Apparently, when you travel to a foreign country everyone thinks you must speak the language. But lucky for me it is not a prerequisite for international travel.
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| I love German homes. Check out those flower boxes |
My trip was inspired by the fact that my brother is currently living with his family in Germany. I never pass up an opportunity to get out of the country and explore the world. The trip was planned as a mini-family reunion. Our reunion consisted of my Mom, Dad, Aunt Nan (my mom's only sister); brother Erick, his wife Tera and their 4 kids, Joey, Bailey, TJ and David (who was born at the end of our trip); as well as my sister Kim, her husband David and their 2 kids, Emily and Jackson. We were missing 3 of my siblings and their families (I say families but both Matt and I are families of 1). As you can tell we already had a large group for international travel so I think it was ok not to add another 10 people.
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| Mom and Dad and the view that would inspire me to view...love the Alps |
My trip started with a 7 hour layover in Atlanta. I didn't want to seat in the airport the entire time so I took the metro out into Atlanta. My first stop was to the World of Coca-Cola for a little Coke tour and taste testing. It was actually really fun. I would recommend it to Atlanta travelers. You got to see the Coke Happiness Factory short film which was expanded off the Coke's Superbowl commercial.
(I like the giant lip monsters that kiss the bottle)
I also got to taste test Coke drinks from around the world. Don't be confused; these are not different versions of Coke bottled international these are actually different drinks, like Sprite and such. I did get to taste the drink for Germany; Lift Apfelschorle which tastes like a soda pop version of Martinelli's. I would drank a lot of it on my trip. After the Coke tour, I headed to the Atlanta convention center to meet Ashley for lunch. It was really fun to get a chance to hang out with my roommate on my layover. She was there for work so it was perfect timing.
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| Tasting |
Back to the airport and on my way to Munich, Germany. I watched 3 movies on the plane and slept. I landed in Germany 9.5 hours later (+ an 8 hour time difference) and had my first German breakfast; hot chocolate and a chocolate muffin (Hey, I'm in Germany what did you expect). Tera picked me up and we drove to Garmisch where everyone else was waiting for us.
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| Our home for a week |
We stayed at the military recreation camp in little cabins. Our first day was relaxing as the kids got to play with their cousins and the adults went to the store. It was Sunday so we decided to have a little family home evening about baptism (Jackson had just been baptized and Joey will be baptized in a few months). The kids performed a very entertaining song, "Father Abraham." I should have taken video of it.
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| The performance of "Father Abraham" |
Next day the real trip began. We headed out for a salt mine tour which involved awesome jumpsuits, train ride, and slides. Mishap #1 - TJ's leg rubbed on the slide and he lost a large section of skin. It was an extreme rug burn. We would have several mishaps during the trip. It actually became so entertaining we created a list. I'll only tell you the major mishaps.
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| Jumpsuit sweetness...kids look cute, adults look ridiculous |
After the mine we headed to the Eagle's Nest. This was Hitler's vacation home on top of a mountain. It is supposed to have an amazing view, but due to its elevation it is often covered in the clouds. Today was no exception. We thought it was a clear day, but alas not at the Eagle's Nest.
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| Nothing! |
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| Proof we were there since you can't see anything thru the clouds |
Tuesday, we visited Neuschwanstein, aka Sleeping Beauty's castle. Walt Disney visited this castle and was so inspired he used it to design the Sleeping Beauty castle at Disneyland. This was one of a few sites I had seen on my previous trip 9 years earlier. Although, I saw a few of the same things it was fun to be with my family and to experience Germany as an adult. Mishap #2 only half of our group made it to the castle tour. Usually they have buses that take you up the hill to the castle, but today they were not operating. Due to old feeble bodies and one pregnant body there were a few who opted to wait for a carriage ride which unfortunately did not get them to the castle in time for our tour.
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| Sleeping Beauty maybe? |
Post castle tour we headed to a park for a picnic lunch and a little adventure. The park had an alpine slide. I love the alpine slide. I used to be scared of the alpine slide until my last Germany trip when I discovered it wasn't the scary ski jump ramp.
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| What I thought an Alpine slide was |
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| What I discovered it actually was...much more my speed |
Mishap #3 Kim and Bailey were taking their last run when they crashed. A stupid teenage boy had stopped in the middle of the track right after a corner. Kim and Bailey were booking it down the slide and ran into the boy at full speed. All parties flew off the slide. Kim had a sprained ankle and both her and Bailey were scraped up. This led to Mishap #4.
Mishap #4 we had already been at the park for awhile on the hottest day of our trip. We were all tired and after the crash Kim wanted to head home. Erick, Tera and Dad had taken a gondola to the top of the mountain to watch the paragliders. We had 3 cars and thought we only had keys to 2 of them so we headed back to the cabin without 3 of our group. When we returned we discovered we had both Erick and Tera's cell phones and their car keys. We had abandoned our family in Germany. Now don't go all thinking we were stupid, there was a lot of confusion and some miscommunication which resulted in us thinking everyone was taken care of before we ditched them. David returned with their car keys and everything worked out. But on the upside I BBQ some killer burgers that night.
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| The elusive one...castle that is |
Wednesday was our relax day. We spent the morning swimming and the evening we headed to Oberammergau to shop. Yes, Oberammergau is where the Passion play is preformed, No we didn't go to it.
Thursday we visited Herrenchiemsee castle. King Ludwig II was the king of Bavaria in the 1800s. He built several castle's during his reign, 3 of which are very famous; Neuschwanstein, Linderhof and Herrenchiemsee. Nine years ago I visited 2 of the 3, missing Herrenchiemsee at the last second. It was definitely on my list of things to do in Germany. We took a ferry to Herrenchiemsee which was built on an island. The castle is a tribute to King Louis XIV of France and is designed as a replica of Versailles complete with the hall of mirrors. Herrenchiemsee was never finished because Ludwig ran out of money, but he got enough done to interest me.
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| Entrance to Swarovski art exhibit...I should have known |
On our way back to Garmisch we stopped by the Swarovski crystal factory. We thought we were taking a factory tour, but it turned out to be a crazy art exhibit. I think this is how they get tourist to see the exhibit, because the art was a little weird and I probably wouldn't have gone if I knew what it was. But the crazy art didn't stop me from buying a couple pieces of jewelry.
Our last day at base camp (Garmisch) we drove to Dachau. Dachau was the first concentration camp established during WWII. I had visited Auschwitz on my previous trip to Europe so I really wanted to visit Dachau. I have always been very interested in the Holocaust. It was incredible to me the new things I learned about the Holocaust at Dachau.
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| Jews weren't the only people forced to wear symbols on their clothing. This art shows colors/symbols for other groups. |
Saturday we headed up to Weiden where Erick lives. This was a relaxing travel day and we just hung out at home. Sunday we drove to Prague which is only 2 hours from Weiden. I love Prague. It is a very busy and beautiful city. My favorite thing in Prague is actually the Jewish cemetery. It seems a little weird, but it is really beautiful. There are so many gravestones.
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| View of Prague. My Mom loves all the red roofs |
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| Streets of Prague, I love the streets in Germany |
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| Famous Astronomical Clock in Prague |
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| Jewish Cemetery in Prague |
Monday we walked around Weiden and shopped and packed. Tera went into the hospital Monday as well to have her baby. Baby David didn't want to come just yet so he made Tera wait. He was born Tuesday morning. It was awesome to get to hold him before we left. I won't see him for 2 years.
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| I'm his favorite Aunt and I love him already |
It was a short hospital visit before we hopped on the train and headed to Berlin, our last stop. After checking into the hotel we headed into the city to see as much as we could in 6 hours. Our flight left the next morning so we didn't have a lot of time to site see.
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| Me and Dad on the train to Berlin |
I may have gone to fast for too long because after visiting Checkpoint Charlie, the Holocaust Memorial and the Brandenburg Gate I got sick and threw up in a Berlin garbage can. I tried to recover so I could see the last 2 things on my list (Berlin Wall and Berlin Dom) I sadly couldn't and threw up immediately when we got back to the hotel. I went all the way to Berlin and never saw the Berlin Wall. I guess I'll just have to go back to Germany for round 3. But I did get to see the Holocaust Memorial. It was amazing. An entire city block dedicated to large rectangular stones. All in rows at varying heights. I only explored half of it, but I could have wandered for a lot longer if I had time (and felt better).
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| Holocaust Memorial...so cool |
Our flight left the next morning and I would return home. It feels good to be home. But I am already planning my next big trip...Africa (keep your fingers crossed, it has been 2 years in the making and has been postponed twice).
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