Wednesday, May 30, 2012

Prague

I'm going to start this with a disclaimer... any pictures I show are going to be from google. I'm working for the week (so I'm not at home) and I forgot my camera on the table when I left Tuesday morning. So. No great Kirsten photography, only great photos for me to steal (and I mainly do it just to give you a visual). But I am trying to pick out google images which are very similar to the pictures I took.

This weekend we went to Prague. I can honestly say Prague wasn't really on my "to-do" list. In fact... I'm not sure I had any inclination to go visit Prague. But. Jimmy went to Prague a few months ago and loved it. He hasn't stopped talking about his trip. He also tells me at least once a week, "You HAVE to go to Prague." His pictures were beautiful, and I will admit I became a bit curious. So I did some research and decided Prague could be a good long weekend destination. With my new resurgence of "We have to go do stuff!" attitude, I decided Memorial Day weekend would be a prime time to take advantage of an extra day off and go visit.

I had estimated it would take us about 6 to 6.5 hours to drive to Prague. Knowing this, I decided we would leave early Saturday morning instead of leaving Friday night. We got up bright and early on Saturday day and were on the road by 5. We cruised along with no problems, and I figured we'd arrive in Prague around 11. I was wrong. Instead we got to our hotel around 1. What should have been about 6 hours turned into 8. There were areas along the way where we got bogged down with construction (typical)... but about an hour outside of Prague traffic came to a complete standstill. We never figured out why exactly... but we sat for awhile... in the heat, in Josh's car with no air conditioning. It goes without saying that we were both a little cranky.

When we arrived I was a bit pleased with myself and my online research and booking. Jimmy had recommended a hotel to us, and originally I planned on booking a room at that hotel (because I take recommendations seriously). But when the time came to make a reservation it was too close to our trip and the prices were way more than I wanted to pay. I spent some time online and came across a botel. Yes, you read that right. A botel. It is a boat which is permanently docked on the river and has been converted into a hotel. I was a bit nervous the hotel may turn out to be terrible... but it turned out well. It was located in a perfect spot to walk everywhere, and since the boat was on the river it actually helped to keep our room cooler during the day (as we had some wonderful warm, sunny days).
We spent our first afternoon in Prague walking around and trying to get oriented. We made our way to Old Town and the main town square in Old Town. If you've ever seen a picture of Prague, this is probably one of the areas featured. There is a large square which has two large, beautiful churches on two sides of it. On one end of the square is the old town hall with the Astronomical Clock. The clock is beautiful (interesting design) and it goes off each hour. When it goes off there are figures which move as the hour is chimed. After the hour is chimed, there is a bugler (a real, live, human bugler) who is at the top of the town hall who plays a particular tune out each of the four sides of the tower (so the same song four times to announce the hour). It was neat to see, but there were throngs of people around the clock each hour, making it hard to see and annoying to try to pass through.


In the middle of Old Town square there was some sort of cultural celebration which had different singers and dancers performing representing different countries. We bought a beer and watched for awhile. We have been spoiled with beer in Germany... the beer in Prague wasn't so great. Still better than most American cheap beers, but not great. We moved on and wandered towards St. Charles Bridge. This is a beautiful bridge which has towers on each side of it as well as many statues lining the length of the bridge. It was full of vendors selling artwork and trinkets.
After crossing the bridge we made our way uphill to Prague castle and the cathedral. The cathedral and the castle are right next to each other, and although they call it a "castle" it doesn't really look like much of a castle. However, I loved the cathedral. The dark color and gothic style reminded me of the cathedral in Koln, which is one of my favorite cathedrals. We wandered around the outside of the castle/palace grounds and around the cathedral. The castle/cathedral are on top of a hill, and they provide amazing views of the city. Prague has a lot of buildings with green copper domes, and many spires/towers. It is a photogenic city. We took a lot of pictures of Prague from this vantage point - some of which I will have to share when I get back home and back to my camera.
We made our way back to Old Town square and decided to watch more of the festivities. We had a "traditional" Czech meal of fried potatoes, ham, and sauerkraut. I am not at all a sauerkraut person. I have never liked it. However, in this instance it was pretty tasty. We went back to our hotel (botel, ha ha) and had some wine on the upper deck before calling it an early night. We were tired after getting up so early!

The next morning we walked to New Town. New Town, as you can imagine, is newer than Old Town. New Town has more museums and a lot more shopping than Old Town. We didn't have any particular plans for what we wanted to do... we were more just trying to see what there was and take it all in. We walked around more of the city, kind of at a loss for what to do. The sun was shining, and it was getting hot. We decided to take a river cruise. There are tons of river cruise boats running along Prague, and we thought it could be a neat way to sight see... and possibly a bit of a relief from the heat being out on the water. As it turns out... the cruise was pretty stupid. We opted to take a two hour river cruise. Although we had some great views and picture opportunities, we didn't see anything more than what we already had. We also discovered the only reason the cruise lasted for two hours was because the boat had to go through a set of locks twice... which lead to about 40 total minutes of idle time.

Our last evening we had dinner at our hotel, which was beyond delicious. It was also fun to sit on the highest deck of the boat and watch the water traffic pass by. We waited until it started to get dark and then ventured out to wander around Old Town/St. Charles Bridge. I had heard (and seen pictures online) of how beautiful Prague is at night when it is lit up. It is true. Prague is beyond beautiful at night. These google images are WAY better than any picture I got... and really pictures can't do it justice.


In the morning we decided to visit the zoo before leaving. I've said before, and I'll say it again: Josh and I have a thing for zoos. I can't explain it. It must be our inner child. We enjoyed ourselves at the zoo and then decided since it was close to noon we had better start the long drive home. It was a long drive home... another 8 hour drive home. We got stopped in traffic on the way home, only this time it was in Germany. Maybe traffic jams on a major road is just par for the course on Memorial Day weekend, no matter where you are.

I'm glad we went to Prague. Prague is beautiful, and it is a unique beauty. I like the style of architecture I saw in a lot of the major buildings. I now understand why so many people enjoy this place, and although it wasn't on my radar before, I'm glad I went.

Monday, May 21, 2012

Homesick Blues

We spent another weekend without hot water. This is not the first time this has happened... and although I hope it would be the last, I doubt it will. I've complained about this before (as it has happened more than a few times). Our house is heated by oil, and our hot water comes from a large boiler in the basement. Occasionally the boiler (for whatever reason) will reset itself and we only realize this has happened when we attempt to take a shower and find only cold water. Other times the pilot in the boiler will blow out and needs to be re-lit. Both of these situations are taken care of by our landlady's son. The third possible reason for no hot water is because we are out of oil. On Saturday morning we awoke to find no hot water. This would be the fourth time since February. As I've said before, unfortunately in Germany... running out of oil on a Friday/Saturday means you are S.O.L. until Monday. It's not just showering either. No hot water means washing dishes is an even bigger chore, and it hinders laundry. I already have enough troubles convincing myself to get those chores done.

The moment we don't have hot water is the moment I want to spend hours in a hot bath. Convenient right? When I feel the urge to indulge in some hot water and I'm not able to, well, it makes me a little cranky. Maybe it was the lack of hot water and the frustration of having to deal with this situation yet again. Or maybe it's still me feeling a little blue after my parents left. Or possibly it was knowing Josh and I had a wonderful weekend together and I was going to have to leave in the morning for work and be away for part of the week. Either way... Sunday evening I was seriously homesick. As in, bawling on the couch as Josh (rather pathetic and helpless) watched and attempted to comfort me.

I believe I have done well with not getting homesick. Anytime I have felt homesick it has been directly attached to something where I have been stressed out or in a stressful/upsetting situation. With work I meet people frequently (women specifically) who are unhappy to be in Germany and long for the day they can return to the states. These people complain about everything and waste so many opportunities which are right in front of them. I am not one of those people. I know my situation over here is temporary (because it is. Yes, "temporary" that is measured in years, but temporary. We won't be here forever). I know whatever I dislike about it can't compare to the advantages and privileges we have over here. I am doing and seeing some amazing things. I am traveling to my heart's content. I have a job (which is hard to come by), it is a job in my field, and I am paid well.


But.

I miss my family. I feel as if I miss out on so many little things - but the little things are important. I miss getting to talk to people. I feel so disconnected from so many of my friends (and family members) because I so rarely get to talk to them. Simply calling someone is never simple. I long for the day when I can call someone without per-arranging a "date" when we will both be free and awake. I wish more people could call me at will instead of having to wait for me to call (bah, international numbers).

And on top of missing people... I think I (at times) just feel lonely. Josh is amazing. He is hands down my best friend. But I still need more than him - and I think any healthy person and relationship does. I am lucky to have found a few, true, good, close friends. I just can count those friends on one hand... and I don't get to see them that often as I work and live in two different places. I guess I never thought I'd be an adult at this age struggling to find or make friends. Part of what has made me feel this way is Josh and I have been talking about him deploying (no, it's not happening, we've been talking theoretically. However, he will be gone for 5 weeks either in June or July for training)... and I realize my "support system" over here is pretty weak. Very weak. I've got a couple of strong players, but not enough for a team. And that... more than lonely, is scary.

So I apologize for a post which is more just whiny and negative. It's something I try not to do. I just feel my homesickness has ran over from Sunday into today and it's hovering - much like the rain clouds outside. Blah. This girl could use a pick-me-up.

Sunday, May 20, 2012

Exploring Luxembourg City

Saturday we continued on our trend of weekend day trips and went to Luxembourg City. It is a close 45 minute drive from our house. We've been there multiple times, but so far our trips have only included the English speaking movie theater, the airport, and the American Military Cemetery (which was totally worth seeing). We'd heard of some worth-while sites in the city, and Josh wanted to go see The Avengers... so we decided to head there for the day.

We didn't have any set plans and really only had the priority to do one thing, which was the casemates. The casemates is a series of tunnels running through fortified stone walls. They were originally created hundreds of years ago as a city defense, but they were added to during the world wars. Now portions of the tunnels are open to walk/tour through. We heard about this last summer and it's been on our "to-do" list since then.

We got parked in the middle of the downtown area, and (as usual) started to wander... just to see what there was. The first thing we came across was the Notre Dame cathedral, the city cathedral. Well, I have a thing with churches, so of course we had to go inside to check it out. We weren't disappointed. The interior was beautiful with lots of stained glass windows, and we were there are the perfect time in the morning so the sun was hitting the widows in just the right way.

We left the church and stumbled upon a farmers market. There were booths full of fresh vegetables, plants, flowers, bread, and (our favorite) fresh Italian pastries. There were different types of little cookies, and you picked out your own types/quantity and were charges by the weight. We picked out a few to share, and then wandered around the market eating our cookies. My favorite was a cookie filled with Nutella and covered in powdered sugar. YUM!
We got a map and directions to the casemates from the tourist office (which, conveniently, was on one side of the market). We wandered out of the market and towards the palace. Yes, you read that right. The directs we were given were "Walk straight towards the palace, walk around it, then turn right...." It was a little surprising to see the palace in the middle of the city. It was a beautiful building, although nothing too grand. In a way it reminded me of Buckingham Palace as from the outside it isn't overly decorated, and there was a guard standing outside (although he looked the opposite of one of the guards at Buckingham... and he was holding a large gun). We made our way to the casemates, which provided some great views of the city and some photo opportunities.

The different openings within the walls and openings you can look out from as you walk through the tunnels. The tunnels are laid out with different "galleries" which are labels A-J. Some galleries are pretty open... others have winding staircases, narrow passages, and dead-ends. As you walk along you are taken both lower and closer to the river, and higher towards the top. The inside is well lit with electric lights, which I was grateful for, but at the same time it kind of took away from the creepy/medieval feel of the tunnels. It was fun climbing through the tunnels. I really enjoyed the views of the city the most.
After our tour of the casemates we headed back towards the market and stumbled upon some sort of "battle of the bands" ... only instead of bands it was drumlines. We watched one group perform for awhile. The music was good, but (as always) the people watching was better. We walked around the main downtown area for awhile longer taking in the sights. I really like Luxembourg. We have always encountered very friendly people, and although it's a small country, they seem to have such pride. I really enjoyed my time.

We then made our way to the familiar movie theater... and The Avengers was awesome. I highly recommend it, and I generally don't enjoy any of the Marvel comic movies... so that's saying something.

Friday, May 18, 2012

A Day of Castles

Despite the aforementioned car troubles, Josh and I had a mission to go do some sight seeing today. I have wanted to go see Burg Eltz for quite awhile. It is on the cover of the Rick Steves Germany book and Rick Steves has stated it is his favorite castle exterior in all of Europe. It is only about a 45 minute drive from where we live... so after a lazy morning, we took off to go visit. The walk to the castle is beautiful. The castle is set at the bottom of a ravine, and it was a beautiful downhill walk into a lush green valley. It definitely has a beautiful approach, and I had to agree with Rick Steves, it is impressive.


The admission price includes a guided tour through the castle and a visit to the castle treasury. We were able to hop on an English tour, which was nice (as not everywhere offers English tours). I wasn't able to take any pictures of the inside. It was interesting to compare this castle to Neuschwanstein as that is still fresh in my mind. This castle (unlike Neuschwanstein) was lived in by multiple families over many centuries. It is by no means grand or elaborate. In fact there was hardly anything gold to be seen, the polar opposite of Neuschwanstein. But it was still neat to see. My mom had said after seeing the grandeur of Neuschwanstein it would be hard to compare any other castle to it. She was right.

After our tour of the castle and the treasury we had to walk back up to where we parked. The walk to the castle was easy and all downhill. The walk back to the car was a bit of a huff... and it started to rain as we were walking. Not exactly the highlight of the day. On our way to Burg Eltz we had driven by another castle, so we backtracked to that castle. Burg Pyrmont is a smaller castle and definitely not as impressive on the outside as Burg Eltz. There was no guided tour through this castle, you were free to roam about as you pleased, which was fun in a way. The exterior of the castle is a bit more rustic, but the inside has actually be used and remodeled as modern bedrooms... which kind of ruined the "castle" feel in a way for me, so I didn't take any pictures of the inside. The most fun part of Bug Pyrmont is you can climb to the top of the tower. It gives some great panoramic views of the area (which right now is quite green). In fact, you could see the top of Burg Eltz in the distance.

The pictures are a bit dark because it was raining pretty heavily by the end of our visit. BUT. We got an extra day for our weekend, and I got to check Burg Eltz off my "to-do" list.

Woe is Flo

I have recently become irreversibly irritated (take that alliteration) with Josh's car. Josh actually has a full sized Toyota truck which is parked at his dad's house back in Montana. We didn't ship it to Germany, and after seeing the narrow, winding local roads in addition to the cost of gas, I feel we made the right decision. It would be a pain to drive the truck, let alone try to park it, and gas would be ridiculous. Josh knew once he got over here he'd buy a cheap little beater car to drive while we're here. A lot of people do that. The military will only pay to ship one vehicle overseas (you can ship additional cars, you just have to pay for it), so many people will have one nice "family" car and then one beater which gets driven to/from work. Josh's beater is a little mid-90's silvery purple Ford Mondeo hatchback (envision an older four door Ford Escort. I wish I had a picture to share). Josh will tell you it's not purple, but its purple. As I've said before, I have a thing for naming cars. We knew the car was a girl (an important first step is determining the sex of the car), but we were having a hard time thinking of an appropriate name. Josh suggested the car was somewhat like an overworked, tired old waitress... by which we thought of the name Flo (from Dumb and Dumber... "So, Flo, what's the soup du jour?"). It is fitting. It's not exactly the manliest of cars... but Josh doesn't care. It runs, it gets him to work, and it is good on gas. Quite honestly, we have driven that car a lot of places and it holds its own, despite being old and ugly. At times I have been impressed with Flo. That was before Flo spent a month in the shop...

Our cars have to be inspected once a year. To make sure you get your car inspected, your registration expires every year. Your registration is attached to your gas ration. Have I mentioned gas rations before? We are allowed 400 liters (105 gallons) a month at our "discounted" US gas price on base. Anything over the 400 liter mark and you must pay the German economy price (which at the moment is somewhere near $7 a gallon). We have come close to using up all of our rations before (I will this month after my trip with the parents), but we usually have enough gas to spare. If your registration is expired you technically don't have a gas ration, so you have to pay German prices. Anyways, the point is, you don't want to have to pay German gas prices, so you need your fuel ration, therefore you get your car inspected (and passed) to keep your registration current. Josh went to get Flo inspected and the car failed. Our base is somewhat notorious for having tough vehicle inspectors. It is hard to get your car passed on the first try (although I have heard a rumor that bribes of Jack Daniels will get you passed). So, no surprise Flo failed. Josh attempted to fix the listed problem himself, but Flo failed inspection again.

We took Flo to a mechanic off base which was recommended by a co-worker of Josh's. We dropped the car off about a week before my parents got here. During this week Josh got rides from a friend a few days and I drove him to/from work on the other days. After one week we were told the mechanic wanted to talk with Josh about cost before they went any further with the car. It took a few days for Josh and the mechanic to connect over the phone (and for Josh to say "fix it, it doesn't matter the cost." For the record, the cost is no where NEAR what you would think it would be, or not like it would be in the US). Then there was a German holiday, which stalled work. Then the mechanic working on Josh's car was sick. Needless to say, my parents were here, gone, and we're still waiting for Josh to have his car back. Every week we think it will be done, and every week there is some reason it's not done. On Wednesday Josh went to pick up his car (it was suppose to be officially done), only to be told they'd found a cracked timing belt. They ordered a new belt, but it wouldn't be in until Friday (Thursday was a German holiday. I swear, they have more flipping holidays where everyone takes the day off...) and so the car wouldn't be done until Monday.

I'm glad Josh is the one who deals with the mechanic, because at this point I probably would have lost my cool and really given him a piece of my mind (which, by the way, I am somewhat notorious for). Words which quickly popped into my head were "unacceptable" and "ridiculous." I mean, seriously? A month to fix a car? For the record, there was something with the brakes which needed to be fixed and they had to fix an oil leak. That's it. Not a total engine overhaul or a transmission rebuild. A month for all of that. Oh, and now a timing belt. My blood was seriously boiling. We've waited such a long time for this car, had to borrow a neighbor's car, ask for rides, coordinate our schedules... We were depending on Flo for our upcoming plans (as my gas ration is low). Grrr. I really, truly wanted to give that mechanic something to think about, because this kind of service is NOT okay, and would NEVER happen in the states (well... it could/would... but you wouldn't stand for it!). And that's when I realized... yeah. I'm not in the states. So. It doesn't really matter what I will or won't stand for. I'm kind of stuck. We found an English speaking mechanic who was willing to work on our car... so... you have to take what you can get. And you have to deal with the general standards of the area. Germans, in general, are slow. Period. They are slow at everything. They are slow at road construction, slow to complete anything (a German construction company has been working on a chunk of road/traffic circle on base for over a year now. One year for one traffic circle). Apparently this also applies to mechanics. I was venting about this at work yesterday, and discovered it is not just us. Everyone who has dealt with a German mechanic has a similar story. Bah. Which only makes me MORE excited about the fact that my car needs some work done/tune up. Joy of joys!

Ohhhhh damn it Flo.

Wednesday, May 16, 2012

Attack of the Bugs

Since my parents left I've been affected with two bugs: the lazybug, and the travelbug. Both of which aren't exactly good...

I had most of the day to myself after dropping my parents off at the airport last Thursday, and I chose to do nothing. I uploaded photos online, blogged, and did nothing. It was nice. I blamed it on being sad. However, this sadness apparently extended into Saturday afternoon and Sunday because I accomplished nothing then either. I sat back and watched the cat hair accumulate on the tile floor (which sounds as gross as it probably is) and couldn't seem to find the motivation to do anything about it. Now I have found myself with a day off, but a filthy house, a stack of dirty dishes, and a pile of laundry to take care of. How do I let myself get into these situations? Again... I'm blaming being sad and missing my parents.

However. We had a fabulous trip. I had a ton of fun with my parents, and we were able to see and do SO MUCH in such a small amount of time. It really has gotten the travelbug in me going. After our trip to Italy in February, I had thought I would have major travelbug itches. I didn't. I think the cold, snowy weather played into it as well as having to get back to school/work. I just didn't think about our next trip the way I usually do. I always seem to be thinking about the next place we can go, or planning out a theoretical trip. But post-Italy and pre-parents I did nothing. However. Now all I can seem to think about is all the places I want to go. I keep thinking (reminding myself) that we are only here for three years. There is a lot of things I want to see and do, and I know I won't be able to see all of them, but I want to see as much as I can. I don't want to waste weekends sitting lazily around the house when there are vineyards to explore, castles to see, shopping to be done. I also blame my infestation of travelbug on the nicer weather we've been having. Currently it is raining... but it has finally warmed up a bit and we've had some sunny days. This definitely makes me want to get out of the house more. Winter hibernation is over, it is time to get out and about.

Josh has Friday off (a somewhat rare occurrence) and as luck would have it I was able to get the day off as well. This leaves us with a full, long weekend to do things. I think I will be lucky to get Josh out of the house on Friday and Saturday, but Sunday will be pushing it. My husband is adventuresome, but he loves having one day in the weekend to just sit. With his job and how hard he works, I can't really blame him. The list of things I could do and want to do with two different day trips is astounding. How will I ever narrow all of my possibilities down?

On top of this weekend, we will be going to Prague for Memorial Day weekend. Josh may be doing some training during the month of June - we won't know for sure for a few more days, unfortunately. This may affect what we are able to go out and do. But, either way, I am hoping for more adventures and much more colorful blogs!

Thursday, May 10, 2012

The Parental German Tour

This will be another long post, so I am warning you and apologizing up front.

My parents arrived for a 13 day visit and it was oh so wonderful. As I mentioned before, they had given me some ideas about what they wanted to do while they were here, but they left the planning up to me. My itinerary turned out better than I could have ever hoped.

The first day my parents got here the main focus was keeping them awake, which was relatively easy. We dropped all of their luggage off at our house and went on base to get them visitors passes. Melissa and her family came over for dinner and we had a nice evening chatting away. Due to all the company and stimulation my parents were able to stay up until around 9, which is an impressive feat.

The next morning (Saturday) we had to get up early and head to base for our Rhein River cruise. We were bussed to St. Goar which is about two hours away. In St. Goar we had a chance to explore Rheinfels Castle (in ruins) before boarding the boat.


Our boat was an "old fashioned" paddle boat. The cruise itself lasted about three and half hours, during which we saw lots of green vineyards, multiple castles, and cute little medieval towns. Prior to my parents arrival we had nonstop dreary rain and cold. However, for our cruise we had lots of sunshine and weather in the 70's. Going from low 40's to the mid 70's made it feel as if it was 100 degrees outside. I was a bit overwhelmed by the "heat," which is pathetic to say. We enjoyed the nice weather, some beer, and lots of photographic sites. At the end of our cruise we had a chance to wander around the town of Rudesheim. We did some touristy shopping at then ate dinner at one of the most traditional German restaurants I have ever been in. The waitresses were wearing dirndls (read traditional German "beer maid" dress), we had a man playing/singing live polka music, the food was amazing, and beers were served in glass boot mugs (think Beerfest).


Sunday morning started out lazy (which was needed) with a late breakfast and lots of coffee (for my parents, not me. I am going strong on my no coffee campaign). My parents wanted to have a low key day since we were leaving in the morning for our road trip without Josh, but I didn't want them to "waste" a day in Europe. I wracked my brain for a bit, then decided to take them to the American Military Cemetery in Luxembourg City, which is where General Patton is buried. I have heard a lot of good things about this place, but have not yet visited (it was on the list of things to do). I wasn't sure what to expect, and was pleasantly surprised (that seems a bit weird to say about a cemetery). It reminded me a lot of Arlington Cemetery with straight, aligned tombstones. Sobering, somber, yet beautiful at the same time.



As I said before, Josh wasn't able to take time off work to travel with my parents and me. We were bummed about it, but duty calls. On Monday when he got up to go to work, we got up and packed the car to take off on our trip. Our first stop was in Rothenburg. Rothenburg is a walled-in medieval village. I had picked our hotel for Rothenburg for two reasons: it was within walking distance of all major sites, and it had free parking. I was a little perturbed when my GPS lead me through the city gates (which is technically off-limits for driving). My stress level quickly rose and boiled over as I had to slow to a crawl to try and inch my way up a cobblestone street (not meant for cars) through throngs of people (who were not paying attention to motor traffic) who walked in the middle of the street. It took us about 15 minutes to weave our way through a distance which should have taken us 2 minutes. It is safe to say I was a little stressed when everything was said and done. However, the stress quickly faded as we started to walk around Rothenburg. Rothenburg is relatively small (especially within the city walls), and we were able to do a fair amount of site seeing. We were also able to climb up onto the walls of the city and walk around the perimeter, which was a neat way to get a birds-eye view of things.


The next morning we were headed to Neuschwanstein Castle, and I was planning to get there via the Romantic Road (a small, winding highway with beautiful scenery). However, my GPS had other plans. It was the first of many times in which my GPS thoroughly pissed me off and lead us astray. When I first turned on my GPS it acknowledged the Romantic Road as a possible route... but once we got into the car and started going, it seemed to have "forgotten" that option. We did a bit of detouring around and finally (as we were closer to the castle) got on the right "road." It was, indeed, romantic. Before our trip I had researched the castle and saw it was possible to make reservations for tickets. I considered doing this, but I wasn't sure what time we would arrive at the castle. I figured since it was the beginning of May we probably wouldn't face the usual summer crowds. I was wrong. We arrived at the castle around 1 and found ourselves in a long line which we stood in for about half an hour. We purchased our tour tickets (you can only see the castle through a tour) and were assigned a tour at 5 pm. About a four hour wait. Wow. Not what I was expecting. But. We got there safely (all-be-it in a roundabout way) and we were able to see the castle, so that is what matters.

There are two castles right by each other: Neuschwanstein and Hohenschwangau. You have the option to tour both, however we chose just to stick with Neuschwanstein. I have heard Hohenschwangau is beautiful and I'm sure it deserves a tour as well. Next time (for me, at least). While we were waiting for our tour to start we walked up to Hohenschwangau to take pictures. The castles are set in a beautiful valley at the base of mountains near a lake. There is a reason why Walt Disney was inspired by these sights.


We also walked up to a bridge above Neuschwanstein to get some other views/pictures of the castle. The walk to Neuschwanstein and then up to the bridge is a bit of a huff - and it was another warm day. However. It was well worth it.

You are not allowed to take pictures of the inside of Neuschwanstein, sadly. I wish I could share the intricate and ornate decorations of the inside of the castle - it was breathtaking. After our tour of the castle we headed towards Garmish and Edelweiss - the resort we were staying at for the next few days. As I said before, I had heard a lot of good things about Edelweiss, and they were all true. The hotel itself is surrounded by the German Alps, which makes for breathtaking views. The hotel is designed and ran like an American hotel, so for me it was a touch of home, so to speak. We settled into our room, rented a DVD, and relaxed.

The next morning we woke up to a crystal clear sky with sunshine. My mom mentioned she wanted to see Zugspite, but she wasn't sure how close we were to it. Zugspite is the highest mountain in all of Germany and Austria, and as it turns out, it was within a close driving distance of Edelweiss. In fact, I was able to buy passes for the cable car up to the top of Zugspite in the hotel lobby. We left the hotel and were on the cable car up the mountain by 8:45. Here is where I will confess I am not a fan of heights. It isn't the height which bothers me. I have never shied away from something because of the height. It is just once I get up to the top of something tall I get bad vertigo and spend most of my time feeling like/worrying that I'm going to fall off/from said height. The ride up the cable car was something wonderful and beautiful for my parents. For me it was nauseating. When we arrived at the top of Zugspite, we were met with some amazing views of Germany, Austria, and the Alps (both German and Austrian). We were able to walk around an observation deck. My mom and dad both looked over the edge and took multiple pictures. I spent most of my time standing in the middle of the deck fighting off my nerves.


The ride back down the mountain wasn't much better. Here is me fighting off a panic attack.

It was hard to believe we had ridden up to the "top of the world" so to speak, seen amazing views, and were back down at my car by 10 AM. What to do next? Luckily the area of Bavaria we were in had lots of things to see. We drove to Oberammergau, which is a small town which hosts a passion play every 10 years. It is also well known for wood carvers (lots of beautiful work to see and buy). We wandered through the town doing some shopping, and then visited the church. It was astounding. From the outside it looks like a small, regular church. On the inside it was a shock to see how colorful and ornate it was.

In the afternoon we drove to Linderhof Palace. The palace is smaller than the castles we had seen, however it has impressive grounds with terraced gardens and a grotto. We took a tour of the inside, and like Neuschwanstein Castle it is elaborately decorated in gold (both were built by the same king, and it was interesting to note the similarities). Like the castle, I couldn't take pictures of the inside.


After the Palace, we decided to drive to Innsbruck, Austria where the 1976 winter Olympics were held. It was something my parents wanted to see. We didn't do or see anything specific in Innsbruck, but it was a beautiful drive and an interesting city.

The next morning we woke up and took the train into Munich. Munich is only about an hour or so from Edelweiss. I didn't want to deal with driving or parking in Munich, and the train tickets were very reasonable. It made for a scenic ride into the city. Once we got into the city we took a hop on-hop off bus tour to "orient" ourselves. After we saw the major sites, we stayed in the older part of downtown, which is where most of the sites are (town hall, cathedral). We wandered a bit taking pictures, and then decided to find some lunch. I wanted to eat at the Hofbrau Haus, which is one of "the" beer halls (an original). According to our map we were close by. After an hour of walking in circles (with me getting more and more frustrated) we finally decided to eat at a cafe we came across. We were able to sit outside, enjoy a beer, and have some good German food. Once we re-fueled, my mom looked at the map and suggested we try, one more time, to find the Hofbrau Haus. As luck would have it, we found it (after we had already eaten, of course). It was every German stereotype rolled into one. The place was filled with large wooden tables and benches, groups of people were drinking beer, and a live band dressed in lederhosen was playing polka music. Hilarious.



Maybe Munich is different during Oktoberfest (that's a stupid statement to make. Of course it is different). I just... wasn't taken with it. I thought I would really like Munich... I was prepared to like it. But I was a bit disappointed. My parents felt the same way.

Friday morning we went to Dachau concentration camp. Dachau is about an hour and a half from Edelweiss, and the hotel provided "easy" driving directions. I had my GPS, and decided I would rather stick with that. Our drive to Dachau turned out to be a bit stressful for me. It was suppose to be mostly autobahn the whole way there. Instead my GPS had me get off the autobahn and cut through the outer part of Munich to get there. What is ironic is the day before we took the train specifically because I didn't want to drive in Munich... yet there we were, driving in Munich. Ugh. Stupid GPS. But. Again, we arrived safe and sound, so I really can't complain.

There are no words to describe Dachau. It is sad. Sobering. Somber. Horrific. Overwhelming. The main entry area is still standing, two of the original 30 barracks are still in place. You are able to tour through one of the barracks and see the old bunks where people slept. We walked along the perimeter of the wall around the camp which still has barbed wire around the top and bottom. The evidence of the barbed wire being electrified is still there. We also visited the crematorium and walked through the old gas chamber (the definition of creepy). The camp has a full museum with lots of information about WW II, the Holocaust, and Dachau. It was almost too much to take in, but it was definitely worth it.


In addition to all of our running around we were able to watch movies, spend some time in the hot tub, and drink wine out on our balcony enjoying the views of the mountains.

Saturday morning we drove to the Eagles Nest in Berchtesgaden. The Eagles Nest was Hitler's "mountain retreat" although he only visited there a handful of times. It wasn't open for the season (still too much snow in the mountains), but we were able to visit the documentation center, which is a museum in the parking lot below the Eagle's Nest. This museum offered a lot of information and history about Hitler and the formation of the Nazi party. Within the museum is an old series of Nazi bunkers which were built during World War II. It was interesting to wander through.

We then drove to Salzburg, Austria (the last stop on our trip). Salzburg is where the Sound of Music was filmed, which is my mom's favorite movie (and one of mine). We took a Sound of Music tour which drove us around to different places in and around Salzburg where the movie was filmed. We got to see the gazebo where "16/17" was filmed, the church where Maria and the Captain got married, and wandered through the Mirabu gardens where scenes of "Do-Rae-Me" were filmed. It was a bit cheesy, but we had a really good time. The Salzburg area - like Bavaria - is beautiful. It was also a good way to see the city. After our tour we walked around Old Town Salzburg and took pictures of the sites. After a delicious dinner we walked back to our hotel to relax and try to catch up on some sleep.

Sunday morning we left Salzburg and started the marathon drive home. The GPS said it would take 6.5 hours to drive back to our house - it did take about that long. The drive just seemed longer because we drove through a lot of heavy rain. Correction, we didn't drive. I drove. I drove, at times white knuckled, through the heavy rain while my parents gawked out the windows and napped.

Monday we had a wonderfully lazy day. We slept in, did some laundry, and hung around the house. I took my parents to our favorite German toy store. We shopped around for a bit, and again, little miss Zoey made out like a bandit and she doesn't even know it yet.

Tuesday we woke up early and drove to Floriade. Floriade is a horticulture expo in the Netherlands which takes place every 10 years. I had thought on a Tuesday in May the event wouldn't be busy, but I was wrong. There was easily close to 20,000 people there, most of whom were retired or elderly people. So, easy to say my English speaking American parents and I didn't exactly fit in (when do we fit in?). There was a gondola which ran across the length of the expo, so we took a ride in that first to get an overview of the expo. We then wandered all through the expo which was set up into five different "worlds" which each featured different themes and plants. There were also different areas for different countries. I had thought each country area would show the different plants from that region, but it was more of a world market type of thing. It was still beautiful, and my mom really enjoyed herself.


Wednesday was another lazy day with us watching movies and my parents packing their bags. This morning I took them to the airport for a tearful goodbye. The cats can't figure out where their grandparents have gone, and they keep wandering up and down the hallway meowing, asking for attention. We're all a little sad. However, I feel confident my parents had a very full, fun trip here.