Oh gosh, Staufen and Bad Krozingen, where to start. I was so excited to see my Dad again! Even though we planned to head to a Campground about 20min away from his Haus in Bad Krozingen, already on the way I decided to stop at his home. I could not wait!
It was so nice to give him a big bear hug and knowing, that we could see each other again for a while. Mats loves the apartment, there are toys for him to play and he enjoys the bathtub so much. There is also a playground just a block away.
There is this huge property with fruit trees, flowers, vegetables and always a lot to do, especially in summer. My Dad loves to work there and now the Captain could get to know it as well. The neighbors have lots of deer in there yard which peeks through the fence sometimes.
The sunset that day was very pretty.
My Dad always has lots of ideas and every day holds an adventure. It was rainy this day and he wanted to drive with us to take the Gondola up the Belchen. When I mentioned that this might be a better idea for a sunnier day, he just shook his head and said: ” Oh no, by the time we are there, it will have stopped raining.
Well, it was not quite the case, it was actually pouring, so we found shelter in the restaurant and warmed up drinking tea, coffee and ate a yummy cake. Not so bad either.
When we thought it had gotten better, we left the restaurant and started our walk. Well, there weren’t many possibilities to take out the camera, as it continued to be very wet, but we enjoyed this adventure nonetheless :-).
Since we were all in soccer worldcup fever, on the way home my Dad detoured to the little town where the German soccer coach is from, Schoenau . There was another good soccer match about to start and we were certain, that in a town like that, we must find a place to watch it. But we did not have any luck.
Having in mind to stop at my Dad’s house to watch it, or the Campground, which was still a ways away, we continued our drive home. My Dad stopped at this restaurant to try his luck and his charm convinced the owners to turn on a rather old TV in a dated meeting room and serve us some beers. That’s all we needed and we did not miss any of the game. Of course the match went into overtime and the owners were not too happy, we think. But they did not kick us out.
Two guests of the Hotel played these instruments half way up the mountain, which was really cool. I did record it and will add it here soon.
On another hot day when we were about to start a sightseeing tour, we dropped those plans and rather went to a manmade lake to cool off. Good decision, even though a thunder storm was grumbling over our tops, but the clouds moved on and made room for the sun. With some Captains knowledge we managed to pump up the Kayaks and had fun on the lake. Mats wanted to be in the smallest Kayak together with Opa!
It was another fantastic day which we finished with a BBQ back at the Campground Belchenblick. The Campground is very nice and we have fond memories. Free access to the public pool right across and also free public transport to Freiburg and surroundings. They showed all the soccer matches on a big screen TV, while it was possible to order Schnitzel etc and buy beers at the store next to it. Staying there was about the closest we could feel to a family stay, without staying at my Dad’s. 🙂 Thanks Belchenblick and thanks for your generosity and your great tours and company, dear Dad!
This was also the place, where Mats learned to bike!
Another “first time” happened on a rainy day. We went into a movie theater and Mats watched his first ever and the Captain his first German movie. We watched: Jim Knopf und Lukas der Lokomotivfuehrer (Jim Button and Luke the engine driver). It was really cool.
Afterwards we met up with my good friend Christine and her husband in Lahr and talked, talked, talked as much as we could in the short time we had. It was great seeing her and meeting her husband. 🙂
This was a long one! ❤️
To Sail or Not To Be 