Rothenburg ob der Tauber

So its been a few days since updating...Kristi and I have been very active exploring the region and I've been getting in some good training sensations. The legs are feeling much better now and the black lung is only leaving an occasional cough so things are good. I am finally feeling that extra gear that I remember feeling in Colorado before I left. Which is now over 1 month ago. Very hard to believe that I have been away for such a time.
On Wednesday, we visited the Mercedes Benz Museum. It was pretty interesting. I will upload the photos shortly. I'm not much of a car afficionado or really a "car" lover. They are more of utilitarean than art to me. Nevertheless, the museum profiled quite a bit of history of Daimler and Benz. A nice portion was devoted to the participation of Mercedes Benz during the World Wars. I also learned how far ahead of the curve Mercedes Daimler Benz have been in the growth and development of eco-friendly autos, trucks, and technology.

On Thursday, we planned out a super logistical algorithm which allowed me to do a nice ride and meet Kristi in the beautiful Stadt of Ludwigsburg. Lots of rain but it was okay. The delicious cappuccino warmed me up nicely. That evening, Gretel came over and made an authentic Schwäbisch meal of spätzle, hackbraten, and kartoffeln salat. SEHR GUT! Hackbraten is minced meat in a au jus sauce with spices. Its kind of a german form of meatloaf. Kristi got some instruction on spätzle making and gave it a whirl. I finished up and was proud of my spätzle making improvement. It was actually authentic looking. Kartofflent Salat is potato salad sans mayo as in Schwäbisch tradtion. I've never been a potato salad fan b/c of the mayo. But its very tasty.

Yesterday, after an early departure to drop Heinz, Marc, Christian S., and Steffen S. at the airport(3:45 departure) I came back. Went for a trainer session b/c the rain was dumping and I just wanted to do an opener workout prior to today's race in Nürtinghem. Afterwards, Kristi and I drove out to Rothenburg ob der Tauber. Its a medieval village about 100km from Backnang. The town is surrounded by a wall that once protected it from invaders. It is a very popular place for American and Japanese tourists as it seemed we were the only ones visiting its grounds on the cold, quiet Friday. Not sure how many people still live there but it has many shops, cafes, and hotels. It was funny b/c so much was closed on Friday. Not sure why but we managed to tour the city and took in a walk along the enclosed walkway atop the wall. It was pretty cool b/c it circles the entire town and provides expansive vistas across the region. And of course when in Rothenburg, one must take in a local treat known as the "snowballen." Its a local cookie that is everywhere. From the looks of it, I was anticipating a soft dough similar to a funnel cake but we were surprised byt the crispy confection that emptied into our mouths. We opted to share the schokolade creme snowballen. I think there were probably 12 varieties at the cafe we went too.

This morning, more rain but Karin has said that next week its suppose to be 20º which will be a nice change from the rain/snow mix we have been experiencing. I attempted to produce some french toast with cinnamon apples this morning. It was okay...sort of dry I thought. I'm still adjusting to the electric range at the house. I'm a gas man. We didn't have any maple syrup either so next time, I will go for baking it rather than making it in the pan in the traditional sense. Nevertheless, it was a nice treat I think. Kristi and I are going to frequent a Deutsch restaurant tonight before we head to Zürich in the morning via the ICE train, i.e. 300km/h high speed train. Should be exciting. But first, I will race and race hard!

Pics are of our kaffee and cappuccino with schokolade snowballen.

Chow,
Matthew