A Passport is a Girl's Best Friend

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.

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, chocol...

Germany. Last summer, my cou sin Florian emailed me that he and his long time girlfriend, Martina, were engaged. So amazing! Another excuse to go to Europe! I love those. Through planning and limited by PTO, I decided we would rent a car and explore the Bavarian Alps South of Munich and make our way to the Black Forest for our first traditional German wedding. Yesterday, Mom, John, Duane and I la nded in the second best city in the world, Munich (Fact: San Francisco is number one). Hello old frie nd. It has been far too long. Struggling, but desperately trying to stay awake, we made our way to our respective hotels just in time for a much needed shower. To accomplish not passing out at 7pm and inevitably making my jet lag unbearable for the next 5 days, we met up with my good friend Fabian for dinner and drinks in the student neighborhood around the University. Man, did I miss my German food and my friend.  Sunday was our only day i...

Happy Thanksgiving! This year we were all over the Bay area celebrating with friends and family. For my family, we went up to Bodega Bay to the beach house for an abalone feed, shrimping on the boat, wine tasting, games and general merriment. Can't beat California coast sunsets Learning how to hunt for muscles in the dark We made a fox friend And with some deer our sweet ride The deck hands....not freezing cold at all The people who actually knew what they were doing I helped out a lot Look at all of those fresh shrimp! We also met some fat cuddly pygmy goats

We arrived in Madrid Tuesday night from our road trip. We originally couldn't find where we needed to return the car in Madrid, so we had a brilliant idea and thought we would drive to our apartment, park, check in and bring our bags to our new place. One thing we didn't think of, that meant driving in old town. Stressful to say the least. Finally, after figuring it all out and dropping off the car, we stumbled upon, wait for it, a gluten free tapas bar, Taberna la Concha !!! WITH bread AND beer! That made up for the past few hours. Another awesome note, our apartment is right down the street from the famous Plaza Mayor and about a 10 - 15 min walk to most things in the city. The view from our terrace After we walked back to the apartment and D started making me some tea, which somehow tripped the power breaker (#6,937 thing to go wrong today) so the owner told me the circuit breaker was on the 2nd floor. I went down to find it, only to find that everything is labeled ...