Ashley's Visit

I know it's been awhile since my last blog post. The truth is, it's been a long summer between a trip back to the US and other things going on, so I haven't had time to post. I'm starting the first post of a few over the next month about a friend's visit last week.
A month or so ago my friend from back home, Ashley, sent me an email saying she'd be in Switzerland for a few weeks with her family and wanted to meet up. We haven't seen her since our wedding in 2009, so I was looking forward to showing her around the area.
 Last Monday she and her cousin, Caitlin, took the train from St. Gallen, Switzerland, up here to Stuttgart. I had that day and Tuesday off, so the plan was to show them around Stuttgart on Monday, then stop at various places on the drive back to Switzerland on Tuesday. The two of them arrived around 1pm, and we headed back to the house. It'd been a long train ride, so the first part of the afternoon was just showing them around the house, and catching up. They even got to enjoy the fantastic AFN PSA's we get instead of commercials on TV. We then rounded the dogs up and walked to downtown Stuttgart. I showed them around the main shopping street in Stuttgart, Königstraße, and a few other landmarks. It was about 30 minutes before Shanna was getting off work, so we stopped at a local Bier Garten to relax and have a few beers. One thing I love about living in Germany is when we take the dogs to restaurants, they always bring a bowl of water out for them. It was a warm day, so the dogs were happy to have a drink with us.

Eventually I got a call from Shanna saying she was on her way, so we headed to one of our favorite restaurants here, Zum Paulaner.  They have great Bavarian beer and food, and the girls loved it.  It'd been a long day, so we then headed back to our place and called it a night.

The next morning we all slept in, then I took them to an Italian buffet place near by.  Their food is delicious, and for lunch, dirt cheap.  After lunch, we hit the road.  The first thing they both wanted to see was a castle.  There are quite a few Schlosses around here, but most are more like Palaces then Castles like most people picture them.  Schloß Lichtenstein is more of a traditional castle, and the one we usually take visitors too.  

I've taken the tour at least 4 times, so I helped them get their tickets, then I sat outside on the seats over looking the valley while they took the tour.

After the tour ended I showed them around the castle grounds, took a few pictures, then we hit the road for Switzerland.  The next stop was the one I was looking forward to, Rheinfalls, Switzerland.  I'd never been there before, so I was excited to see it.  It's supposed to be the largest waterfall in Europe, but I'm glad I was forewarned about what to expect before hand.  When I heard "largest falls" I was expecting something on scale with Niagra Falls...it was nowhere near that.  It WAS beautiful, but not nearly as large as I originally thought.

We got there 2 hours later, parked, and headed down to the falls.  The first thing I noticed was the sound...it was LOUD.  Eventually we got to the dock area, and it was amazing.

We got our tickets, then got on the boat that took us to a small island in the center of the falls.  Once we docked, we walked up a flight of stairs until we got to the top, and from there you had a 360 degree view of the falls, the lake it dumped in to, the old bridge nearby, and everything else.  It was loud, fast moving water, and was beautiful.

After taking a few pictures, we headed back down and took the boat back to the dock.  At that point it was getting late, and I still had a 2 1/2 hour drive back to Stuttgart that night, so we hit the road to get to the small town of Teufen where they were staying.  We got there an hour later and their family wasn't at the hotel.  They wanted to show me the view of Teufen and the Alps, so we drove a little further up the hill from their hotel to a stunning view of the town.

We eventually met up with her family at the hotel.  I hadn't seen Ashley's Mom in several years, so it was good to see her again.  The first thing I noticed about the hotel was how small it is.  As in, my head hit the ceiling.  

They kicked around various ideas of places to eat.  The first place we went to was closed (I forgot that Ruhetags, or Rest Days, are common in Switzerland), but eventually we decided on a restaurant near the hotel.  Again, this was place had a low ceiling, and I had to slightly duck while walking around.  The place was really nice, and the waiter was fantastic.  He spoke German, of course, but when he switched to English he had a British accent.  He mentioned he'd studied English for a year in London, and absolutely loved it.  I ordered an AMAZING dish of White Sausage with Cheese Spätzel and Apple Sauce (not pictured below).  It was some of the best Spätzle I've ever had.

After dinner we sat around talking, and eventually it was time for me to head home.  It was getting late, I had a 2 1/2 hour drive home, and I had to work the next day.  I hated saying goodbye, the two days had flown by and reminded me how much I missed my friends from back home.  I had a lot of fun with Ashley, and really enjoyed meeting and hanging out with her cousin Caitlin as well.  It was a great week, and I hope they come back soon.

Next week Shanna's sister, Nikki, comes in to town, so I'll have another post ready after that.  I took a few pictures, but most were taking by Ashley and Kaitlyn.  When I get their pictures, I'll upload them to the same album.  For now, click here or any of the pictures above to see the pics from the trip.