escaping from 2011

It was Friday 23rd December and we had arranged flights from Berlin and London to arrive in Frankfurt within minutes of each other - so nice to meet up on our individual paths to the train station...so it was a quick journey to pick up the car, drive to Messel and pack everything up - 2 road bikes, 2 golf bags, our travel bags, some christmas decorations and lots of bags of important things to fit in between the spaces...an hour later we were driving south on the A5 - heading towards our favourite Landgasthof Hotel Schwanen in Bad Bellingen - almost the last German village before the Swiss border. We had stayed here on our way south this time last year and it seems fun to establish a great tradition - the quaint and cosy atmosphere, maintained since 1887 and complemented by excellent quality food, with a special focus on 'wild' food. We had arrived quite early for us, so we had time to wander down to the local christmas market, established in the front garden of the Winzerstueble Sonnenstueck, same as last year - except there was no snow this year. A burning tree stump provided a warm invitation to enjoy both gluhwein and beer, and we had fun starting our wine purchases... And then back at the Swan, and similar to last year, I ordered from the brilliant 3 course Tagesmenu to fully enjoy the local specialties. Again, I was totally impressed with the presentation, tastes and textures of it all. The starter was composed of 3 tiny dishes presented on a long rectangular plate; a creme brulee atop a warm foie gras, a rotkohl cappucino and a simple smoked salmon with horseradish cream sauce. The wild schnitzel was presented with lots of tasty vegies and fried balls of mashed potato. Finally, I was thankful that the cheese board was appropriately small, but extremely tasty - a great start to my full appreciation of european cheeses... I loved this way of starting our festive holiday and even enjoyed our early breakfast the next day before we set off to drive the final 500km to our favourite hideaway in the olive growing hills behind the Italian Riveria.