The rest of our family trip to Germany could be described in two words: driving and climbing.  Since my sister lives on an incredibly small island, my family and I wanted to explore other parts of the country, and thus, our road trip began.  Our final destination was Freiburg, not to be confused with Freiberg that is located in East Germany, and on the way our first stop was St. Goar.  St. Goar was a small, quiet German town situated on the edge of the Rhine River.

St. Goar is home to the Rheinfels Castle.  Although the castle was closed, we were able to trek to the top to get an amazing view of the city and the river.  And as an added bonus, we got in some legitimate exercise.

After making the descent back into town, we drove along the river for a few minutes before ending our drive for the evening in Bacharch.  Although the town of Bacharach seemed essentially deserted for the  season, it did serve as a great place to spend a relaxing evening and enjoy the distinct German vibe of the city.  Plus, one of the restaurants had a vegan tasting menu.  I wasn’t hungry enough to beg my family to indulge me and drop thirty euros on a meal, but I was seriously impressed and intrigued.  A vegan tasting menu was the last thing I expected in Germany, especially since I spent the day subsisting off peanut butter, crackers. and chocolate (of course) for lack of any appetizing vegetarian options.

We spent the next morning meandering through some seriously empty streets and enjoying the serenity of a curiously empty German town.

Then, I, once again, found myself  following my family up the side of a hill to  get an unparalled view of the city and the countryside.  I think the five days I spent in Germany I climbed more hills than I have ever climbed in my life, but the idea of recreational exercise is growing on me.  The views aren’t bad either; they certainly beat the scenery (or lack there of) while I bob up and down on gym equipment.

Next on our agenda was Freiburg.  Frieburg was – by far- my favorite part of our road trip.  Needless to say, I was happy to feel like I was back in civilization and a uber cute civilization at that.  In fact, I liked it so much I am going to dedicate a whole blog post to it.  Tschuss!!   Be back tomorrow!