I am going to warn everyone…..this will be a very photo heavy post.  My four-day birthday extravaganza was quite adventurous.  I loved every minute ot it.

Let’s start with Thursday:  Thorsten took Abner and me over to Austria (only an hour away) to the small city of Bregenz which sits right on the edge of Lake Constance.

It is quite the little town with all its tourists.  Before we got started with our actual adventure, we took a little walk along the coast when we saw this structure in the distance:

So we walked over for a closer look:

It turned out to be the (still in progress) set of Mozart’s The Magic Flute which will be premiering in July (we already have tickets)!!!

Then we started our walk:

It seemed harmless enough….we were only climbing this pre-mountain to the Alps:

“It will only take about 30 minutes,” said Thorsten.

About two hours later we found this place (we still had about another 15 minutes to go):

Then we did the last leg of the climb:

 

The view was totally worth it:

From up here we could see into four countries: Germany, Austria, Switzerland, and Lichenstein.  Too cool, no?

We also took a few moments for some photos of us:

Then because Abner was such a trooper, we took the cable car back down to Bregenz (for those of you less inclined on two hours hikes….you can use the same cars to go up)

Afterwards, we found a little beach (still in Austria) where we could relax a little before heading back to Germany.

All in all, Abner was pooped:

So the next day, for my actual birthday….we were more relaxed.

We actually started the day running very late so we grabbed food at the first available place: McDonald’s……but when in Rome…..I got the Germany themed burger:

 

It’s a normal burger with patty, cheese, bacon, arugula and butter…..yes butter.  It’s called Kraueterbutter and it’s used on their steaks.  It really good and too rich for me.  These burgers are around only because of the World Cup…but it was a fun way to have a little mix of US and Germany…

Afterwards, we went to a Therme which is essentially a spa/water park.  Unfortunately I have no photos because there is no use for a phone but I have a link to the site:

http://www.bodensee-therme.de/index.php?L=1

This is located in the city where Thorsten and I are planning on living (more on that later).  So when you come visit, I can definitely bring you here 😀

After a relaxing day at the spa, we went to downtown Ravensburg for a nice dinner at Wilderer:

It was a great day……but we are only half way there!

The next day we went back to Lake Constance to a town called Meersburg where they have two castles next to each other:

 

Did I mention the view?

From there Thorsten had brough a pair of bikes and we went from there to Ueberingen:

 

So we walked around a little and found a nice place for lunch (and checking out the nearby Cathedral) before heading back:

Then we were back in Ravensburg in time for the Germany vs Ghana match:

The last day of this four-day adventure, Thorsten took Abner and me to Switzerland where he not only showed us where he was going to work (yes he was offered and accepted the job he wanted! YAY!!) as well as showed us these beautiful falls:

The Rheinfall

Then we ended the day at a dog friendly beach just outside of Ueberlingen….oh and you can see the Alps:

Phew! It’s exhausting writing this down! What a four day adventure! Anyway, I hope you enjoyed it and added these places to your list of things to see!!!

Until Wednesday!