I voted...

On Sunday, Germany held their local elections and European Union elections.  As a European citizen, I was able to vote (poor Damian was excluded)!

Fortunately, the Germans send you ballots via mail. With the assistance of Google Translate's ability to translate text from photographs, I was able to understand the lengthy instructions with little pain. However, researching the hundreds of candidates was another story.

At my polling place (behind our apartment)

The magic...

Surprisingly hard to find...

Over the past 7 months, I have come to realize that there are some foods that are really surprisingly hard to find. Here is a list of the ones that come to mind:

Chocolate chips. Yes, the ones used to make chocolate chip cookies! At a large grocery store that carries some "Ausländer Spezialitäten" (foreigner specialties), I was able to find a box of chocolate chunks. They aren't semisweet chocolate pieces, but more like chunks of a milk chocolate bar.

Tortilla chips. They label Dorito-like chips as tortilla chips.

Salsa. This is more like ketchup than salsa

Bagels.  With their hundreds of varieties of breads, a girl can't find a bagel! I did find packaged bagels at the store mentioned above, however they were stale and tasteless.

Gatorade. Because it contains (or used to contain, apparently last year they stated they were removing the ingredient) BVO, brominated vegetable oil. (For more on BVO, click here.) You also can't find the other drinks with BVO like Mountain Dew, Squirt, Fresca, etc.

Cheddar cheese. 

Some chemicals in the foods.  There are lots of banned chemicals besides the BVO from gatorade. Here are two articles about the chemicals that Europe bans.
Article #1, click here.
Article #2, click here.

This information is not convincing Damian that we should return to the States anytime soon!

Strasbourg, France

Tübingen is just a two-hour drive to Strasbourg, France, a gorgeous town with a blend of French culture, cuisine, art and German architecture. It is a great French romantic getaway.

I don't have many pictures from the city, unfortunately, but I found some great pictures from Wikipedia to give you an idea of the city...

Source: Wikipedia

Source: Wikipedia

Source: Wikipedia

Heidelberg Day Trip

We jumped in a car and drove to Heidelberg for the day.  Unfortunately, we were a bit disappointed by the commercialized German town that we discovered. It's a beautiful city, but we are spoiled by the idyllic Tübingen.

Here are some great pictures of the beautiful parts of the city...

My mom and Paul out and about in Tübingen

Strolling through the streets

On the Neckarbrücke

The town square

The bike tunnel

Refueling

Rowing along the Neckar

It's not as easy as it looks!

The love birds.

Visiting Damián at the Max Planck

This is his "lab"

Some brainstorming

The greenhouse

Outside the cafeteria

Walking to the bus

Sending them off on their European adventure

Austria

We met up with my mom and Paul on their travels in Austria.

There is no way I could go to Salzburg without doing the ultimate tourist activity - The Sound of Music Tour! If you have seen the movie as many times as I have, you'll have no problem recognizing these places.

Salzburg is the birthplace of Mozart and Mozart was everywhere in the city.  Our second night in Salzburg, we attended a marionette performance of The Magic Flute. On our third night, we went to a Mozart concert.

The building where Mozart was born.

Outside the oldest restaurant in Europe (since 803)
where we had dinner and attended a Mozart concert

The cellist at the Mozart Concert 

The dining hall.

The musicians for the concert.
In addition to these, there were two operatic singers.

With the backdrop of the Alps, Salzburg's landscape was beautiful. 

Here is a view from our room at the bed and breakfast

We left the city and went to hike and explore the different mountain areas.

Our first exploration was to Königsee.

We took a boat ride to Hirschau Peninsula where
you can find a hunting lodge and St. Bartholomew Church,
along with gorgeous scenery and hiking.

  

 Our last day in Austria, we traveled to Hallstatt to hike and visit some salt mines.

Entering the town of Hallstatt

Eating lunch before our hike

Resting at a church on the climb

We made it to the top!

We are ready for the salt mines

Inside the mine