Sankt Martins Tag (Elfte Elfte)

The eleventh of November is St. Martin's Day in Germany. It is now our third November in Germany, and I was determined to finally experience this traditional event. The only problem is that it is mostly for children. So I had to convince my work colleague Caroline and her 1-year old son to join me.

St. Martin's day is a Catholic holiday celebrating a saint who gave have his cloak to a poor man during a snowstorm. We went to the local church and saw a re-enactment of this saintly event by men dressed as Roman soldiers. This part was fun, but then there was some religious message and kids were getting antsy and louder by the minute. Then, we went outside, and Roman soldier St. Martin on his horse led us around the neighborhood. We were accompanied by a brass band and we periodically stopped to sing:

"Laterne, Laterne, Sonne, Mond und Sterne..."

Because the most important part of St. Martin's day are the lanterns!

So before we went out, Caroline and I improvised some lanterns. Mine was a giant pickle jar with golden leaves glued onto it. Unfortunately the little guy pulled off the biggest leaf, and so at some point it became just a giant pickle jar with a tea candle inside.

All of the children make their lanterns in school, and some are quite elaborate. However, I think if we put more than 20 minutes effort in next time, we could really show those kids up, because Caroline's partner is an art teacher. The festivities ended with Kinderpunsch and Bretzeln back at the church.

Freewheelin' in Freiburg

Over the summer, Joe got back to his roots of doing ridiculous feats of endurance. A two-time Ironman, he has not been involved in any kind of formal race since we've been living in Germany, but he did go on several all-day bike rides this summer. And by all day, I mean all day. Most of these were 200-300 km in a single stretch. Once he rode to Munich, while our friend Rachel and I left mid-morning by train and met him for dinner. Another trip took him to Mannheim, then home by train late that night. He is famous to my colleagues for having biked to Strasbourg, on the border with France, and back, up and over the Black Forest, all in a single day. One weekend this summer he decided to ride to Freiburg, in the southwestern corner of Germany, which is also the sunniest part of Germany. Because the Black Forest stand between our house and Freiburg, it took me almost as long to get there riding the trains as it did for him. So we meet for a late lunch and enjoyed a sunny afternoon in Freiburg. Joe rode his bike back the next day, and I again rode the train.

We quite enjoyed the town of Freiburg. It is a university town, so has an openness and youthful energy about it. The town was quite wealthy and was able to buy its independence in the middle ages, hence its name. A unique feature of the town are the small canals that divert river water through the town center. These were perfect to dip your feet in on a hot summer day. We also hiked up for a view over the valley, surrounded by forest. And of course, we stopped in a local beer garden for some refreshment.

City canals a perfect for hot summer days.

Taking advantage of the city's water supply on a short hike.

View of the Freiburg valley.

Freiburg Cathedral. The sandstone reminded me of Mount Holyoke.

What do we eat? Part IV: Flammkuchen

We live fairly close to the Alsace region on the border between France and Germany. The culinary influences pervade into our region, most famously with "Flammkuchen", a sort of thin-crust, white sauce pizza. It is widely available in restaurants here, but lately I've enjoyed making it at home. This makes for a quick and easy meal because I can buy the dough and skip the most time-consuming step. Flammkuchen is cooked in a very hot oven, and the sauce is made from creme fraiche, although sour cream could substitute. Traditionally, the toppings are bacon and onions. I've also enjoyed experimenting with adding feta cheese and sauteed pumpkin. I found a recipe online in case I've piqued your appetite!

The Stuttgart Wine Trail

This last weekend was peak fall colors in our area, so we decided to take a hike with friends like we did last year at this time. We chose the Stuttgart Wine Trail, which traverses a large hill surrounded by scenic villages, where wine is likely the main industry. However, it is just a stone's throw from Stuttgart. The wine trail itself is probably a scheme to bring in tourists, but it worked and we had a beautiful day for it. Admittedly, we tried a bit of the produce as we wandered along the trail, but we did end our adventure at a local wine "Besen" where we paid for the goods.

The Danube Prequel

Like many sagas, sometime the beginning happens after the fact. That is exactly how we are treating the nearly 700 km bike ride we did along the Danube last April. We started our spring ride in Ulm, about 170 km downstream from the source of the river in Donaueschingen (the Danube is called "Donau" in German). So over the summer, we convinced our friends Barb and Adam (Americans; Barb is also a postdoc in our institute) to ride the first 80 km with us one weekend.

We headed off by train one Saturday morning in July. The Deutsche Bahn (German rail company) makes it pretty easy to purchase a one-day pass for a group, with bikes even, to ride the local trains. We arrived in Donaueschingen around 11 am and our first order of business was the find the mythical source ("Quelle") of the river. Unfortunately it was under construction! So we only saw it from a distance. We were however somewhat appeased by finding the distribution center for Fürstenberg beer on our winding route out of town.

Unfortunately our ride coincided with one of the summer's hottest weekends. We compensated for the kilometers of sunny, hot riding by making several stops to cool off. At one stop we found some small holes in the ground connected to what was probably underground limestone caves. They were releasing cool air - a sort of natural air conditioning. The four of us huddled around one of these caves for probably far too long. We also went swimming in the river, and once at a Freibad (public outdoor swimming pool) in one of the towns along the river. And of course, we drank plenty of Radler (shandy, or lemonade mixed with beer) that is the drink of bikers.

There were a few interesting sights to see along our ride. One was the Donauversickerung (the Danube percolation). In a few spots along this stretch of river, the water percolates down through slanted layers of rocks and ends up in tributaries of the Rhine. During some times of the year, almost all of the water disappears over short stretches of river. How is that for a clever way to steal water? We stopped at one of these points to see the river disappearing, and even saw/heard a few spots where water was being sucked down. I especially like the descriptions of radioisotope experiments (51Cr) done nearly a hundred years ago to figure out how long water took to travel to the Rhine (about 1 hour/km). It would be hard to get a permit for such an experiment these days.

We overnighted in the town of Mühlheim an der Donau. It had a terribly cute old town. We were there on Saturday night, in time for the free city tour from the town's only remaining Nachtwächter (night guard). He took us around the old town as the sun set and explained the history, punctuated by singing verses of the Nachtwächter song. The guard watched for fires during the night in medieval times.

So now all that remains of the Danube for us to ride are the 90 km from Sigmaringen to Ulm... and from the Austrian border with Slovakia to the Black Sea. The lower part goes through Slovakia, Hungary, Serbia and Bulgaria (actually I am not totally sure which countries it goes through!), and are not as frequently traveled by bicycle. We will see if we take on that challenge!

What do we eat? Part III: Chicken Spätzle Soup

It's been getting cooler and the leaves are starting to change colors and fall off the trees. Now that Joe and I are both working, it's more difficult to get homemade meals on the table each night, but we managed to come up with a quick meal that it also appropriate for the dropping temperatures.

For this soup we decided to incorporate the local noodles - Spätzle. Most Americans pronounce this something like spat-zell, but it should actually sound more like spetz-leh. What we did was to saute some chicken, onions and carrots, then add broth and spices until the carrots were mostly cooked. Then we added fresh spätzle (you can also find it dried) and cooked until the noodles were soft. Perfect for a cool fall evening.

What do we eat? Part II: Zwiebelkuchen

Yesterday I wrote about how we make some foods here that we are used to having in the States. However, we have incorporated a number of local foods into our diet. It's simply easier, because all of the ingredients are readily available here, and the cuisine is actually not all meat and potatoes.

This time of year (fall) is the time for Zwiebelkuchen (onion cake). Actually, you can find Zwiebelkuchen in bakeries year-round, but traditionally people eat it with new wine (Federweisser or Neuer Wein), that is basically actively fermenting grape juice. You can only get new wine in the fall. Joe and I thought that maybe Zwiebelkuchen was special to this region (Swabia), but it turns out it is eaten all over Germany, with regional differences in how it is made.

We had Zwiebelkuchen last Sunday at our local hiking hut - it was a special once-a-year event. We also went to a Zwiebelkuchen party with some colleagues this weekend. Meantime, I made Zwiebelkuchen at home for Joe and I. Each Zwiebelkuchen had a slightly different character, but I have to admit I was quite pleased with how mine turned out. If you are looking for a new recipe to try this fall (and aren't adverse to massive quantities of onions!), I would recommend it.

Zwiebelkuchen

-Prepare a yeast dough according to the package instructions, or prepare it from scratch like you are going to make a pizza.

-Cut 800 g (yes, 0.8 kg!) of onions into rings. I used onions grown in the village next to us and had to take several breaks due to tears. German onions tend to be quite pungent.

-Saute the onions in a few tablespoons of oil until they are glassy. Remove them from heat to allow them to cool.

-Mix two egg yolks (or two whole eggs if you are lazy like me) and 200 g cream together in a bowl.

-Roll out the dough and spread out the onions. Season with salt, pepper and caraway seeds. (Note: caraway is something that is to me a really typical German flavor - think sauerkraut).

-Sprinkle 250 g shredded gouda and bacon or ham on top of the onions. (Note: I used about 100 g of bacon cubes and this was plenty, although the recipe I roughly followed called for 400 g! If you can't get cubed bacon, I think ham or crumbled bacon would be fine.)

-Now top with the egg/cream mixture and bake for 30-40 min. at 200 C. Enjoy!

What 800 g of onions looks like. I cut julienne, btw. Not skilled enough for proper rings.

Zwiebelkuchen before the cheese, egg, cream and baking.

Joe eating Zwiebelkuchen. He does not enjoy onions, bacon and cheese nearly as much as I do.

What do we eat? Part I: Pumpkin muffins

In the past we have told you about all the great road-side stands that sell pumpkins on the honor system. That means we eat a lot of pumpkin in the fall. No complaints. However, one pumpkin product we sadly have not found in Germany is canned pumpkin. The logical conclusion from this is that Germany, despite its plethora of delicious baked goods and cakes eaten every day promptly at 3:00 pm with coffee, lacks pumpkin sweets. No pumpkin lattes, pumpkin cookies, pumpkin pie... :(

But fortunately we have connections in the US, and make semi-regular trips there. So I will admit, at the risk of paying back customs, to smuggling cans of Libby's pumpkin into Germany. With the weather feeling determinedly autumnal, I baked pumpkin muffins last weekend with my imported - pureed gold?

The occasion was the 1st birthday our friends' son. He was born on Reunification day (Oct. 3; "Tag der Deutschen Einheit"), the holiday that celebrates East and West Germany being re-united. That means the little guy gets the day off on his birthday every year. And it didn't escape the attention of the nurses when he was born, that his mother grew up in former east Germany, and father in west Germany. That is a bit of poetry.

But back to the muffins. I found the recipe on the Libby's website. I made a few modifications: I used local apple cider instead of orange juice, and sunflower not vegetable oil. I think most Germans are used to muffins made with butter, not oil, which tend to be dryer. Sometimes I find the oil-based muffins to be a bit too moist. I also utilized my smuggled stash of McCormick's pumpkin pie spice.

I topped the muffins with Nutella frosting. Yes, this could certainly be an entry for This is why you're fat. I'm not sure that Germans really appreciate frosting, because I brought the muffins into work unfrosted and put them next to the tub of Nutella frosting. The muffins disappeared but the frosting lingered. Oh well. I do quite like the German version that appears on donuts. It's called "Fettglasur" (fat glaze). How is that for truth in advertising?

If you are in Germany and want to enjoy homemade pumpkin muffins, you will have to do a bit of extra work. You will have to bake and puree the pumpkin yourself. I'm also not sure we can find the classic baking pumpkin used in the US here in Germany. They look like this.

Pumpkin muffins - minus the Nutella frosting.

Fun in the Alps

In August, Joe and I rented a car and drove to Bavaria to go hiking in the alps for the weekend. It is something we've been talking about doing since we moved here and left all of Colorado's beautiful mountains behind, but just hadn't managed it yet. We played hooky with a Friday afternoon and drove the backroads through the Swabian Alb to Bavaria, along the way encountering the Zwiefalten Abbey. The church is a beautifully preserved example of German Baroque, and a good example of why we like living here: the luxury of exploring the region and finding places off of the main tourist itinerary.

We stayed two nights at the University's mountain cabin near the border with Austria. We've reported about our stays here in the past, but always in the winter. For some reason I wasn't expecting much because I love it there in winter so much, but the mountains are breathtaking in summer (literally!).

We spent an entire day hiking, probably 15-20 km, and summitted three different peaks. It's a very different experience of hiking somewhere like Colorado, with far fewer people especially as you go further away from the front range. In the Alps we can also stop for lunch at a mountain hut, only really an option at designated ski areas in the western US. But one thing is the same: cows. Fortunately we knew to expect them for a few km because they really do wear cowbells! In fact, every "herd" has a bell with a slightly different sound.

We summitted a few more (lower) peaks the next morning before hopping in the car. On the way home we got stuck in traffic on the Autobahn so again diverted to the backroads. It was a good chance to see another local attraction that has been on our list: the Blautopf ("blue pot") in Blaubeuren. It is a karst-fed spring with a beautiful blue color.

Italy

This year my main professional conference took place in Florence, Italy. So, Joe and I headed there a few days earlier. It was our first trip to Italy. We spent our first day touring town, and saw the Cathedral ("Duomo") designed by Brunelleschi. All of that colorful marble is sure a difference from the austere sandstone or limestone facades in Germany (and German churches are actually quite vibrant in comparison to those we saw in Benelux).

Then we spent two days hiking an amazing stretch of coastline called the Cinque Terra. It's a national park, notoriously crowded and it was August, when all of Europe was on vacation. We went anyway and had a great time. There were tons of trails to get lost on. All roads led to the town of Vernazza (for us, at least), which I thought was quite well situated. So I am posting pictures of it from all angles. We swam at the little beach on the left side of town, looking seaward. We hiked about 35 km in the two days, so really covered the coastline from one end to another.

We returned to Florence and went to the famous galleries, where we saw a lot of art. Joe flew back home and I went to my conference. I don't have any pictures of that. I had an extra day at the end of the week after the conference and before my flight back, so I took a bike ride through Tuscany with a colleague. We stopped at what is apparently one of the oldest wineries in Italy. Delicious! We ended our ride in Siena, which is a gorgeous town with a beautiful cathedral. Not to mention the mummified face of Saint Catherine of Siena. I love that gory stuff!