Cyprus Holiday: It's not all about the bailout

Confession:

We don't own a bank account in Cyprus.  We did not come to invest.  All we came to do was have some fun, sun, and relaxation - and guess what folks, we found it!

We arrived in Cyprus in the midst of their financial turmoils.  We were on pins and needles the weeks leading up to the bailout - no bailout, no tropical vacation for us.  Well, the bailout did happen and so did our Mediterranean holiday.

We looked forward to clear blue sky, full sun, and balmy breezes on our arrival.

Burnt Siena in Tuscany

Piazza del Campo

In all the times I have used burnt sienna in watercolor, it had never occurred to me that burnt sienna has its roots in Siena, Italy (the city is spelled with one "n").  This color is named for the earth hue found in this part of the Tuscany region and was a favorite shade of Italian Renaissance painters.  Today, paint manufacturers (of the higher quality pigments) still fashion burnt sienna using the raw earth material.  In this process, raw Siena earth is roasted at specific temperatures then ground to fine powder and turned into paint pigments.  The method, of course, is more complicated than what is described here, but I'm sure you would rather read about beautiful Siena, the city, than about the technical process of creating paint pigments.  So, off we go to Siena to have a look at the raw material for ourselves.    

San Gimignano: Tower of a City

This is a non-elimination race - Part 2 of 3.  To view clues, click here - Clue #2.

“Every dreamer knows that it is entirely possible to be homesick for a place you've never been to, perhaps more homesick than for familiar ground.”― Judith Thurman

I must admit shamefully that I had no knowledge of San Gimignano before this trip.  I guess that is why traveling is edification for the mind and enlightenment for the soul.  We would have missed visiting this Toscano village entirely if it were not for our friends, who came to San Gimignano years ago while on their honeymoon and fell in love with the town - and rightly so.

Perched on a hillside 334 meters (over 1,000 feet) above the valley, this spiky-looking town in Tuscany is a well preserved medieval paradise - one of a kind with its skyscraping towers enclosed securely by a circular city wall.  At one time, the town boasted 72 towers, but only 14 remained standing today according to the UNESCO World Heritage website.  However, San Gimignano's official website claims only 13 towers are still standing.  So, what is it folks - 13 or 14?  Regrettably I don't have the answer either.  With just one hour allotted for this visit, I never had the opportunity to tally the correct number for you.

Pisa: The Elephant Tusk of Tuscany

Leaning Tower of Pisa
a.k.a. "Elephant Tusk"

Our adventure on this leg of the race began in Florence, Italy where we reunited with our friends from the United States for their 3rd annual European trip.

After a long, drab and hazy winter-induced homesickness and longing for a clear California sky and balmy breeze, I really needed the upcoming vacation to a place that was sunny with a temperate climate (well, all is relative), and I looked forward to spending a few days relaxing with good friends.  Only the boys and I participated in this leg of the race.  Dad will join us later after he has completed his roadblock called Work.

Tuscany in One Day - Introduction

Previously on the Amazing Race - Season 1.5, a family set out on a race around Europe for a shot at finding fun, sun, and relaxation.  Their first stop on this leg of the race is Toscana ("Tuscany" to us English speakers).

Where am I?

First Challenge:   On this leg of the race, teams have one day to travel to three famous cities in the Tuscany region of Italy.  Teams will not be given a vehicle but are required to cram themselves into a crowded tour bus, battling honeymooners and elderly tourists for prime window seating.  All teams will receive 100 euros each in cash and not a cent more to use during this leg.  Teams are allowed just 30 minutes to explore and complete their tasks at the first location and a generous one hour each at subsequent locations.  All teams will be allowed a 30 minutes lunch break where they are required to eat and drink everything placed in front of them.

Detour:  Who is good with trivia?
Teams must determine the destinations for this detour using the clues below.

#1.  Once a prosperous and prominent seaport of Italy, this village in central Tuscany offers numerous historic monuments.  It is a UNESCO World Heritage Site.  Today, it is recognized world-wide mainly for its "Field of Miracles" ("Campo dei Miracoli" in Italian).  The baptistry, the cathedral, the campanile also known by the locals as the "Elephant tusk", and the cemetery - built between the 11th and 14 century - reside on the expanse of well manicured green lawn.  

The Amazing Race - Sneak Peek

Six countries

Twelve cities

Two weeks

Eight planes

One time zone change

One daylight savings time shift

One sick child

Muppet Adventure in the French Alps (Chamonix, France)

Having done the Fasnacht thing last year, we decided to forgo "Drey scheenschte Dääg" in Basel for "Un semaine magnifique" in the French Alps.  Les Alpes françaises était belle!

We found a lovely chalet to rent in Argentiere, one of the villages in the Chamonix-Mont Blanc region.  Before we knew it, another marvelous snow adventure awaited us.  

Argentiere Centre-ville

Argentiere (1252 meters) is one of four ski zones in the Chamonix Mont Blanc area.  This unassuming, yet charming, ski village is well situated between two major ski zones - Domaine de Balme (Le Tour/Vallorcine) and Les Grand Montets.   The only noticeable landmark in Argentiere, aside from Supermarche U, is L'eglise de St. Pierre, the town church which was built in 1724 to accommodate parishioners during the Winter, so they do not have to make the treacherous journey to the town of Chamonix and endure the high risk of avalanches.   

Flat Stanley in the Land of Lederhosen (Munich)

How many of us grew up loving the story of Flat Stanley, the famous flat character in Jeff Brown's childrens book series?  Flat Stanley, flattened by a fallen bulletin board in the middle of the night while he was sleeping and who miraculously survived only to take on a new versatile two dimensional form, used to solve crimes and set about on all kinds of adventures.

Born in 1964, Stanley is approaching his 50th birthday, yet he still retains the same physique -  thin and pliable (wish I can say the same for myself).  He has gotten smarter with age, and the conglomerate that is Flat Stanley has been transformed from a static children's story to an international literacy project connecting children from all over the world.  As if that wasn't enough, Flat, my endearing name for him, even developed an iTunes app to teach our children about the 50 U.S. states!  

So, it's no surprise that last May, we opened our mail to find Boston Flat Stanley dressed to the nines and ready to shadow our family for a couple of weeks as we journeyed around Europe.  Boston Flat Stanley is part of a literacy project the kids' cousins created to show different places around the world.  The timing of Flat's arrival was perfect as we were about to embark on a trip to Munich, capital of Bavaria ("Bayern" in German).  We were all excited to have Flat along for humor and to keep our boys engaged.

Don't blink or you'll miss it (Liechtenstein)

You blinked?! Well then, you just missed the Principality of Liechtenstein.

We woke up one Saturday morning and with zero planning decided to embark on an adventure to visit a country we haven't been to before. Liechtenstein seemed ideal because no one in our family had been there and not many people have seen it.

In short, this tiny country that currently aligns itself with Switzerland began as a purely political strategy to gain seats in the imperial parliament Reichstag. The Liechtenstein dynasty acquired the Herrschaft ("Lordship") of Schellenberg and the county of Vaduz for this purpose. In 1719, these were united and decreed by Charles VI, Holy Roman Emperor, as the Principality of Liechtenstein. For almost 120 years, this principality existed without ever having been graced by the presence of its monarchy member. A lot has happened since those days. Today, Prince Hans-Adam II is the presiding monarch and lives in the castle above Vaduz.

Delectable Desserts at Leyes

Boulangerie Pâtisserie Leyes

43 Rue Mulhouse

68300 Saint-Louis

If you're looking for delectable macaroons, scrumptious pastries, and crispy, light baguettes, Leyes on Rue de Mulhouse in St. Louis is a must stop shopping destination. The baguettes are the best around Basel. My boys can consume two loaves easily in one sitting.

Make note, on Saturday, the lines extend into the street. In addition to take out, the bakery also has an eat-in ("picnic") area as well. They do serve coffee and tea, but be aware, the coffee and tea are dispensed from a vending machine.

For desert, try their best Black Forest cake which even our German friends claim is the best they have tasted. Unlike back in the U.S., where cakes have a set-price, cakes at Leyes are sold by weight.

"To-die-for" Blackforest cake

Try one or try all of them

Baden-Baden, International Spa Resort

Welcome to old world Europe! Driving into Baden-Baden ("B-B" in this post), one can feel the affluent and culture filled vibes of this city. This internationally reknown thermal spa resort is located just two hours from Basel in the southwestern part of Germany known as the Black Forest (Schwarzwald). The city is home to Festspielhaus* which is the second largest opera house and concert hall in Germany, Kurhaus which houses the famous Casino Baden-Baden, the Roman Trinkhalle, and many other historic sights. First-class shopping and divine restaurants abound in this city in the forest, and, of course, the Roman baths and spas in the city center for which we drove hundreds of kilometers to submerge our tired bodies.

Triberg, Schwarzwald, Germany

Triberg, Germany

Disneyland anyone?

We stopped over in Triberg for a few hours as we made our way to Baden-Baden. We opted for a detour to Triberg so the boys could visit the world's largest cuckoo clock. As we discovered, there are more than just one cuckoo clock in this area. Everyone claimed to have either the biggest, best, authentic, whatever cuckoo clock that will attract eager and naive tourists like us. See my Cuckoo, Cuckoo Clocks post.

Cuckoo, Cuckoo...Clocks in Schonach

World's First Biggest Cuckoo Clock

Schonach, Germany

Try googling "World's largest cuckoo clocks" and Google will return pages of web links showing cities from all over Germany, South America and the U.S.A, all proclaiming to have the largest cuckoo clock in the world. Perhaps they have validation to support their claims, but to see the "real" world's largest cuckoo clocks, one must travel to the Black Forest ("Schwarzwald") in Germany where this kind of timing device originated and is still produced there today.

The World's First Largest Cuckoo Clock in Schonach, not to be confused with the current World's Largest Cuckoo Clock in the neighboring Triberg village, was built 32 years ago by a watchmaker by the name of Josef Dold who wished to educate others (a.k.a tourists) on the inner workings of the cuckoo clock.

Eating in Baden-Baden

After an exhausting detour to Triberg (see Triberg post), we began our two hour drive, along twisted roads, to Baden-Baden.  We arrived excited and ravenous.  After checking in to the hotel, we strolled toward downtown in search of food.  The first restaurant, Besitos Tapas, recommended by the hotel receptionist, turned us away even though a third of the restaurant was empty.  Perhaps we weren't dressed appropriately (Jeans and tee shirts not acceptable?).  Baden-Baden is an affluent city with a comparable mentality, and it appears we need to dress appropriately and behave properly by arranging a reservation for every dining experience.  Starving by now, we continued along Lange-Strasse, where a cute Italian bistro caught our eyes.  Vino Santo, requires no reservation, at least during the weekday, and promptly sat us for a great Italian meal.  

VINO SANTO:

Overall, the meal tasted fantastic.  The best dish was the VERY fresh mozzarella and tomato salad.  So delicious, even our children ate it, and my eldest son is now a huge fan of mozzarella cheese.  (Sorry, no photo of the salad...photography was an afterthought after we devoured this dish).  My only grumble was my risotto was undercooked.

 

 

How fast can you go?

That's 100 miles per hour

(160 kilometers per hour)

I need to share this photo because ordinary as it may be, it commemorates how fast my driving has progressed since the first day of arriving in Basel.  If you can remember from my post about traveling on the Autobahn to Europa Park, and my extreme fear of driving super fast on the German Autobahn - this is major progress!  I am still nervous about driving fast on an open freeway, but I can say now that I am not afraid to participate in the race to help get me from point A to point B.   That said, driving at this speed for more than an hour can be exhausting!  AND even at 100 plus miles per hour or 160 kilometers per hour, I am still one of the slowest drivers on this extraordinary highway.

Paradise for Kids at Europa Park

This photo is courtesy of Wikipedia.com

If there's one amusement park you must take your children to while living in Basel, it's Europa Park.  This park, located just 1.5 hours from Basel in Rust, Germany, is a gem.  We took our eldest here to celebrate his first birthday in Europe this past summer.

All of us were excited by the prospect of visiting this highly lauded amusement park.  Our plan was to spend the weekend at one of the hotels in the park.  As we quickly learned, it's August in Europe (most of Europe is on vacation), so every hotel was booked for weeks.  Last minute, we made the decision to make it a day trip as it is only one and a half hours from Basel.  

Not Just Another Castle - Rotteln Castle

While big brother enjoyed an afternoon with his friend at Acqua Basilica, little brother got to spend one-on-one time with mom and dad (a rare treat).  After meeting friends for breakfast at Fuenfschilling (delicious meals at affordable prices), we drove to Rotteln Castle for a hike through this well preserved castle built around the 12th century.  Wet and overcast sky made it not the best day for a walk around the castle ruins, but my youngest likes all things knights and medieval, so the visit was well worth it.

Rotteln Castle is a citadel situated on a limestone cliff overlooking the Lorrach valley in the city of Haagen.  Built in the 12th century by the noble Rottlen family, the castle has sustained damage from the 30 years war and again almost  destroyed by French troops in the Dutch War of Succession in 1678.  Since 1884, steps have been undertaken to preserve and restore the castle.  Rotteln Castle is the largest and best preserved castle in the southern Baden region of the Black Forest.  

A small museum located just past the ticket booth exhibited a small scale model of the castle in its original state.  Also on display are fossils and early artifacts found on the ground of the castle at the time of restoration.

Surprisingly, Rotteln Castle is an NOT affiliated partner of the Museum Pass.  That said, admission fee is barely anything at 1.50 euros for adults, 0.50 cents for children, and kids under six years are free.

For more information and history about Rotteln Castle, click here Rotteln Castle

Ski Feldberg, Germany

The changing landscapes

(Slideshow)

Living up to our motto, jet lag will never stop us from embarking on an adventure.  While in transit from the U.S. back to Basel, we exchanged emails with friends, and next thing we knew, we had a ski date the day after our arrival back home.

We managed our jet lag well on the first day back and were confident we would be okay to wake up on time for a 10 a.m. departure to hit the slopes in Feldberg, Germany.  As it happened, the boys woke up at midnight and stayed awake until 4 a.m.  Because I went to bed at midnight and my hubby went to bed early, he stayed up with them.  It was hard to drag our bodies out of bed, but guilt and a strong desire for fun propelled us out of bed and pass the door...and just 20 minutes late.

Wine Tasting in Alsace

Last Friday while the children were in school, the moms gathered outside the main entrance to the senior campus to organize ourselves for a wine tasting trip in Riquewihr.  I have not visited this part of the Alsace region but have heard of its beautiful landscape.  


On this rainy, overcast and surprisingly cool morning (in contrast to the warm and sunny yesterday), I couldn't think of anything better than to stay home in my warm house and prep for our upcoming trip to Ireland and to study German.  But friends are going plus it's a good opportunity to meet other moms of like interests.

I caught a ride with a friend.  It rained the entire one hour drive to Riquewihr, so my enthusiasm for wine-tasting dripped away with the rain.  After arriving in Riquewihr, we walked to its town center to look for Dopff Winery where the tasting would take place.  We didn't find the winery but discovered the absolutely charming Riquewihr town center.  The colorful buildings with their medieval architecture defy the overbearing clouds and radiated hospitality.  We wanted to skip the wine tasting and walk around town!

Les Cinq Chateaux (incl. Chateau du Hohlandsbourg)

Looking for something to do last Saturday, we drove an hour to the heart of the Alsacean region for a hike to five medieval castles - Les Cinq Chateaux. The main castle of the five is Chateau du Hohlandsbourg, largest castle in the Alsace region and situated atop the tallest hill in Wittenheim. The castle is a ten minute uphill hike from the first parking area (there is also parking outside the castle but we opted for the hike).