get home, and then schedule the date. As of right now, they have November 5th open for the area that I want to use. So fingers crossed!!

Taylor Zillmer's dream wedding venue

To say in the least, a major relief (as well as giddiness) came along with finding the perfect place. When I had first stumbled across Castle Farms, it was the very first place I had looked at. No other place could compare for me after this. Especially since C.F. seems so flexible. Whereas all the other places are like, "This is what we do, this is how you will do it, and yes we do all the food." I felt like "wait...I thought I was the one getting married..." But with C.F. it truly feels like they want it to be your day.
I was getting very frustrated trying to find a place that had a garden (or at least pictures of it!), would be willing to be flexible with food (since I'm so darn picky), and would allow us to do the alcohol/beverage thing on our own. It seemed too silly for a place to limit us to their alcohol when basically John's whole family is in the beverage business.
So, after I found the place, and got an ok, and got a tour scheduled, I felt soooooooo much better. I also looked around at bridesmaids dresses, so I have a pretty solid idea on that front. I think I'm going to give my four bridesmaids a choice between three or four dresses.
The second spot I found myself in for wedding planning was colors. I had originally had an idea... but then I changed my mind. After mulling around a few other ideas (pink and purple being colors automatically ruled out), I think I've finally landed on two colors inspired from a peacock feather.

The very middle of the feather has a hidden blue that only comes out when light hits it at the right angle. This is a deep, midnight blue that also has a brightness quality to it that I love. The other color is the bright green around the very edges. With these colors we would have black and white accents.



I have always had a thing for peacock feathers, and when I stumbled upon one, it seemed ridiculous I hadn't instantly thought about it. Now I just have to merge peacock feathers and flowers without looking completely ridiculous! Piece of cake.
And speaking of cake, I'm pretty sure I know how I want that too look as well... and I definitely can't wait to go tasting for flavors!

I just keep thinking...I'm planning a wedding, while living in France for three months. Does life really get any better? Of course, it would be better if John was here to plan the wedding with me in person, rather than over Skype, and also to share the experience of France with Laura and Allison who are just as obsessed with France as much as I am... but hey, you can't have EVERYTHING in life, right? ; )

Which reminds me, today in France mom and I went to downtown Strasbourg to get some things taken care of. Our checklist for the day...

1. Stop at the post office to get stamps and such for mailing a few cards, one of which being a birthday card to my Aunt Kay
2. Get tickets for traveling to the south of France taken care of
3. Get a packet of 30 tram/bus tickets for mom and I going to and from Strasbourg on our day trips
4. Get me a notebook to keep all the wedding planning stuff organized in (rather than a random notebook we bought from the super-marché for our grocery lists)
5. Find a cute card to mail to Carter
6. Find something adorable for Kenadee for a Christmas gift

Things actually accomplished...

1. Stop at post office to find it open only from 9 to 12...
2. Got reservations for our trip to the South... only to discover we screwed the whole thing up and would have to go back sometime to fix it
3. Got a packet of 30 tram/bus tickets (our first success!!)
4. Went into three shops to find a notebook... no success
5. Browsed cute cards to mail to Carter...no purchases
6. Found something adorable for Kenadee for a Christmas gift... have to go back to actually buy it

All in all not a total failure of a day. Although we do have to go back tomorrow and do most of it all over again. 

CLASSIFIED

Today was a lazy day at the house...but was a VERY good one. For undisclosed reasons that I will (hopefully) be able to post very soon!!!

4.3 km + 3 hours of walking + zero shops = my first blister

Before I tell you about my day, let me clarify something. For those of you who are under the impression that I inherited my mother's insane enjoyment from running, hiking, or walking, a correction needs to be made. I most certainly did NOT inherit this trait. So, now that we are all on the same page...

We had asked our landlord yesterday if he could leave the bikes out for us to borrow for the day (biking I'm totally cool with). My mom wanted to ride into either Wolfisheim or Lingolsheim to wander around the town, see if there are any shops.

So we got up this morning and got ready to go. We went out to the bikes, patiently waiting for us in the little courtyard. As we were getting situated, my mom noticed a flat tire on the bike I had planned to ride. Well...I guess we aren't going by bike. 

Mom thought it would be a brilliant idea to walk to one of the little towns. She suggested we walk, and then we can take the bus back. I was alright with this plan. But it meant we had to go to Lingolsheim, since that is the only connecting bus route. Off we went.

On our way out of town, my mom got a little confused, and ended up taking us in the direction of Wolfisheim (from now on... only I give directions on our day trips). 

She said we could just have dad pick us up  on his way home from work since he drives through the town anyways (the fact that we wouldn't be getting out of work for 3 more hours didn't seem to register...).

To make a very long, and very painful story short (in which I  would have to tell about the dangerous way we walked along a road with no pedestrian walking area, and very narrow lanes for the cars)... the only thing I acquired from today (other than extraordinarily sore feet and dehydration) is a fat, festering blister on the back of my left heel. Oh goody. Good thing tomorrow is a lazy day at the house!

from pop tabs to corks

Interesting tidbit learned today:
Mom and I took our recycling to the little community recycling area just off the main road into our town on our way to the grocery store, and we didn't see a box for cans. So we kept the cans and went to the grocery store. When we go into the entrance, we notice a few boxes for recycling so we went over and looked. They had batteries, metallic things (like the metallic part of a lightbulb), caps to plastic bottles, and corks from wine bottles!

They may not recycle pop cans, but they do recycle their corks!

La Route du Vin

Yesterday was another adventurous day. We went driving down La Route du Vin (The road of wine). It was very beautiful. As you drive along this road, you have vineyards stretching for miles on both sides of you, spotted with little villages.
Our first stop was Riquewhir. It's an ancient walled village, built in the 13th century! It was really neat. They have a large tower at the entrance to the town, that has the original beams and chains used for the draw bridge. Although there's no longer a moat around the town, instead there's not a road. But it was still cool to see the old planks and chains hanging there. You could almost imagine them in action back in the 12oo's.
In Riquewhir, we wandered through really cute shops, ate amazing macaroons, and my mom and I got a bretzel (pretzel). Hers was just a regular one, and mine was a beignet (it was more like a donut than a pretzel).
Then we road the Petit Train Touristique, which is a small touristy train (oh wheels) that takes you through the village, then up into the vineyards, and stops so that you have an amazing view of the small town, surrounded by vineyards, and all the little towns in the distance. It was quite beautiful.
Next we went back to La Route du Vin and followed it to Haut-Koenigsbourg which is a château (castle) up in the Vosges Montagnes. Here's a little information...

Towering at almost 800 meters, Haut-Koenigsbourg boasts an exceptional panoramic view. From the Grand Bastion, you can see the Alsace plain, the Vosges, the Black Forest, and on a clear day, the Alps.

Built in the 12th century, the castle bore witness to eight centuries of European conflicts and rivalries between feudal lords, kinds and emperors. 

There's your history lesson for the day!
We didn't go into the castle and tour it, because we ended up walking half way up the mountain to get to it (this is an exaggeration... but just a small one). So we enjoyed the view for a bit, wandered around the outside, and then headed back to the car.
We went back to La Route du Vin, and started to look for some food. We hadn't had an actual lunch, but it was quite early for dinner time. So we figured that we would just get a late lunch, early dinner. However...I had completely forgotton that it was Sunday. For those of you who don't know... Sunday everything is closed.
So we stopped in a village, but all the restaurants were closed. This was when I told my parents we wouldn't be able to find anything because it was Sunday. But they suggested we go to a bigger town that is more touristy. So we drove there, still nothing was open. By this time, I had walked much too much for the amount of sleep I had gotten and the amount of food I had eaten. All I wanted to do was get in the car, drive home, and sleep the whole way. But my parents, not listening to me saying nothing is going to be open decided to drag me all over these towns, wandering aimlessly looking for an open restaurant.
FINALLY, they saw reason, and decided to head home.
Along the way, we saw a winery called Hubert Blumstein. They had a tasting room, and my mom told my dad to stop. Keep in mind that she has barely any food in her stomach, and she wants to stop to taste wine for the second time that day. But, we all got out and went up to the front door. But it won't open. There's a sign directing us around the side. So we follow it and are suddenly we are looking at a festival.
We still don't really know what was happening, but we got tartes flambees, ice tea for me and wine for my parents, picnic-country style. After we ate my parents tasted some wines from the winery. The guy that was serving them was super cool, and spoke very good english. He walked them through the tasting, making sure they drank the wines in order from dry to sweet, whites first and then reds.
100 km, 20,000 steps, 3 postcards, and 4 bottles of wine later, we arrived home... exhausted.

The second "look out" tower in Riquewhir this is basically their "symbol" for town. Like the Tour Eiffel for Paris

The entrance to the walled city. Here you can see the beams and chains that were used for the draw bridge

Sitting on the little train, waiting to go up to the vineyard. Notice the macaroon in my hand and my pouffy cheeks  : )  yummy

The view from our spot in the vineyards from the train

Notice the vineyards just stretching on...

Looking  up the Vosges 

The view from Haut-Koenigsbourg... you can actually see where the vineyards stop

Haut-Koenigsbourg

Haut-Koenigsbourg