June 24-28: Karlsruhe Germany

Being in Germany has been a welcome respite to our time in Rome! It is much quieter and less crowded here in Karlsruhe. I've had time to rest, to catch up on my blog postings, and to do some reading.

June 25th: Mike's work conference here in Karlsruhe started yesterday afternoon. We spent the morning washing and drying our clothes at a "wash salon" (laundromat) here in town. Then we drove to Baden-Baden to check out their natural thermal pools! We had a fun time soaking up the warm mineral water in several pools.

June 24th: Breakfast at the airport McDonalds before our flight to Germany

Swiss Alps seen from my window

Some of the city seen from my window

Farm land plots seen from my window

Schloss Hotel in Karlsruhe Germany
Our room was way better than the one in Rome

Beautiful fountains and gardens on our walk from the hotel the first day

This was our favorite restaurant when we were here two years ago. After

walking there for dinner, we were sad that it was closed our first night. We went to the market and bought fruit and junk food instead! The photos below are from our walk back to the hotel.

  

There's actually a ZOO across the street from our hotel!

Looking down the stairwell from the second floor

June 25th: Breakfast at our hotel dining room--so elegant

The laundromat where we did our wash

Baden-Baden, where the natural thermal pools are

The thermal pools were inside this building
We really enjoyed the experience of soaking in several warm mineral pools

  

The Lotus Chinese restaurant in Baden-Baden where we ate a late lunch

Interesting eggrolls


We rate this restaurant a Y for Yucky!

June 26th: Yummy lunch together at the conference center

My happy hubby and his Mikey smile

 A pretty flower shop inside the Ettlinger Mall where I had fun
shopping two days in a row while Mike was at his conference

I saw these shacks on my walk back to our hotel
They were numbered, and I wondered who lived in them

A lot of Asians at the 50th ICT Conference in Karlsruhe

The hotel restaurant had the best food!

Our cozy little cubby in the hotel restaurant
where we had a fancy dinner two nights in a row

An appetizer of smoked salmon and caviare with bread

Mike's green salad with fresh asparagus and smoked salmon

 My grilled veal with mushrooms and potato dumpling fingers

We definitely liked my choice better!

 June 27th: Our final lunch at the conference center looks like a
mess after we dug in, but it tasted better than it looks in the photos

 Our last dinner at the hotel restaurant
I shared mine with Mike since it was so big

Did I mention how tired I've been this whole trip? I'm sure all the

rich foods haven't helped. And I never feel like I get enough sleep, 

but we've had a lot of fun on this Europe trip