Chef Bruce, Badenweiler and Schloss Buergeln

Bruce wanted to cook for our friend in the building whose wife is in hospital. We suspect he doesn’t eat much after taking care of her so Bruce cooked a consumme from scratch and added vegetable in separate packages called “his soup” so he could add what he wants. 

Bruce feels good cooking again and we went to the Munsterplatz market to buy the freshest veggie, to the Rewie downtown to get the rest. The flat smells wonderful! Next on the menu was Borscht. In case you didn’t know Borscht is made up of broth, carrot, beet, parsnip, turnip, herbs, onion, as the main ingredients, we added sausage and lots of lemon juice. It takes a while for the flavours to meld together but when they do it is very flavourful meal.  Now we have enough to feed almost an army! When Bruce cooks it keeps the dishwasher running but he is good about cleaning up after himself and I am Sous Chef. 

Very stormy one night with lashing rain carried by howling wind and lightening. I read it hit all South Germany. Need to buy a flashlight but have candles. I worry about Lexi and candles, don’t want her tail going up in flames, unlikely, but then, I’m a worry wart. 

We took a day trip with Christoph to Badenweiler in the Black Forest. Badenweiler is a smaller version of Baden Baden, think spas and health treatments. He took the scenic route so travel through many small towns, some of which we’d seen before, others not, but always a pleasure. Grapes have been harvested and the vines are turning gold and red.

We started the tour at the Roman spa ruins which are impressive! Read about them here if you wish http://www.badruine-badenweiler.de/en/


What is most unique is the modern, curved glass roof spanning the ruins. It is open to the air at the bottom but keeps rain off. There are several interpretive areas for guides with groups, a video explanation. It is well set up for groups and even weddings!

Interior, still in pretty good shape due to the dome.

Saw this "fellow" atop a parking meter. Don't know why it's there but I liked it. There is a lot of sculpture dotted around the town.

I think he's laughing at people having to pay for parking.

I don't know what this is but liked the curves

Had lunch at a hotel restaurant Christoph had been to before, but had sat outside. Inside is a very grandiose dining room, linen napkins, very elegant and empty of patrons.  http://www.hotel-roemerbad.de/en/

Surprisingly they served Thai food along with typical German. We all ordered Thai and it was really tasty. Bruce had a veg on his plate that was about the size of a small thumb, oval, striped like a watermelon – huh? So he asked, it’s a green tomato, certainly we haven’t seen that kind before, ever! 

Then we drove to Schloss Buergeln. 

Deer on top of the spire and very ornate clock.

It’s at the top of a long hill so there are panoramic views of the Vosge Mountains, Basel, Mulhouse and the Black Forest, hazy so I didn’t take a picture. I’d looked it up prior to going, here’s a website, so you can see it’s relatively modern. http://www.schlossbuergeln.de 

It was closed that day, rose gardens in back are pruned except for the designal hedging. Beautiful spot, would be crowded in summer, but worth another look. Stopped in Staufen for a coffee at Drecker’s where they specialize in chocolate and cake, I even had a piece, unusual for me. We had a nice day touring the countryside again. 

Downtown Freiburg to go to a travel agent for our flight tickets to Sevilla and I saw a Boston Terrier puppy with a large bull dog. I tried for a picture but wasn’t fast enough to get a good one. It looked up at me with it’s beady looking eyes (they always are on Bostons), tongue half out, just melted me! 

This picture is of the tower over the main water station that controls the water through the bachle (those mini-streams) that run around the streets of Freiburg. Saw it as we were taking the ring bus around while the construction is happening to the tram lines downtown. Construction is finished and tomorrow the 27th they'll be open again. Hasn't been too  inconvenient really, but glad to have the trams going through again.

Yes, Bruce is still cooking but our friend politely said “enough already” so the freezer is filling up and we keep running out of container boxes. Not a bad problem to have!

All for now, cheers, Bx2 & Lexi Cat