A quick hop over the border: Strasbourg

... Except there is no real border anymore when you cross over from Germany into France, only a sign saying: “ You now entered France and that the speed limit is 120 km/h on motorways and 90 on national roads. Strasbourg is merely 50 minutes away from where we were staying in Baden- Baden and well worth a visit. In fact, Alsace is one of my favorite destinations for quick day visits. The best time to avoid huge crowds that are almost always present, is when summer school holidays are over in September. Truth be told that the month of October is indeed the best for gourmet travelers because the first fresh wines are available, all types of venison and mushrooms.

 

The whole region is well renowned and loved for its quaint, picturesque and medieval towns, dotted with timber framed houses which all seem to have an abundance of window boxes with flowers spilling out. Whether you drive to Riquewihr, Kaysersberg (birthplace of Albert Schweitzer), Obernai or Colmar ─ you are always in for a treat. The year before, our choice was Colmar, my all-time favorite, smaller than Strasbourg but with equally big crowds of tourists vying for sightseeing spots and restaurant tables.

Since my hubby had not seen the capital of the Alsace region and the seat of the European Parliament as well as the European Court of Human Rights. The city’s population has almost doubled in the last decade, with the greater urban area now comprising just under 1 million inhabitants.

The adjacent area to the northwest covers the magnificent natural park and mountain region of the “Vosges”, an ideal location for hikers, bikers and nature lovers. You will find fewer tourists there. I spent a whole week during my college years on a very isolated but romantic “gite”, i.e. a cottage.

We had tried to find home swapping partners on the French site, in vain. We almost made a deal, i.e. signed the exchange contract, when the French found out that it’s likely to be very hot in Florida in the month of August. Indeed. Though there are many picturesque towns of a similar nature on the German side of the border, the French has a more exotic feel to me, being German. And the food in the restaurants is different, even the baguettes are better…although a bit more expensive. Strasbourg, by the way, is very expensive territory with a normal iceream sundae I enjoy in Germany on a regular basis costing here almost twice as much.

With this being our last excursion of this year’s European stay, we enjoyed every minute in spite of the crowds and took plenty of photos. The weather was only glorious. We wished we could have stayed along the banks of the river Rhine which runs almost all the length of the border between the two countries. We brought home some regional delicacies like “foie gras” and wine. We skipped the pottery that is typical for this region, colorful stoneware, but just too heavy  to bring back on a plane. Hubby and I, both agreed that Colmar had a more intimate feel to it. But now we had “done” the entire Alsace.
All there was left to do after this excursion was pack up or numerous gigantic bags and clean the house we had spent 3 happy weeks in for our departure back to the US.

Siggy Buckley 
FB: Intrepid Home Swappers

Linda Rae Blair's Blog & Author Interviews

I'm pleased as Punch to be featured on Linda Rae Blair's  blog today. She is an author of the highest caliber with almost two dozen books in her name. Just look at her impressive list of novels! Here's an excerpt. I'm sure you can contact her too !

Linda Rae Blair, Author

AUTHOR INTERVIEW – SIGGY BUCKLEY (Creative Non-Fiction)

Welcome to Siggy Buckley!

 

Tell us about yourself—you know, all that stuff that makes you interesting!

 I was a college adjunct professor for teaching English (being a German native speaker) for years. Then my life took an unexpected turn. My then husband had opted out of the rat race for health and environmental reasons. He was a CPA, and made us emigrate to Ireland from a professional German background to become organic farmers in the sticks of Ireland: for THE GOOD LIFE. It was a challenge and a culture shock for me. This created a crop of misgivings and, unfortunately, our marriage broke up over it.

Where and how to find a new partner in a country where divorce wasn’t even legal yet? I started my own dating agency ‘to skim off the cream’ ─ as a journalist put it in an interview. I became the “Dating Guru” or “Chief Cupid” of Ireland. Enough to write a book about! When the Internet took over the dating scene even in backward little Ireland, I jumped on the cyber highway myself to find that elusive soul-mate. The book is called “Next Time Lucky: How to Find Your Mr. Right”. It is a sassy, sometimes naughty read. Its new edition has an additional chapter with practical dating advice.

 I’m now happily married and live in the USA. Unfortunately, due to chronic pain, I no longer have a day job but a loving husband who brings home the bacon.

 I love getting sucked into a gripping book. I used to golf and garden. Now I prefer to have a nice garden and sit and enjoy it. Dancing has also been one of my passions: Disco music, Bee Gees, Motown—I’m giving away my age here! So instead of sweating in the gym, I prefer to have music take me back to the best times in my life- in my own house dancing!

I wrote extensively for American Chronicles and Opednews on political and environmental topics. Having several blogs and books going in addition at the same time, my writing now concentrates on our travels – home swapping- as well as maintaining a writer’s blog. It gives writers a platform to get noticed.

 I’m a proud International member of the National League of American Pen Women. 

What is your genre?

 Creative non-fiction. I figure if I called it memoirs, I’d be in trouble. Not being a celebrity, who knows Siggy Buckley and would be interested in her memories? And I lived through enough material for another book!

What other writer inspires you? Your work?  

 I met an elderly lady on the oncology ward of the Mayo Clinic, where I volunteered at the time. We quickly connected over the writing, and she was very influential in my approach, learning process and she also edited my book. Thanks to her I’m now a member of the National League of American Pen Women –though I’m not even American but still German.

I like a strong female voice. After a long love affair with Joanne Harris’ books (author of “Chocolat”), I now favor Tana French, an Irish whodunit writer.  I know the Irish settings of her so far 4 books well and love the Irishisms she uses. They make me feel like being back home.......

My hub called Siggy’s Omnibus comprises 5 other sites. Unfortunately, it’s not supported by Apple products because it contains flash links.

My new book trailer is fun! .....For more, please go to Linda Rae Blair's website!

 

 

 

 

 

 

Money or your life

The wonderful house we swapped with a German family in the East near the Baltic Sea  came with a boat house and a small craft that didn’t need a license. Engines over 5 hp on Germany lakes etc. do.

 My son and his friend, strapping young lads that they are, had taken the rowing boat out to begin with but hubby felt lazy and privileged to have a “motor boat’ at his disposal .

On our last night, a beautiful warm evening, he got it started and cleaned it from cobwebs. Normally, I’m not particularly seaworthy but this I could do, I thought hopping into the vessel.

We went along the little canal that connected to the adjacent lake where we had done a lot of constitutional walks, passing all these cute little vacation or weekend houses;  datschas - I presume they were called in the ‘olden days’. Owners were out on their porches  barbecuing, having a beer or just sitting out enjoying the balmy evening. My friendly greetings and “Guten Appetit!” mostly went unanswered; instead we got stares.

My family had commented on the fact before that the locals seemed to be rather reserved, looking away or looking at us outright suspiciously. Hubby had his theories about them being former communists who had lived in a supervised state where neighbors spied on each other and were naturally suspicious. Could that be the case almost a generation after the fall of the Iron Curtain? I wonder. The difference in behavior to other parts of Germany that I am familiar with was striking, however.

So here we were put-putting along.  At a tight spot in the canal we had to slow down from our snail space to make rooms for 2 canoeists. The engine died.”Not to worry, there is a second battery. I just have to switch over to that one.” To be on the safe side we decided not to continue our journey to the lake with only one battery and turn around instead. But the second battery never started. The canoeists enquired if we had paddles. I hadn’t yet spotted them, but gracefully there was a pair on the floor of our boat.

So paddling it was, back past the houses and people we had just passed. Their behavior and demeanor had miraculously changed. Some got up form their seats to throw a funny remark, “Machine kaputt?” or “Need a push?” Others interrupted their meal to get a good view of the spectacle.  All of a sudden we encountered a lot of smiles and laughter. We are not practiced paddlers…

One older guy, alone on his deck, pointed what looked like an antique pistol at us, “Money or your life”. He was probably just lonely or thought he was funny. I started to get peeved. Why had nobody bothered to engage with us before? There is something about Schadenfreude that we Germans are verifiably good at. The self-proclaimed pirate invited us to join him. “I’ll throw a couple of bratwurst on the Barbie for when you return” not realizing that we were on our way back already and wouldn’t paddle by again. Maybe he’s still standing there, waiting.

It was either that the batteries had not fully charged or the connections had come loose. We made it back through the sweat of our own hands. The behavior of our neighbors there remains a mystery, however. To do the people form Meck Pomm justice, our exchange partners, some of their friends and neighbor who we met were totally friendly; some even stepped out of their way to give us a helping hand. It remains a mystery until I get some enlightening comments from people in the know. 

Siggy Buckley Swapping homes Anybody ? Season 2

Check out: Siggys Omnibus