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Chasing lakes and waterfalls in Aus-cro-slo-aus… part six

Saturday, October 30, was the big day. It was also really cold and foggy that morning. Bill had purchased our tickets for the Plitvice Lakes National Park for 10:00am. We were allowed to enter the park only from 10:00 am until 11:00am. I think this system is to prevent huge crowds of people showing up at the same time. It’s probably better for the natural environment and everyone’s enjoyment if the crowds are staggered. Of course, COVID-19 also makes the crowd staggering important, as it prevents too many people mingling and creating a superspreader event.

The park’s Web site recommended dressing in layers. I was cold enough that I took that advice. I wore heavy wool socks, a hoodie jacket, and my big Irish wool coatigan (basically, a long cardigan that zips and stretches enough to cover my beer gut). After breakfast, we made our way to the park. I was a bit afraid that it would be foggy there, as it was at the house. But as we entered town, the fog lifted, and we had glorious sunshine. It was going to be a great day for a walk through the sixteen named lakes, several unnamed lakes, and waterfalls that make up Plitvice Lakes.

I took so many pictures over the six hours we were at the park. Bill and I ended up walking almost the entire park. We did Route C, which is the third longest. If we had done Route K, we would have been there until nightfall and I would have probably needed an intravenous line. As it was, I was exhausted by the end of our day, but I will never forget the incredible beauty of the lakes and falls, even if the crowds got a little bit annoying. Brace yourself for lots of photos!

This was our first view of the park at Entrance 1, after a pleasant walk from the wooded parking lot.

After about a half hour of walking, I knew that I was going to get too hot before long. I had been cold at the beginning of the day… but walking makes body heat. Plus, the sun was out in full force. We were very lucky, weather wise. I also got some videos of the waterfalls, which I will eventually turn into a YouTube video. Maybe I’ll get to it today. Maybe not.

Edited to add… here’s the video!

Phew… this was a trial to make on many levels!

As we were walking, jaws dropping at each new sight and the huge panorama of so many brilliant colors, I couldn’t help but realize that summer and late spring are probably madness at this park! But I’ll bet it’s so beautiful, too, since everything’s blooming and green. I’m sure this park is beautiful no matter what time of year it is. I think they do close part of it in the winter, though, which is smart, since there are a lot of slippery areas and the paths don’t usually have guardrails. I wonder how many people have fallen into the lakes, even though swimming there has been forbidden since 2006.

Wow… gonna have to make this one a cover somewhere…

It was at about this time that we found ourselves at one of the several rest stations. This was where toilets, souvenirs, and food were, as well as the boats to the other side of the park. I was ready for a rest, so we went into the restaurant, where sandwiches and french fries were available, as well as a dizzying and surprising array of drinks, many of which contained alcohol. We stuck with good old Croatian beer. It’s important to know that cash is not accepted at the park, so bring your credit card if you visit. Also, don’t buy anything at the souvenir shop if you’re just getting started, because you’ll have to cart it with you… I didn’t learn this the hard way, thank God.

It wasn’t terrible food, but I definitely was ready for something more at the end of the day.

This was taken from the pontoon boat that took us to the other side of the park. Everyone wore a mask. It was probably the only place they did, besides the shuttle bus.

I was already getting tired after the boat ride, which was one way and committed us to walk the rest of the park. Luckily, the sheer beauty of the park and the prospect of being stuck there if I collapsed kept me going. And they were some beautiful sights, even though I don’t walk as fast as I used to. Below is the last batch of photos from Saturday’s walk, which took about six hours and was over seven miles… Not bad for a fatass housewife, huh?

We caught the shuttle at the end. I was grateful I didn’t take the mysterious staircase that would have taken us on another two hour segment. Maybe I could have done it, but I was really exhausted at the end of the day. We got on the shuttle with other masked people… again, probably the only place I saw people in Croatia properly masking. I was pretty irritable, because I was hungry and very tired. But there were many people on the shuttle who had lots of energy… and they were speaking in so many different languages. We heard English, Spanish, Italian, Croatian, and God knows what else… and Bill and I were both reminded of a particularly obnoxious bus ride in Puerto Rico we experienced when we took our first SeaDream cruise and there was a crew of obnoxious Brazilians aboard who were driving the bartenders crazy by staying up all night and getting wasted. We were going to the Bioluminescent Lake in Vieques, which was really beautiful, but I was tired and hungry, and the seat we were sitting on was busted.

Well… the ride in Croatia wasn’t that bad. At least the seat on the bus wasn’t broken, like it was on the bus ride in Vieques, Puerto Rico. But I was definitely running out of juice, and patience, and my muscles were stiffening by the second… By the time we got off at the last bus stop, we had to walk another mile or so out of the park and to the parking lot. I had, by that time, shed my layers and was carrying my sweater and my hoodie.

Despite being exhausted and crabby at the end of our day, I am really glad we visited and walked so much. I’m glad I can still do it. And I’m glad I don’t have to do it again.

Stay tuned for part seven.

trip planning

Chasing lakes and waterfalls in Aus-cro-slo-aus… part one

So much natural beauty… almost all to ourselves…

I may live to regret titling this particular trip series as I have. At the moment, I’m having trouble coming up with a snappy name for my latest vacation blog series. It might be because my brain is still scrambled by the whirlwind of four countries Bill and I have traversed since October 26th. It could also be because the time has changed. Additionally, I’m still a bit peeved about today’s lunch, which I’ll probably bitch about on my other blog, since I like to keep the travel blog somewhat “PG-rated”.

People who regularly follow this blog may know that Bill and I finally took our 2021 vacation. It was not a small undertaking to plan this trip, or even decide where to go. Gone are the days when we could just choose a destination on a whim. These days, we have to pay attention to COVID-19 rules and regulations, which seem to change daily, as well as infection trends. I feel like I’m back at South Carolina’s Department of Health and Environmental Control, working for the Bureau of Epidemiology, where it was once my job to translate the results of chronic disease trend statistics into laymen’s terms. Thanks to my current career as an “overeducated housewife”, those days are long behind me… or, at least I don’t get paid to do them anymore.

As of about an hour ago, our vacation ended, as we walked into our house and I caught a whiff of the rotting avocado and mozzarella cheese in the refrigerator. At first, I was afraid someone forgot to flush the toilet before we left town! The dogs will be picked up in a couple of hours; hopefully, they are both fine. I sure have missed them… I really mean that, even though taking them with us on trips isn’t exactly easy to do, especially now that we have big Noyzi, and Arran has become a cranky old codger.

So how did I choose a trip to Austria, Croatia, and Slovenia, then back to Austria? At first, it wasn’t in the plans. Originally, I had been looking at going to The Netherlands. I kept getting enticing ads on Facebook, particularly for a very upscale looking property in Zeeland. I must admit that the prospect of enjoying some legal weed was also somewhat appealing. But then I started thinking about how much I’d like to go to France and Belgium, too. I started trying to design an itinerary that would allow us to get the most bang for our bucks and the time Bill got off from work. I kept getting bogged down in and frustrated by minutiae, as I realized that the places I wanted to go weren’t all that convenient to each other. Accommodations were also kind of pricey. And then, I had a sudden flashback to 2015, when our return to Europe was still new and exciting…

Several years ago, when COVID-19 was a mere nightmarish fantasy in the back of a mad scientist’s or Hollywood screenplay writer’s most warped mind, I saw an enticing video on YouTube made by a user who called herself heyannalise. She made entertaining clips about traveling in Europe. Back in May 2015, she made one about her visit to the Krka National Park in Croatia. I was enchanted by the scenery in her video, which I am sharing below…

No… this is not where we went. I tried to get us tickets to the Krka National Park, but was unsuccessful. You have to buy them at least a day in advance, and all of the tickets were sold out for when we were in Croatia and had time to go… We will try to come back for an experience like Annalise had.

Somehow, even though I was enthralled by Annalise’s video, Bill and I never got around to visiting Croatia, even though we’ve now been in Europe for ages… I kept meaning to go, and we did once take a “joyride” to Pula, Croatia while we were visiting Trieste, Italy in May 2016. But we never managed to actually book a real trip there that involved staying overnight. Time moved on from 2015, and I pushed thoughts of Croatia to the back burner, even though my Croatian friend, Boris, who organizes trips to Croatia, kept wanting me to go and blog about the experience. The timing just never seemed to work out for us, or there was somewhere else I wanted to see that was more pressing or convenient.

As I was planning our most recent trip, thinking about France, Belgium, and The Netherlands, I couldn’t help noticing a nagging thought in the back of my head, reminding me how much I had been wanting to visit Croatia to see waterfalls and lakes. Since I managed to nag Bill into taking a lot of days off work, I realized that we finally had enough time to really enjoy ourselves and see a lot, and that meant it made sense to finally take the plunge and go to Croatia. I also knew I could break up the trip into manageable and affordable blocks, and that was a real plus. My days of wanting to drive eight hours straight to cram in life experiences are long done, and I don’t need much encouragement to overspend on fancy hotels. I also have no desire to fly during the age of COVID-19 unless it’s absolutely unavoidable.

By the time I was ready to go to Croatia, I had forgotten where Annalise had actually gone. I went on Google and started searching… and somehow, instead of Krka National Park, I wound up finding the Plitvice Lakes. Now… there is absolutely NOTHING wrong with going to Croatia just to see the Plitvice Lakes. They are stunning and mesmerizing, and you will definitely get plenty of exercise and fill your camera with exquisite photos of magical scenery. But we were down there for four nights, and Krka National Park is only about a 90 minute drive from where we stayed. It would have been nice to combine the two experiences, although now we have a good reason to visit Croatia again and do a LOT more exploring. It really is a beautiful and easy to travel country, especially for English speakers. And… we haven’t been to the coast yet, to see all the towns that tourists flock to during the summer months. We have a good reason to go back to Croatia, now.

Anyway, once I’d decided on Croatia, it was time to plan for a visit somewhere else within proximity. I recalled that while we were visiting Trieste in 2016, we also visited Lake Bled in Slovenia. I remember being totally enchanted by beautiful Lake Bled and the other areas in Slovenia we visited on that trip. I also specifically remembered Slovenians telling Bill and me that we should visit Lake Bohinj, as it was even better than Bled is, and less touristy. Realizing that Bohinj was maybe 4 or 5 hours from the Plitvice Lakes area, I determined that it would be a great second stop on our trip. We could spend another four nights there.

The cities where we chose our visits in Austria were mostly down to being practical. We decided to stop in Wels, Austria on the way down to Croatia because it was about halfway to where our final destination would be, and Bill and I didn’t want to stay in Linz or Passau, which are cities we’ve both already visited. Ditto to our stop in Salzburg. Every time we’ve gone to Slovenia– we also went to Kranjska Gora, Slovenia last year to pick up Noyzi— we’ve stopped in Salzburg, because it’s convenient. It’s also a great town to visit, although on our other two trips, we’ve only spent a night there and neglected to properly enjoy the city.

This is the very delicious ham and asparagus meal that I ate in Salzburg in May 2012…

We did take a day trip to Salzburg in May 2012, when we did our very first military hop, and we got to see the city on that trip. But we visited Salzburg from Munich instead of staying there overnight, and that sharply limited our ability to see a lot. I also remember getting caught in a sudden late spring thunderstorm that day, so we ended up ducking back into the restaurant where we had lunch (ham and asparagus with Hollandaise Sauce), and drinking lots of beer and Schnapps! I remember the proprietor was quite pleased with us giving him more business. I think that restaurant has since closed down, which is a pity. We sure enjoyed going there.

Ever since that day trip in 2012, I had been wanting to go back to Salzburg. Russian buskers had made me cry there, and I saw some beautiful Friesian horses… But every time we’ve stayed in Salzburg overnight, we’ve been rushing to or from somewhere else, so this time, I decided we’d spend two nights.

With all of the cities chosen, I went looking for places to stay. Wels, Austria, it turns out, is a very pleasant and attractive city, but it’s not particularly exciting or noteworthy. I noticed they had catfish there. There are museums to see, and the downtown area is nice. But I didn’t find any cute places to rent. Consequently, we ended up booking Hotel Ploberger for two nights, which is supposedly the best hotel in town. I was amused by their very aggressive sales tactics, right on their own Web site. For the other three stops, I booked homes privately managed by hosts I found on Booking.com. Not only was that safer in terms of COVID-19, it was also more convenient. Lake Bohinj and the Plitvice Lakes areas are both chock full of apartments and homes to rent. I would say there are more private residences for renting than hotel rooms, although they do exist. And in Salzburg, I chose to rent a place owned by a musician/music producer. That was mainly because I am myself a musician. I will write a lot more about all of the properties as the series gets underway… and as we were gone for twelve nights, it’s bound to be a long one.

We had a fantastic time on our trip, and I look forward to detailing the blow by blow, even if Bill and I are the only ones who read it. So, now that the introduction is done, on with my blog series on the trip down to Aus-Cro-Slo-Aus. Hope you enjoy the ride.

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Our time in Die Schweiz was definitely not Scheißig… part three

Our first night at the B2 Boutique Hotel was a bit stuffy. I mentioned that the room was air conditioned and, in fact, it was also disinfected with fog before our arrival. When we first opened the door, there was a sticker on it, indicating that, yes, prior to our arrival, housekeeping had used a state of the art cleaning technique to make sure there weren’t any nasty corona bugs in the room. Supposedly, the fog renders the room “99.9% germ free”. I appreciated that, especially as I continue to read sad and scary tales about people getting sick with COVID-19. The skylight in the room had a blind that could be raised, but I found that raising the blind made the room too warm. In spite of the “air conditioning”, I had to open the skylight.

I had almost booked a different hotel on the lake. It was brand new and beautiful, not to mention slightly less expensive. But I ended up booking the B2 Hotel because I read complaints about the air conditioning at the other hotel– which had some kind of strange water powered system that was lacking. I didn’t want to be hot and uncomfortable, especially for what we were paying. I was a bit warm at the B2 Hotel, but at least the window opened and that allowed for the room to be less stuffy. I have noticed that a lot of places in Europe are investing in air conditioning, since global warming seems to be here to stay. But it seems like some places are trying to use technologies that aren’t as effective as they could be. Fortunately, we were blessed with mostly decent weather, plus temperatures that weren’t oppressively hot.

On Friday morning, we had sunny skies, and I told Bill that I wanted to go south and get some beautiful lake photos. When we lived in Stuttgart, we would often pass Lake Lucerne on our way to Italy. I always wanted to stop and take pictures of the lake off the Autobahn, because it’s extremely beautiful. There is a pull off just before the road passes the water, but Bill never stopped despite my pleading. So I had a stop there in mind for Friday.

Bill decided we’d go to Lucerne, instead. I didn’t mind that, since I had heard that Lucerne was a quaint and lovely town and I had never seen it. However, I really had a hankering to go somewhere more wild and rural. I hadn’t made that clear, so we headed down toward Lucerne. But first, we had breakfast, which was included in the rate.

At B2 Boutique Hotel, breakfast is included in the rate. A server brings a basket of bread, a hot drink (tea, coffee drinks, or hot chocolate), and eggs, which can come with bacon, ham, mushroom, or cheese, and can be prepared in a variety of ways. There’s also a small buffet with cereals, meats, cheese, yogurt, smoked salmon, and fresh fruit.

Sufficiently satiated, we asked the receptionist to get the Volvo for us. She walked down the hill and fetched the car. It took a few minutes. Then we headed off to Lucerne, which is a quaint and lovely town. We didn’t stay long, though… only long enough for me to get some pictures and a couple of short videos. Lucerne is such a pretty town, but there were many people there and the lake was not as gorgeous as it is by the Autobahn. Lucerne reminds me a lot of Annecy, France, where we visited in 2018. I think I like Annecy a little bit more, if only because it’s cheaper there.

Here are some photos from Lucerne.

Off on a cruise! Some random guy was sharing his music with us while drinking a beer.

A closer look.

Like I said… Lucerne is a very charming town, and I probably should have explored it more, but I had my heart set on getting some really beautiful photos. So Bill and I left after about a half hour or so and headed back toward Autobahn 4. We headed south, approaching the town of Schwyz, which is where Victorinox knives and other products are made. It wasn’t long before the gloriously beautiful lake was finally visible. We pulled off the road and I got these photos… I also used the handy and very clean public restroom at the pull off. Kudos to the Swiss for that!

A little shrine on the side of the road out of Lucerne. My German friend tells me it was built for Astrid of Sweden, Queen of the Belgians, who died in a car accident there in 1935.

We wanted a closer look at the lake, so we ended up getting off at Brunnen, Switzerland, an adorable little town right on Lake Lucerne. If we have a chance to vacation in Switzerland again, I will look into getting a room or apartment down there in Brunnen. It’s absolutely stunning, and has a different vibe than the city is. Below are some photos I took from our stop in Brunnen, which lasted a couple of hours and included lunch at a restaurant called Haddock Brunnen.

I had a smoked salmon sandwich at Haddock Brunnen. It was messy, but delicious, with dill horseradish sauce, lettuce, and cucumbers on a ciabatta.

We actually did some driving around before we decided on Brunnen. The area around the lake has several tourist spots available, but if you just drive through there, you might be kind of disappointed at the lack of cute towns. We went through one area that was right by the lake, but there was a train next to the water. I felt sorry for the people living in the apartments right by the lake. Half the time, they’re looking at train cars!

I think this might be why I tend to be a bit “meh” about Switzerland. There’s so much beautiful scenery, there, but there’s also a lot of industry and utilitarian architecture. Parts of it seem a bit soulless to me… but then I turn around and see insanely beautiful places like Brunnen. Despite being a small country, Switzerland also has four official languages: German, French, Italian, and Romansh, which is spoken in the Grisons canton. Supposedly, I have some ancestry from that area.

It was lucky we did this visit on Friday, since that day offered the best weather of any during our short trip. We have passed Lake Lucerne in less agreeable weather and, while interesting photos are possible, good pictures are more likely when the sun is out. It was somewhat hazy when we visited, but we still managed to get a few great shots. My mission was accomplished. I made a special point of memorizing the names of some of the towns around that area, since I neglected to do that on prior trips.

I probably ought to look into booking places out in the country… up in the mountains. Or maybe down near the lakes in smaller towns, like Sisikon. That’s probably where I’ll find soul… or, maybe I’ll find it in a restaurant in a big city. More on that in part four.

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Post pandemic trip number two– a pleasant weekend in the Eifel…

Bill and I just got back from our second weekend excursion since the pandemic struck. The spring and summer of 2020 have been very unusual, and not just because everyone’s wearing a face mask these days. Since we moved back to Germany in 2014, we’ve made a point of traveling as often as possible. We’ve visited many countries and have several others on our bucket list. But this year, after two early trips to the Alsace region of France following a Christmas jaunt to Nimes and Beaune, France, we have stayed put in Wiesbaden. I was really becoming a shut in, until Bill finally decided enough was enough and insisted on taking me away for my birthday last month. We memorably visited a spa hotel for two nights in nearby Hofheim, just twenty minutes from where we live.

Since that trip in June went so well, Bill decided he wanted to go somewhere else in July. He tasked me with finding somewhere not too far away, even though unlike most Americans, we are now permitted to travel to other countries again. Because we can prove that we live in the European Union, we are allowed to be in Europe and, for the most part, travel as if we were E.U. citizens. Unlike the United States, Europe seems to take a somewhat sensible approach toward foreigners. Seems kind of ironic to me, given that the United States was always called a “melting pot” when I was growing up, watching Schoolhouse Rock during Saturday morning cartoons.

Ah… the innocence of my youth.

I remembered our very first “military hop”, which we took in May of 2012. At the time, we were living in Sanford, North Carolina. Bill was still in the Army, and we had about eight days to mess around in Germany. We ended up flying to Ramstein and planning a trip completely on the fly. I remember taking a train to Cologne, spending a night at the Ibis at the train station, and then getting a blind booking through the former Germanwings (now Eurowings). We ended up getting a cheap flight to Munich, where we spent three nights and visited Salzburg by train on a day trip.

Then we flew back to Cologne and took another train to Trier, which allowed us to visit Luxembourg. On the way to Trier, we stopped at Gerolstein, a city well-known for its bubbly mineral water. Indeed, I had even been buying Gerolstein water at our favorite local grocery store in North Carolina. I looked out the window at Gerolstein and thought it looked like a nice place to visit, not knowing then that we would be moving back to Germany just two years later and I would eventually get the chance to see the town.

When we lived in Stuttgart, I remember trying to come up with a trip to the Gerolstein area, but I never could find the right combination of dog friendly lodging and justification for driving so far to stay in Germany. In Stuttgart, it was more difficult to arrange for local dog sitting, so our dogs had to come with us on some of our trips. Now that we’re in Wiesbaden, it’s easy to book Arran (since we no longer have Zane) at the dog pension. Gerolstein is now just a couple of hours away, rather than several hours.

As I researched the area, known as the Eifel, I found a lot of things I knew would hold our interest. However, we opted not to stay in Gerolstein. Instead, I found us a lovely, old fashioned spa hotel in the tiny hamlet of Meerfeld, named after the Meerfelder Maar– a lake formed 30,000 to 40,000 years ago from an explosion in what was once a volcanic crater. There are several water filled “maars” in the Eifel, although there are dozens more dry ones scattered throughout the area. The Meerfelder Maar is one of the oldest of the maars in the Eifel region. Swimming and water sports are allowed there, and it’s also a nature preserve. If you have a car and a willingness to drive a bit, you can slip in a visit to Belgium or Luxembourg, or maybe a visit to Cochem or Trier, both of which are close by, or any of the other charming little towns where there are old castles, canopied hiking trails, and lakes made by volcanic eruptions.

The Meerfelder Maar wasn’t necessarily what drew me to Meerfeld. I was mostly looking for a nice hotel with a good restaurant or, barring that, a really well-appointed apartment or vacation house. There are plenty of inviting places to stay in the Eifel region, with something to suit almost any taste. I had a tough time deciding. I finally chose the family owned Hotel Zur Post in Meerfeld because of its consistently excellent reviews, particularly of the hotel restaurant; the fact that it’s close to an unusual geological attraction was an added positive. The area is also popular with hikers and bikers, as there are many trails near the hotel and the surrounding hamlets.

We really had a good time on our trip, which probably would not have happened if not for COVID-19, as I would have chosen to visit a place further afield, probably in an adjoining country or even further away than that. This trip was a good reminder that you don’t always have to go far to see something interesting. Now, on with my latest trip report series!

Sundays

A beautiful Sunday afternoon in Seewald…

I’m always looking for new things to do, especially on Sundays. Today, I was inspired by the continuing beautiful weather to take a trip to a place Bill and I had never been to before. I remembered that one of Bill’s coworkers had suggested a cool Biergarten in Seewald. After searching all my bookmarks, I suggested it to Bill, who had originally planned for us to visit the commissary. I’m pretty glad I talked him out of that, especially after our little road trip today!

Although Unterjettingen is not all that close to the military installations near Stuttgart, it is in a great area for finding things to do. Yesterday’s trip to the Barfuss Park was pretty painless; it’s only about a half an hour from where we live. Likewise, Seewald is also within about a 30 or 40 minute drive. I was keen to try the Seeheiner Gasthof and Cafe. I knew the Seeheiner was next to a lake. What I didn’t know is that the Seewald is a great place to hang out, swim, boat, have a picnic, and enjoy nature. In fact, many Germans were doing just that today.

I snapped this shot as we sat at a light in Altensteig, a picturesque town we passed through on our way to Seewald.

As we approached the biergarten, I noticed there were many, many cars… and even more bikes! Seeheiner’s parking lot was full of motorcycles. Plenty of people were parked on the side of the road and most of the parking lots were full. Undaunted, we parked in P2, which is a lot a bit past the biergarten. We made our way there, enjoying the majestic beauty of the lake, surrounded by evergreens and full of people having fun.

A man checks out a commemorative sign…

My first unobstructed glimpse of Seewald.

Plenty of people brought all manner of boats and rafts.

Bringing your dog? Seewald has you covered. Unfortunately, not everyone availed themselves of this Hundestation.

At last, we reached the biergarten. We wanted to sit outside, but every table was taken. People were especially eager to take the tables on the slowly rotating platform that offered 360 degree views of the lake and the surrounding areas. Seeheiner has lots of outdoor seating. Besides the rotating platform, there are a couple of wraparound balconies offering views of the lake. There’s also seating out front. We didn’t want to wait for a table outside, so we decided to eat inside. That was actually okay, since Bill and I drove the Mini convertible and already got some sun on the way to and from the lake.

Beer!

A shot of the rotating platform. It moves very slowly round and round…

And another shot of the bikes… Bikers obviously love Seeheiner!

It was a beautiful day!

Bill checks out the menu.

Seeheiner has warm food throughout the day, though some dishes are only available at certain times of the day. If you want a traditional lunch, you should arrive between 11:00 and 2:00pm. The food is very typical hearty Swabian cuisine. I saw only a few options for vegetarians, though there is a menu for kids. The wait staff was working very hard and it took some time for them to get to us. The food turned out to be well worth the wait. Not only does Seeheiner boast a great location, it also offers delicious food.

Bill and I both had Hefeweizens.

And we had salads, though our dishes were so large that we probably shouldn’t have. I could only eat about a third of this.

Bill had Schweinebraten. He said it was probably the best he’s ever had. I have to admit, this pork was super tender and flavorful. It was delicious!

I had fresh Nagolder trout. As you can see, it’s liberally sprinkled with toasted almond slivers and accompanied by parsleyed potatoes. The fish was also excellent. It was super fresh, moist, and flavorful. I managed to eat a little over half before I had to stop. I thought about taking it home for lunch tomorrow, but thought better of it when I realized we were going to want to walk around a bit. What a shame!

I noticed quite a few delicious looking desserts heading out the door… lots of ice cream creations and cakes. If we were going to be spending the night in Seewald, I might have come back later for a late afternoon sweet. As it was, we were too full to even consider having dessert. Our bill was just over forty euros.

A better shot of the sign as we were leaving.

We took a walk around the lake and I found myself wishing I’d worn my bathing suit. I have been itching to take a swim for some time now! Maybe we’ll go back next weekend, if the weather holds up for us. The following are some photos I took as we explored Seewald, a name that now means more to me than just Jessa Duggar’s new last name. 😉

The Seeheiner is one of several nice looking biergartens in the Seewald area. I also noticed there were lots of people camping in the area. There is also a small snack bar near the Seeheiner for those who just want a snack and don’t want to battle crowds at Seeheiner. I also noticed a pubic restroom near where we parked.

When we got back to our car, the guy who was parked next to us had his door open, blocking me from entering my vehicle. Bill told the guy in German that we were going to leave. He came around and closed his door. I got into the car. As I put the top down on my convertible, he smiled and asked in German if we wanted to trade cars with him. He was driving a minivan! Nein danke!

What a beautiful day to go to the lake and enjoy the sunshine. If you’re looking for a way to spend a warm sunny Sunday, Seewald is a good bet!

But get there early… Parking is a bit tricky! At least it doesn’t cost anything!

The Traveling Overeducated Housewife

…the wanderings and ramblings of a boring housewife…

Tag Archives: lakes

Chasing lakes and waterfalls in Aus-cro-slo-aus… part six

Chasing lakes and waterfalls in Aus-cro-slo-aus… part one

Our time in Die Schweiz was definitely not Scheißig… part three

Post pandemic trip number two– a pleasant weekend in the Eifel…

A beautiful Sunday afternoon in Seewald…