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Showing posts from April, 2016

Zürich!

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Sunday, we left our little black forest town to start our next portion of the trip, working (lame). The weather has been a little wild lately. Monday and Tuesday I sat safely inside working from my bay window watching the weather go between sun to snow to rain repeatedly throughout the day. Once everyone came home from their adventures (work or exploring), we had a great homemade dinner and then set out to explore the Google office. Tuesday was D and I's anniversary. For dinner, the whole crew set out to old town for a celebratory dinner and to introduce mom and John to some delicious Swiss cuisine, raclette. mmmmmm raclette 2 years! Thursday I spent a few hours in my favorite cafe, Cafe New Zealand, working while enjoying their amazing and music. Tomorrow we are off to the south to go explore some Swiss Alps!

The German Wedding

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Haslach! We arrived to our little town Thursday evening, checked into our little apartment, to then walk over to the families house for a traditional German dinner. Have I mentioned how much I love being in Germany? It was so nice seeing everyone again, particularly for such a special occasion. Last summer, my cousin Florian emailed me that he and his long time girlfriend, Martina, were engaged and this weekend is the wedding! These three, such trouble makers. Friday we showed John around the town, did some shopping, went to Bollenbach to taste and buy locally made schnapps. Spring! Schnapps tasting Mmmmmmmm Schnapps Saturday was wedding day! Germans are crazy. They start their weddings at 2pm and then party till 5am. I cannot keep up with this. Sunday after saying our goodbyes, we drove through the countryside to meet some more family for lunch. 

The Real Sleeping Beauty Castle

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Yesterday morning we packed up drove over the Austrian Alps, then back into Germany to Füssen. Reason? To go to the real Sleeping Beauty castle otherwise known as Schloss Neuschwanstein of course! First we met up with Mom and John to explore the little town. A beautiful full moon with the Alps The palace was commissioned by Ludwig II of Bavaria as a retreat and as an homage to Richard Wagner. Ludwig paid for the palace out of his personal fortune and by means of extensive borrowing, rather than Bavarian public funds... so naturally he went bankrupt, was arrested for being "crazy", and then "mysteriously" drowned the next day in a lake. Hohenschwangau Castle, that King Ludwig grew up in is just a stone's throw away. Alpsee Neuschwanstein Castle Marienbrücke Next, off to Haslach to rest my legs from all of this hiking.

Bavarian Alps and Garmisch-Partenkirchen

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Monday Duane and I picked up our car at the Munich Hauptbahnhof to head south to the Bavarian Alps. Road trip!!! For lunch, we stopped in Ettal to visit Ettal Monastery, a Benedictine Abbey, where monks still run a brewery, distillery and Schaukäserei (cheese factory). The small little town was nestled in a beautiful valley surrounded by mountains that sharply jetted into the sky. After exploring the monastery, we browsed the adorable little shops around main street. The Abby Kid. In. A. Candy. Shop. I was so tempted. So very tempted. After, we had a short jaunt to Garmisch-Partenkirchen, a small little mountain town in the Alps that rests in the shadow of Germany's highest mountain, Zugspitze. Fun fact, Garmisch and Partenkirchen remained separate until their respective mayors were forced by Hitler to combine the two towns in 1935 in anticipation of the 1936 Winter Olympic games. After settling into our B&B, we explored the cute stores, chocolatier, and