Lucky for me, my dad came to visit for a Saturday after his Germany business trip! OFF TO BADEN-BADEN! One hour north of Freiburg, is Baden-Baden known for its spas and Roman baths (Baden means literally to bathe).

Although my roommates insisted they had to spend a day doing some work, right before we walked out the door my dad turned and exclaimed, “Nope, we’re all coming” – you may only be living in Europe once! And we had a BLAST (plus still got all of our work done).

After driving the autobahn and cruising up to 120 mph, we arrived in the city at the top of the Black Forest. We visited the Altes Schloss – ruins of the middle ages castle overlooking the city, giving us a great top view of the city.

But we also visited the city’s highest point via Europe’s steepest funicular railway. There were tons of families going up in snow clothes and sleds and they apparently slide down the mountain.

The towns spa-baths, on the other-hand, are very European. AKA predominantly naked. So for this trip we passed on the relaxation elation. But the gorgeous town calls us back – equipped with bathing suits.

Back home for dinner, I googled “best restaurants in Freiburg” and (as usual) came up with a TripAdvisor website where I can specify anything from price range to food type and find top rated eateries. Google always lists great websites similar to TripAdvisor I stick to. I chose 2 authentic eateries. Now, I’m still not used to arriving at/calling several restaurants and finding out they’re completely booked. Naive, I know, but at least I learned quickly…WEEKENDS = RESERVATIONS RESERVATIONS RESERVATIONS in Freiburg and cities. But we ended up in a small Italian restaurant, had spectacular house wine and talked the entire evening amongst the four of us. My roommates were so happy to have come out and I couldn’t have asked for a better trip with my dad.

Location: baden-baden, germany