The Summer

Zurich, Switzerland - Dear reader, I'm so sorry to have neglected you for so long. Work and life intervened and distracted me from delighting you with our adventures. What follows is a series of photos from some of our travels this summer.

Lech, Austria (23 August)

We drove 2.5 hours (one way) to Lech for one reason: to visit a restaurant Hannah had read about. Jakob & Ethel is located in a 17th century farmhouse nestled into the Austrian Alps. It didn't disappoint.

Como, Italy (14 August)

Hannah and I visited posh Como over a long weekend in August. Como is of course a getaway destination for the upper crust - a place to see and be seen. Of course Hannah fit in so well with her haute couture and refined sensibilities. It was such a shame that she had to drag around a luddite the whole time.

Como is the largest of several towns dotting the lake. In between the towns are spectacular 18th and 19th century villas overlooking the water. These towns are connected together by a series of exceptionally narrow roads winding their way along the steep hillsides that fall dramatically into the water. Driving from town to town could be a white knuckle experience as you attempted to negotiate blind corners and narrow lanes with other vehicles. I should say it was white-knuckle for me, but not for the local Italians who more than once zipped by me in rickety Fiats honking and gesturing profusely.

Lauterbrunnen, Switzerland (18 July)

Lauterbrunnen is one of several postcard-perfect places in Switzerland. It was the inspiration for J. R. R. Tolkien when he imagined Rivendell - the dwelling place of Elrond Half-elven and his people - for Lord of the Rings.

Alsace, France (12 July)

Alsace was a territory traded back and forth between the Germans and French several times throughout history, so the place has a weird and wonderful mash-up of both French and German culture (large numbers of people living there speak German, actually). Fortunately, the French culture mostly dominates from a culinary perspective. We visited a few of the lovely towns and winemakers with our good friends Ben and Laura. Our favorite winemaker was Lindenlaub.

Bavaria, Germany (July 3)

We visited Bavaria over a long weekend. Our first stop was the fairytale castle of Neuschwanstein, which was built by an effete and out-of-touch prince (Ludwig) in the dying days of Bavaria's monarchy. From there, we traveled north along Germany's romantic road (so named because it was a major highway for the Romans), stopping at a number of scenic villages.

The most famous of these villages is Rothenburg ob der Tauber. Rothenburg is in a well-preserved 17th century condition because of a series of unfortunate and fortunate historical events. During the 30 years war, the Catholic general Johann Tserclaes, Count of Tilly, wanted to quarter his army in Protestant Lutheran Rothenburg. The town foolishly chose to defend itself and quickly lost the ensuing battle. According to legend, Tilly agreed not to burn the town if someone could finish 3.25 liters of wine in a single drink. The mayor at the time, Georg Nusch, succeeded, and General Tilly kept his word. However, this did not stop General Tilly from emptying the town's coffers and granaries. A few years after, the impoverished town was swept with the plague and it didn't recover...

...Until the 1930s, when the Nazi's made the town into a German landmark. They felt it epitomized the quintessential German town and bussed in German schoolchildren from all over the country to see it. As the American army approached in the waning days of the Third Reich, they were given orders to try and preserve the town by U.S. Assistant Secretary of War, John J. McCloy, who knew about the historic importance and beauty of Rothenburg. The Americans sent word to the Germans that they should abandon the town or face a horrendous bombing. The Germans were pretty well cooked at this time, so the commander obliged and thus we still have a well-preserved Rothenburg. For his part, McCloy was later named an honorary citizen of Rothenburg.

Finally, we spent a night at a working farm in Bavaria with an absolutely lovely family who rent out some of their guest rooms on the side.