Vacation In The Alps: Day One – De-Stress

I can’t even tell you how excited I am about sharing our vacation with you people! I’m so ridiculous, I even made notes everyday of everything we did so I wouldn’t forget and you wouldn’t miss out on ANY detail! So let me get right down to it! I’ve decided I will spread it out over a few blogs that way I can post more pictures without boring you to pieces!

DAY ONE

We left the house around 11am and I felt pretty good that I had packed everything into the smallest suitcase ever made. Of course Toblerone would find the reasonable sized suitcase and pack all his crap in there before I could get started. So, after all that was finished, I decided to clean the house so it would be perfect and spotless to come home to. Which included vacuuming and mopping the floors, 3 loads of laundry, dusting, dishes, changing sheets, and cleaning the toilets (FUN!). As we left though I felt a bit of a clam rush over me. After the months of stress during his surgery and illness and finally being able to get away from the house and just de-stress, it was more than welcomed!

Equipped with road beers, wine, and my iBooks on my phone I was ready to start the 2.5 hour drive to the Alps. A beautiful drive at that! Completely through the country-side, avoiding the Autobahn. (THANK YOU BABY JESUS!!!!) The weather was a kicker too. Prior to this, it was primarily cold and rainy – The entire summer thus far. All the sudden as we start out on our trip the sun comes out! Couldn’t have been better timing. I was whiter than necessary and starting to scare the children in our neighborhood. Anywho, as I said, the drive was great and I couldn’t tell if it was the wine that was making me so excited or not but that’s neither here nor there!

We arrive to our hotel which is surrounded by the breath-taking views of the Alps. For those of you who have been living under a rock, the Alps are incredible. Mountains upon mountains but more so I’ve learned it’s not the mountains that are so amazing, but the little villages that are in between all of them.

Our hotel was set back behind a small cow farm and behind a little creek. There were people walking everywhere and the sun was shining down hard on us to welcome us with GIANT open arms to a world of relaxation! Hotel Sonnenbichl was the name – which means Sun something or another. There isn’t really a translation for the second word there. We were greeted by a girl in the typical Dirndl and she was nice as pie, showing us to our room. As we arrived in our room I was surprised to see our bed made up like the honeymoon suite!  Rose petals everywhere and the blankets in the shape of a heart. Adorable! Could it get better? Oh hell yeah it could!

The bed would recline to my fancy! Toblerone could sleep flat as a board and I could have my feet and head lifted slightly. Perfect. Let’s also not leave out that they had many different other types of pillows that we could choose from if we didn’t like the standard one in the room. HELLOOOOO service!

I turned my head and there was our balcony, past our “living room” area and it was incredible. The Alps staring at me right in the face as if to sing, “YODEL-WELCOME-HOO!” I had to stop and take a moment. Sometimes I forget that outside of my little world is a much larger world. A beautiful one and I need to slow down and cherish it. In that moment I reminded myself that while I was homesick and sad most of the time, I’m so incredibly lucky that I get to see all of this. Some day that sadness will get easier, I hope, or manageable at best but I will have captured all these other beautiful memories. I wouldn’t replace it for all the money in the world!

I quickly got over the mushy moment when my stomach started to yell at me. LUNCH TIME, Bitches!!  The Hotel Sonnenbichl is completely stocked with a 5 star restaurant which I was very excited to try out. (No worries, I took a picture of our 4 course meals to share each night!!) Our breakfast and dinners were included in the overall price anyways so I course I would be taking advantage of that! We decided to sit out in the sun and enjoy the sunshine for a bit since it had been missing out of our lives for much too long!

Of course we ordered beer and, my favorite, käsespätzle (cheese noodles!) This particular kind however was different than how I make and love it. It was made with mountain cheese called, “Berg käse” which is seriously stinky stuff. Kind of smells like feet and puke together. Delish. Somehow though, it’s actually really tasty with a good red wine. Melted and mixed with noodles, I found, was NOT my favorite thing. It was mushy and just didn’t sit right with me. So, needless to say I stayed FAR away from that nonsense for the rest of the vacay!

After eating we decided to take a tour of the place. This particular hotel is also known for it’s rehabilitation services as well. They offer services for people that were just in the hospital or need rehab for injuries. They have a whole spa place with all sorts of crazy things I had never heard of! We wanted to go look at the spa area so as we walk up and around to the back of the building, there in all it’s glory was a naked man. Just chillin. He was laying out in the sun with absolutely NOTHING on his body. Mr. Willy was hanging out tanning as well. WHAT ON EARTH?! Let’s note that directly across from this area was the children’s play area. HA! Oh strange folk here. I swear!

The sauna looks like a tree house which was pretty cool. There was a typical sauna – two floors! – and a steam room with hay all over the floor. Special place where you could take a hay bath. Strange! Oh and the story gets better. As we are checking these places out a man walks out of the steam room…Mr. Willy wagging around as he hops in the shower. He greats us with the typical greeting,”Grüß Gott.” Literally means, Greetings from God. How on earth do you send greetings from God when you’re naked and your manhood is staring me in the face. Like waving at me and mocking my prude nature. GAH!

Moving along, QUICKLY, I decided I needed a nap to recover from the naked sightings and Toblerone decided he wanted to join the mass in their naked ways at the sauna. By all means…go right ahead!!

Dinner time came along and I was excited to check out what they had. Germans know how to cook and it’s fun for me to try out the new stuff, no matter how much I miss Kraft macaroni and cheese, peanut butter, or pumpkin pie.

We arrived at our reserved table and there I sat staring at 800 forks! I ordered my usual – Amaretto with Apple Juice and headed to the Salad bar. I think I’ve explained this before but the salad bars here are not what we’re all used to in the states. Here, it’s many different types of salads. Most with a vinegar base. At first I didn’t think I could handle eating carrots in vinegar or cucumbers in vinegar. Now, I don’t think I would like the basic salads back home. Let’s EAT!

The Salad Bar:  

And My Selection: 

Noodles with balsamic sauce, ham, deviled egg, and rosemary bread: 

Sauerkraut Soup with Bacon. (AHHH!! BACON!!!): 

Chicken Cordon Bleu filled with gorgonzola cheese, ham, and eggplant: 

Mango Ice-cream with watermelon-mint salad and dipping sauces- strawberry and apricot:

Brilliant stuff! The dessert was my favorite part. A burst of flavor that kicked me straight to heaven! Jealous yet? Piano music played overhead which made me miss my family the most. “Dream a Little Dream” and “Somewhere Over the Rainbow” pulled at my heartstrings and with an overfilled belly, I was ready to go for a little walk!

We wanted to take a drive and see what we could see. We stopped at a church that had an outside concert of the areas big band. Picture the oompa-oompa music! And then of course we see signs like this – graphic much? I think we get the point, no? It looked like Harley – I couldn’t resist!

We headed into the town called Oberstdorf and upon arrival it felt like magic was in the air. I sound so cheesy but seriously, this town was incredible. Shopping, restaurants, lights, street vendors, everything. There in the background was the haunting silhouette of the Alps.

Like a carnival town with out all the freaks. Wait, I lied. There was a guy walking his black cat around on a leash. Strange happenings. We grabbed a few drinks and sat outside. Day 1 was a success and I was excited to see how Day 2 would turn out!

Mission De-Stress: Accomplished!

Stay tuned for the next few days of the trip! Lots to show you, lots to tell! I’m still dreaming of this place and can’t wait to take my family and friends who arrive. THIS is the place to go! So much to do and see whether it be winter or summer! 

Until next time, Readers!!! xoxoxoxoxo