Alicia Altmueller

Insel Mainau

Insel Mainau is an island on the Bodensee. The Bodensee (Lake Constance) is the only lake that is shared by Austria, Germany and Switzerland, each having towns along the water. We often visit Konstanz, a beautiful town in Germany and very close to Insel Mainau. This past week, K was

Neighborhood Stroll

Often when I post about where I live, I show photos of the storks or the lake. The reason being - I tend to only focus on those two things here. This week, I have been making a habit to walk past the horse farm and into the woods and

München with Friends

Last week, Stephan and I had the opportunity to meet our dear friends Marian and Dan. They were in Munich for the week and able to carve some time out for us. Marian's mother was born in Munich, but had to escape due to the Nazi regime. The

Neuschwanstein

In February, Stephan and I drove for a night to a castle that has been on my wishlist since we moved here. Neuschwanstein is a castle in Germany. It is in Bavaria near the Austrian border. King Ludwig II had the castle built but died prior to it's

January

Cold and dreary for sure, but there are moments of joy and beauty.

More Vienna Moments

So many good memories in December. Just another download of photos because they bring me joy.

Opera to Brewery

Walking the city - we visited the coffeehouses, went to an opera and took a tour of the Ottakringer Brewery with several museums in between. Busy week of laughter and steps.

Christmas Markets in Vienna

While in Vienna during the holiday season, we spent a lot of time strolling through the various Christmas markets and the decorations. The markets are located all over the city and we incorporated them into our strolls and plans.

A Week with my NC Family

In December I had a very special week in Vienna. Dear family friends hopped over the pond and spent a week with me while we did all the local activities from Christmas Markets to the Opera to the Ottarringer Brewery Tour and everything in between. I can tell you having

Silence

Yup, I was offline. The news from the US and various bugs, coughs and such at the house had me preoccupied. The news continues to haunt me. It made it really hard for me to continue to write blog posts - but I will continue to try and remind myself

December 26

Stephan and I are laying low for the holidays. Today's early morning weather was chilly with a side of beauty.

Snow

Last Thursday we had our first snow of the year and it was just beautiful. Due to the mountains and valleys, the weather predictions are always a guess here. However, the weather report said 2pm start and at 2:06, I was on my way home and sure enough the

Grächen in the Fall

I visited my friend last weekend at her lovely chalet in the mountains. I am so grateful for my friend, her time and walking in the Valais. The fall colors were breathtaking. Enjoy the fall colors. The sheep are special sheep and from this region of Switzerland and the one

Visp

I spent the weekend with a good friend and she picked me up in the town of Visp. This is a town a lot of folks us as a transfer town to bigger mountains so I am not sure a lot of folks walk around it. We didn't

Second Bulgaria Post

We took two trips outside the capital while in Bulgaria. Our tours took us to the Rila Monastery, Plovdiv and Boyana Church.

Bulgaria

I took a lovely four day trip to Bulgaria back in July. Home-base was the capital city, Sofia. Though it was extremely hot the time we were there - it didn't stop us from trotting through town. Water bottle in hand, we walked through the small streets and

2 days, 2 lakes and a pond

Stephan and I put our hiking gear on and headed to the mountains. We visited 2 lakes and a pond. Technically, the pond was a lake but it was so small we could't get ourselves to call it a lake. Our initial destination was on Stephan's

Jucker Farm

Each year a local farm, Jucker Farm, hosts a pumpkin celebration. This year's theme: The Movies. Beautiful day for a stroll through the farm.

Tirol in September

In September, we spent a weekend in the mountains in Austria. It was the weekend where they brought the cows back down from the summer grazing location. They held celebrations in the different small towns. We went to one of the locations to join in on celebrating the return, along

World Championship Cycling

From September 21-29 Zurich and surrounding towns and cities were hosting the World Championship in Cycling. Fresh out of the Olympics and Para-Olympics many of the same athletes were roaming the area. Stephan and I caught the opening event which was a para cycling event. It was the mixed hard

Isle Mainau and Hello Again

Hello! It has been about 2ish months since I posted. Yikes, time goes by fast. I did three things this summer: did a digital detox (mostly), studied German (a lot) and did a few local trips and one to Bulgaria with friends and family. I will try to do a

Wiener Blond

When we were at the ball in February - we were able to watch the group Wiener Blond perform. We enjoyed them so much that started to follow their music. We found out that they were performing in Switzerland and nearish. So after work on Friday, Stephan and I grabbed

Lunch in Italy

The rain has been continual these past two months. There are floods, mudslides and road closures in parts of Switzerland. Other than a few warm days the temperatures have hovered around 60-70 degrees. Even as someone that prefers cool days over the warm summer ones - sometimes you just want

Cully and Biel/Bienne

Stephan and I had a quick overnight in Cully, Switzerland for a lovely event for friends. We were able to ramble through the vineyards and enjoy the local cafes before the event. The day after, the rain was so bad, we headed home as soon as we got up. We

Vaduz and the Sculpture Tour

After our day in the Appenzell area - we headed to Vaduz Liechtenstein. It was a quick visit, strolling down the main street. It just so happened there was a sculpture event throughout the town. We got see some wonderful pieces of art. At the end of the day -