Castles, Cakes, and Crudites: Overwhelming Alsatian Hospitality

We gained happy pounds from our four days in France with Bill's incredibly hospitable extended family. Bill's grandma (his dad's mom, Caroline) lineage was from Griesbach, France, even though she was born in Philadelphia she maintained a close relationship with her family and friends back in France. Griesbach, population ~400, is in the Alsace region of France, which has a wild history of being tossed back and forth between Germany and France multiple times. As a result, the folks of Alsace have a charming mix of French and German customs, and speak Alsatian, which is just as you might expect, a confusing mix of French and German. The countryside is incredibly green and everything grows beautifully there. 

French hydrangeas

Bill speaks decent French, and I speak a little German, so between the two of us, we could understand about 50% of what was going on.  Some of the family members speak some English as well, which was very helpful.  

Caroline's best friend, Berthe, lived to be 94 and had six wonderful daughters (currently between the ages of 62 and 80), who made it their mission to feed us and spoil us like you wouldn't believe. All of the sisters still live in or close to Griesbach and see each other almost every day. One sister cooks lunch, the biggest meal of the day, for the other sisters and any other family members who may be around, and then the next day the cooking assignment rotates to another sister. That way, you don't have to cook every day and you get to see everyone. Pretty much everything at these lunches came straight from their gardens, and all the cakes were homemade and wonderful. After all, these are French people with high standards for food and let me tell you, it was all so delicious!

A gluten free walnut cake they made for us. Yum!

And another homemade cake, just because. 

Homemade cream puffs

We stayed with sister #2, Marthe, and her son Yves, who spoke excellent English. Since Yves is a professor in Strasbourg, and is off for the summer, he took us on several day trips around the Alsace area. These included visiting the Grand Wintersberg Tower, which had an incredible view of the surrounding lush green countryside; visiting the charming village of Wissembourg; and touring the Château du Haut-Kœnigsbourg, a restored castle from the Middle Ages. We also visited Strasbourg a couple times. More on that later.

Bill's grandma and Yves' grandma were best friends

Grand Wintersberg Tower

Wissembourg

Part of the Koenigsbourg castle, which had an amazing view of the countryside. 

With Yves and Marthe at the Koenigsbourg castle

The Griesbach church is shared by the local Protestants (early service) and Catholics (later service). It is undergoing renovations (it's several hundred years old), so everyone is currently going to church in a neighboring village of Gundershoffen. We tagged along, and heard hymns and readings in both German and French, of course. The entire family gathered for a huge lunch afterward in the same house that Berthe and her six daughters grew up in, which is essentially a mini-farm (one cow, 25 chickens, and oodles of veggies). As usual, we were overwhelmed by everyone's hospitality.

The Griesbach church, which is currently being renovated inside.

Everyone together for Sunday lunch. 

Alsace is known for its sweet white wines, and Yves and Marthe took us wine tasting at an award winning winery from whom they always get their white wine. Folks drink wine at pretty much every lunch, the bigger meal of the day.

Award winning white wines

Strasbourg has charming old houses and buildings, a magnificent cathedral, which was the tallest in the world from 1647 to 1874, and the most university students in France, outside of Paris. We did a tour of the river by boat. We also got to see a special light show projected on the side of the cathedral at night. It was so creative. For example, at one point, the cathedral appeared to be under water, with fish swimming in and around it, and at another point, it appeared to be part of a huge clock mechanism, with each part moving just slightly like the inner workings of a watch. It was truly spectacular.

Light show at the Strasbourg cathedral

Light show at the Strasbourg cathedral

One final note from our last when Yves and Marthe took us to the Stuttgart airport so we could leave town. On our way, we decided to stop in the little town in the suburbs to take a walk down memory lane with Marthe. During WWII, Berthe, her husband, and her three oldest daughters, who were very young at the time (Bette, Marthe, and Erna), moved to Stuttgart for about six months because Griesbach wasn't safe for them. Marthe showed us the house they stayed in during that time, and she could remember the town's castle up on the hill. She hadn't been back there since the war. It was pretty neat to explore her old memories with her. 

So, all in all, we had a lovely four days in Alsace, and loved getting to meet and see extended family members who treated us like royalty. 

Next up, Berlin. Ich bin ein Berliner!

7/30/16, Correction, I initially had written that my grandmother was born in France, not so, she was born in Philadelphia and learned to speak Alsatian from her parents.

Naples, Sorrento, the Amalfi Coast and crashing a rental car...

Greetings, our journey has taken us further south to see something that I (Bill) have heard about since I was a child: the ruins left behind by the volcanic destruction of Mt. Vesuvius. What was a great loss of life in 79 AD led to the best place to get a first hand glimpse into how the Romans lived 2000 years ago.

Naples was our home base for checking out Herculaneum, Pompeii, and Mt. Vesuvius. Naples is a 1-3 hr train ride Rome depending on how much you want to pay... I'll let you guess what we did.

For some reason the train station in Naples has these giant snails, seems apropos 

Narrow streets in Naples make for interesting parking

Awesome Castle just up the street from our place in Naples

Some pretty fantastic coffee, and I don't even drink coffee!

Anyway, Naples is pretty much perfect for getting around to see the Vesuvius related sites. There are regular and inexpensive trains that get you to all the sites.

First up was Herculaneum, which was a wealthier community that had many large houses and for the most part was able to evacuate. Its the better preserved site because it was covered under so much more ash, around 60 feet! This additional ash curtailed early excavation attempts and allowed for more modern techniques to be used, yielding better preservation of the sites.

One of the straight roads, with sidewalks, for which the Romans are legendary 

Smaller streets, and higher sidewalks than we're used to... pretty much a product of their mode of transport, narrower streets work with the carriages and mules of the day and then you need higher sidewalks to keep the byproducts of the animals contained. While they claim that the streets were washed out daily one can only imagine how disgusting living in a town like that was. This is just one of many reasons I think we are fortunate to live in the age we do!

Kenzi pointing at the charred wood from 2000 years ago.

There is even charred wood in many places, that is wood from 2000 years ago! You have to walk down several long ramps to enter the site which offers a spectacular overview of what the town looked like.

Gratuitous selfie with the excavated town in the background, the new town behind it, and Mt. Vesuvius in the distance. Our apologies to the departed

Well preserved frescoes from 2000 years ago in Herculaneum

And the plaster cast of a child that didn't make it out of Pompeii

We also checked out Pompeii, the more famous and extensively excavated site. The size is impressive, so much area and volume to dig out.

In order to keep your boots out of the muck they have stepping stones to cross the street, but still allow the wagon wheels to pass through

In both of these towns the vast majority of people took heed to the days of rumblings leading up to the eruption and left. Around 2000 of the 20,000 people of Pompeii perished and around 300 skeletons were found in Herculaneum in what amounted to boathouses that were once right next to the ocean.

What is left of the ones who weren't so lucky at Herculaneum

After seeing the destruction we had to go pay homage to that which wrought the destruction: Mt. Vesuvius. This involves a bus ride up a winding mountain road, then a short hike on loose volcanic gravel. Easy going for such a spectacular view.

Vesuvius's crater, looking into the belly of the beast!

Spectacular view from Vesuvius looking out on the Gulf of Naples

After taking in Vesuvius and it's legacy we rented a car and headed further south to the Sorrento Peninsula, a rugged bit of land jutting out to divide the Gulf of Naples and the Gulf of Salerno. Driving in Italy is a bit legendary to me, in the past when I've rented cars in Europe they usually let you know you can drive anywhere you want... except for Italy... More on that later... but for now, here is a taste of what driving there looks like:

We scored an excellent AirBnB on a farm overlooking the Mediterranean:

And as if that wasn't amazing enough, the nice lady hosting us picked tomatoes and basil from her garden and our dinner the first night was a caprese salad:

Caprese courtesy of our host

She also threw in three lemons and a bottle of limoncello she made from her own lemons. These people are legit!

The goal in heading south was to go on a hike called the Sentiero degli Dei or the Path of the Gods. Its between two very small towns and was at one time was the means of getting between those town by mule. It offers unbelievable views and pretty easy going. We parked at one end and hiked it both ways.

Walking along the path of the gods

Fun pano shot on the path

So a mere 100 feet from our rental return location I manged to nearly kill a motorcyclist. He was well enough to leave and we were both fine. Backed up in traffic, had to make a left... The motorcyclist passed me on the left and hit me just after I started the turn. He said I didn't signal and then later admitted that I did signal, he probably shouldn't have been passing me as fast as he did. Thankfully he wasn't hurt, the car was a bit damaged and he left shortly after it happened. Hertz appears to force you to accept the collision damage insurance in Italy so I'm not liable for much and then credit card insurance should pick up the rest. A substantial reminder to me that I need to be careful when driving abroad.

Crinkled car, intact bodies, that's what insurance is for

Renaissance in Rome

Following about 1000 years of "darkness", art and architecture were revived again in Italy. Thank goodness for that Renaissance! The action took place from ~1300-1600).              

It feels to me (Kenzi) that as a result of that Renaissance, scale is off in Rome. Buildings appear small and close to you, when in fact, they are huge and distant. For example, do you see the small children in this picture?

See the little kids?
Second row up, second window from the right

After I saw them, I realized how huge those windows were, and therefore how huge that building was. This happened repeatedly during our time in Rome.

We visited the Vatican Museums. Goodness gracious, there's a lot there! Highlights: Nero's massive purple marble (porphyry) tub from Egypt, the hall of maps, Raphael's School of Athens painting (my personal favorite), the Laocoon sculpture, and the Sistine Chapel (they don't allow pictures in there, but wow!).

Nero's marble tub from Egypt

Hall of Maps

School of Athens, by Raphael

Laocoon

Just next to the Vatican Museums is St. Peter's Basilica, designed by Michelangelo and others, and is one of the largest churches in the world. It was started in 1506 and took 120 years to build. This building is another example of how things are so large that they appear closer to you than they really are (this was done on purpose by those smarty pants Renaissance folks). St. Peter's tomb is below the alter, and several popes have been interred there. It's a massive building, really impossible to describe.

St. Peter's Basilica alter with Bernini's baldacchino

St. Peter's Basilica dome

Michaelangelo's Pieta, behind bulletproof glass now, 
due to a crazed person who tried to destroy it in 1972

Also, we saw the Pope!! St. Peter's Square is the gigantic plaza in front of the Basilica, where we saw the Pope speak from his window on Sunday. He speaks to everyone from the 2nd window from the right. The first window on the far right is his bedroom. I said to Bill when we walked up that it seemed kind of small and I was hoping they didn't have him crammed into a little closet. Then, when he appeared at the 2nd window and was so tiny, I realized that the scale of buildings here had confused me once again. We didn't understand a word he said, but it was still cool to see and hear him (in spite of the sweltering heat!).

Pope Francis is the tiny speck just above my head

Panorama of St. Peter's Square

We climbed to the top of the dome of the St. Peter's Basilica, where you have great views of the city and can peek down into Vatican City as well. We think we figured out the building where the previous Pope, Benedict, is hanging out post-retirement. Vatican City seems like a very quaint respite in the middle of a bustling city.

Vatican City from the top of the St. Peter's dome

Just a "little" tile mosaic that was repeated probably twenty times around the St. Peter's dome

We've also seen multiple times the massive monument Alter of the Fatherland, aka National Monument of Vittorio Emanuele II, first king of unified Italy, built in 1925. It also honors the 1st World War soldiers. Apparently, the locals think it's obnoxious in its size, color, and placement, which may be true, but it is indeed magnificent.

The Trevi fountain is from the 1700s.  It is really nice to see at night, especially while eating gelato, and most especially after sweating in the heat all day. The Spanish Steps are currently being restored, so we don't have any fabulous pictures of them.

Trevi Fountain

Thanks to the Romans for all the great Roman ruins still around today and all the artists of the Renaissance for beautiful buildings and art. Rome is rad!

Next up on our itinerary: Naples, Herculaneum, Pompeii, Sorrento, Amalfi Coast

Recommended reading if you ever go to Rome, or go back to Rome if you've already been there:
The Agony and the Ecstasy by Irving Stone
I, Claudius by Robert Graves

Mangiare!

Our fine friends in San Diego sent us off with cold hard cash and explicit instructions to promise to have a great meal on them and then document the splendor. Well, a promise made is a debt unpaid, and besides, we're not above bribery.

For those that don't know we're a colossal pain in the food department... Do not have us over for dinner! I'm (Bill) vegetarian, self-imposed and, in my opinion, self indulgent and Kenzi is gluten intolerant, which isn't her choice.

She's intolerant, like can't have the stuff or bad things happen, been DNA tested, and I've been a first hand observer of the reactions she has when she gets gluten. Even with all this, she still very apologetically says to wait staff "I'm gluten free" rather than "I'm gluten intolerant". The difference being that the former sounds like a choice and the latter a genuine health issue. Anyway, I digress.

On to the main event.

So, we really wanted to experience Italian food and that meant finding a place that would serve up the staples of the Italian diet with out the usual helping of gluten. This turned out to be easier than we expected; steering clear of gluten has been getting easier and in our experience, Europe is no exception. Kenzi did the research and we found a great place, Voglio di Pizza, which is inherently Italian, in fact what I though was just a plain cheese pizza, the Margherita, is actually a pizza with the colors of the Italian flag, white cheese, green basil, and red sauce. So now you know.

Cute Fridge in our Rome Airbnb

OK, before we get started, I figured I'd add that this is normally where our food comes from. In order to afford a year of traveling we have dined in or packed out every single meal since we arrived in Rome. This works well for us, neither of us are foodies, we can't tell whether or not the sous chef clarified the butter. However, we still like a good meal and appreciate our friends buying us one. I also wanted to show you how cute our fridge was, looking like it's out of the 50s right?

Our normal place of eating

And here is where we normally eat. Pretty nice, balcony right there, kitchen even has a miniature dishwasher.

Finally the dinner out big event: we kicked it off with bruschetta, bread slices with tomatoes, basil and a few other spices on top. Normally not an option for Kenzi but this restaurant takes good care of us, so here it is:

Bruschetta, bread, tomatoes and spices.

Bruschetta bread is usually toasted and piled high with tomato pieces. This makes for awkward eating but we managed, perhaps that managing was made easier by:

Monte Chianti!

The wine was great! They actually put the year on the bottle, and it's not the current year! You know it's got to be good! All kidding aside, it was the house wine and it was great.

Next up, primo or first course, traditionally a pasta and also a recommendation from a friend, Cacio e Pepe:

Near as I can tell this is spaghetti with pepper and cheese, and lots of creamy sauce. Again, this wouldn't normally be an option for Kenzi. Really yummy!

Pizza! With tons of toppings

Secondo, or second course, we went off the reservation a bit and got a pizza, a really stacked pizza, the Capricciosa Pizza, which included green olives, artichokes, mushrooms, and the coup'd gras, an egg! I'd seen the egg in France before, they call it the "royal" and usually they don't break the yolk so you get a bit of a messy yolk but in this case it appears as if they lightly scramble it before baking so it was pretty much cooked egg on top of the pizza and it was really yummy. Traditionally this pizza comes with prosciutto and sausage as well but as I mentioned, I'm a self indulgent vegetarian and so no meat on this pizza. For whatever reason the GF pizza in Italy, even the frozen pizza at the supermarket, is far superior to what we have in the US.

Ok, for now a little wine break. Lets talk about how the Italians ruled the known world 2000 years ago and how their attitude now appears to be that life is too short for dealing with such trivial things like managing the masses, instead they'll concentrate on all the good things in life: love, food, sexy cars, good lifestyle, gelato, and evidently cheese cake:

Finally, cheesecake

The final course of our wonderful dinner, gluten free cheesecake! Fantastic. Not too heavy or sweet, and probably more of a Greek invention than Italian but whatever, we're not in the business of taking sides, just taking the best from wherever and putting it together.

Even with splitting everything we got we were totally full when we rolled home happy and well fed. Thanks Heather, Tyler, Lindsay, Matt, Lisa, Jake, Beth, Justin, Kristi and Wyatt!

And the best news is that we have enough left over to get dine out again. My what great friends we have!

Buon appetito!