We hope everyone had a great summer. We had a lot going on, and true to our nature, fell behind in blogging. Below are posts highlighting our summer; make sure to check the pictures too - we've added a lot recently. (Pictures for Vienna and Switzerland will be posted this week!)
It's hard to believe that we hit our half-way point on 15 August. Time has flown by and while we're still enjoying ourselves here, we're also looking forward to coming home. To keep ourselves occupied (though maybe not out of trouble ;) ), we're looking forward to several trips this fall including Oktoberfest, an Eastern Mediterranean cruise, Madrid, and the Alsace region of France.
Sunday, September 7, 2008
Wednesday, September 3, 2008
Second Wedding Anniversary
We celebrated our second wedding anniversary in Mürren, Switzerland. Mürren is a beautiful, peaceful village in the Bernese Oberland of Switzerland. Between the clean, crisp air; the stillness; and the peacefulness of being in a vehicle-less village over a mile above sea level we had a great weekend of relaxing and rejuvenating.
We parked in Lauterbrunnen and then took a cable car and then a train up to our hotel. Our room had a mountain view of the Eiger, Mönch and Jungfrau mountains.
Saturday, we took the train to the sphinx at the base of the Jungfrau mountain. The sphinx is the highest railway station in Europe at 3571 meters (2.2 miles). It was a relatively clear day and the views were fantastic. We looked out over the valley on one side of the mountain and on the opposite side we looked out over the Great Aletsch Glacier, which is the largest glacier in the Alps. Besides being an amazing sight, we agreed it was good that we saw the glacier now...since it probably won't be around in a few more years. After coming down from the mountain, we took a scenic way home on the train, to get the most out of our train pass as well as enjoy some more beautiful scenery.
We made our way to Schynige Platte early Sunday morning for an amazing 5.5 hour hike to Grindelwald First. The difference in elevation over the course of the hike was about 700 meters (0.43 miles) and the distance was about 10 miles. The views were spectacular and for the most part, the only sounds we heard were the wind, sheep bleating, cows lowing, and sheep and cow bells ringing. Although we saw snow several times, we didn't get close enough to have a snowball fight! We climbed through several rock fields and walked above grassy areas with dainty wildflowers. We stopped for lunch at a little restaurant with no road access...maybe a helicopter drops off supplies? It was ridiculously expensive, but we were starving and so it was by far the best brat,coke, and nut roll we've ever had! Our second stop was at the peak of the Faulhorn (2680 meters or 1.66 miles above sea level). The steep climb was killer, but the panoramic view was worth it! After we got to First, we took at least a 10 minute cable car ride down to Grindelwald. There, we relaxed with a beer and an early dinner before catching a train back to our hotel.
Before getting on the road on Monday, we drove to the end of the valley and hiked in Stechelberg for about an hour for more photo opportunities. We spotted a great hike that we would like to do next time we're in the area...it looks like it involves a rope bridge several hundred meters above the valley! We also found a waterfall and had some wonderfully refreshing water as a last treat to the weekend. We decided to take a scenic route home and stopped in Luzern for lunch. We were there for less than an hour, but thought that the city was very charming with its covered wooden bridges and swans swimming in the river. We look forward to going back to explore it more at some point!
It's hard to believe that it's been two years since we were celebrating our wedding with so many family and friends. As you can tell, we're definitely enjoying our extended honeymoon in Europe. We hope you're all doing well, and look forward to catching up with you via email and phone calls!
We parked in Lauterbrunnen and then took a cable car and then a train up to our hotel. Our room had a mountain view of the Eiger, Mönch and Jungfrau mountains.
Saturday, we took the train to the sphinx at the base of the Jungfrau mountain. The sphinx is the highest railway station in Europe at 3571 meters (2.2 miles). It was a relatively clear day and the views were fantastic. We looked out over the valley on one side of the mountain and on the opposite side we looked out over the Great Aletsch Glacier, which is the largest glacier in the Alps. Besides being an amazing sight, we agreed it was good that we saw the glacier now...since it probably won't be around in a few more years. After coming down from the mountain, we took a scenic way home on the train, to get the most out of our train pass as well as enjoy some more beautiful scenery.
We made our way to Schynige Platte early Sunday morning for an amazing 5.5 hour hike to Grindelwald First. The difference in elevation over the course of the hike was about 700 meters (0.43 miles) and the distance was about 10 miles. The views were spectacular and for the most part, the only sounds we heard were the wind, sheep bleating, cows lowing, and sheep and cow bells ringing. Although we saw snow several times, we didn't get close enough to have a snowball fight! We climbed through several rock fields and walked above grassy areas with dainty wildflowers. We stopped for lunch at a little restaurant with no road access...maybe a helicopter drops off supplies? It was ridiculously expensive, but we were starving and so it was by far the best brat,coke, and nut roll we've ever had! Our second stop was at the peak of the Faulhorn (2680 meters or 1.66 miles above sea level). The steep climb was killer, but the panoramic view was worth it! After we got to First, we took at least a 10 minute cable car ride down to Grindelwald. There, we relaxed with a beer and an early dinner before catching a train back to our hotel.
Before getting on the road on Monday, we drove to the end of the valley and hiked in Stechelberg for about an hour for more photo opportunities. We spotted a great hike that we would like to do next time we're in the area...it looks like it involves a rope bridge several hundred meters above the valley! We also found a waterfall and had some wonderfully refreshing water as a last treat to the weekend. We decided to take a scenic route home and stopped in Luzern for lunch. We were there for less than an hour, but thought that the city was very charming with its covered wooden bridges and swans swimming in the river. We look forward to going back to explore it more at some point!
It's hard to believe that it's been two years since we were celebrating our wedding with so many family and friends. As you can tell, we're definitely enjoying our extended honeymoon in Europe. We hope you're all doing well, and look forward to catching up with you via email and phone calls!
Tuesday, August 5, 2008
Wien, Austria
We spent the first weekend of August in Vienna, Austria with Melanie, Adam, Ashley, and Matt. The primary reason we went to Austria was to see the Bodies Exhibit, however, Vienna is a great city and we really enjoyed touring there as well.
We arrived at our hotels late on Friday night. It's a good thing we took a cab, because I don't think we would have found our hotel which was tucked into an alcove along a main street without the cab driver pointing us in the right direction. We shared an apartment with Melanie and Adam for the weekend while Ashley and Matt had their own room. It was nice to have a common area for relaxing in the evenings with a few games of Settlers!
On Saturday, we toured the Tutanchamun and the World of the Pharaohs Exhibition. Although we were slightly disappointed that King Tut himself wasn't actually on display, it was really amazing to see relics from his and several other kings' tombs. The intricacies and customs of the burial process were described in great detail. Also, the unveiling and excavation of the tomb was well documented in photographs.
Unfortunately, (perhaps fortunately for the guys) the opera does not put on performances during the summer months. We were able to take a tour of the opera house though. In addition to seeing the stage from a patron's point of view, we also went backstage. It was interesting to see the iron fire doors which could be used in the event of a fire to protect the rest of the building. Also, we learned that since a different performance is given every night during the performing season, sets are constructed and then deconstructed daily.
Next, we went into the Treasury at Hofburg Palace which houses the Hapsburg's collection of crowns, jewels, and robes. While we've been in treasuries before, this one was truly unique to us. Previous treasuries have been comprised of jewels, weapons, and mostly gold and silver goblets. In addition to the items listed above, it was really neat to see many robes worn by the royal family as well as shirts worn by the knights.
We also walked through the Kunsthistorisches Museum (Art History Museum). The museum largely houses Renaissance paintings by many artists including: Jan van Eyck, Albrecht Dürer, Giuseppe Arcimboldo, Michelangelo Merisi da Caravaggio, Peter Paul Rubens, Raphael, Johannes Vermeer, Diego Velázquez, and Pieter Brueghel the Elder. The building was a work of art in itself and we really wished we could have spent more time walking through it.
On Sunday morning, we saw the Bodies Exhibit. Unfortunately, we weren't able to take pictures in it. While Kurt had some misgivings about it, he thought it was interesting. Carrie absolutely loved it! It was really amazing to see parts of human bodies up close. One of the coolest pieces was the entire circulatory system. They pumped polymer through the circulatory system, let it harden, then chemically destroyed the remainder of the tissue so all that was left was the veins and arteries. Although not for the queasy, it was a great experience! Carrie would definitely go to another exhibition if it were in the neighborhood!
Afterward, we took a 40 room guided tour of the Schloss Schönbrunn (Schonbrunn Palace), which was the summer home of the Hapsburg family. The palace and the grounds were breathtaking! We had a great time walking through manicured gardens, finding our way through a hedge maze, and climbing to the Schönbrunn Palace Garden Gloriette for a beautiful view of the palace and the gardens. We wrapped up our visit with a sample and a demonstration on how to make Apfel Strudel (Apple Strudel). Melanie was chosen to help make it and was certified as a Schönbrunn baker! For all you bakers out there...remember, when making your dough, you know it's thin enough when you can read a newspaper through it!
On our walk to dinner that night, we made our way to the Danube river and visited the Judenplatz --the memorial to the 65,000 murdered Austrian Jews in the Holocaust.
On Monday, we visited the Collection of Ancient Musical Instruments, the Ephesus Museum, and the Collection of Arms and Armor in the New Castle Wing of the Hofburg Imperial Palace. Many of the instruments had recordings allowing us to hear what they sounded like. The Ephesus museum had many fantastic statues from antiquity and got us excited for a future trip to Ephesus. Finally, we spent a good deal of time walking through the arms and armor collection. It was interesting to see how armor changed throughout the years and see the differences between functional armor and 'dress' armor.
We wrapped up our trip to Vienna with dessert at Demel's--THE place to go for rich dessert in Vienna. As we've found with dessert in Germany, it looks better than it tastes. But at least we can say we ate there!
We did a lot of walking over the weekend, and as you will see in our pictures, we saw a couple churches, many statues and fountains, and generally beautiful scenery. Vienna is a beautiful, opulent city with a rich history.
Click below to see pictures from the trip:
We arrived at our hotels late on Friday night. It's a good thing we took a cab, because I don't think we would have found our hotel which was tucked into an alcove along a main street without the cab driver pointing us in the right direction. We shared an apartment with Melanie and Adam for the weekend while Ashley and Matt had their own room. It was nice to have a common area for relaxing in the evenings with a few games of Settlers!
On Saturday, we toured the Tutanchamun and the World of the Pharaohs Exhibition. Although we were slightly disappointed that King Tut himself wasn't actually on display, it was really amazing to see relics from his and several other kings' tombs. The intricacies and customs of the burial process were described in great detail. Also, the unveiling and excavation of the tomb was well documented in photographs.
Unfortunately, (perhaps fortunately for the guys) the opera does not put on performances during the summer months. We were able to take a tour of the opera house though. In addition to seeing the stage from a patron's point of view, we also went backstage. It was interesting to see the iron fire doors which could be used in the event of a fire to protect the rest of the building. Also, we learned that since a different performance is given every night during the performing season, sets are constructed and then deconstructed daily.
Next, we went into the Treasury at Hofburg Palace which houses the Hapsburg's collection of crowns, jewels, and robes. While we've been in treasuries before, this one was truly unique to us. Previous treasuries have been comprised of jewels, weapons, and mostly gold and silver goblets. In addition to the items listed above, it was really neat to see many robes worn by the royal family as well as shirts worn by the knights.
We also walked through the Kunsthistorisches Museum (Art History Museum). The museum largely houses Renaissance paintings by many artists including: Jan van Eyck, Albrecht Dürer, Giuseppe Arcimboldo, Michelangelo Merisi da Caravaggio, Peter Paul Rubens, Raphael, Johannes Vermeer, Diego Velázquez, and Pieter Brueghel the Elder. The building was a work of art in itself and we really wished we could have spent more time walking through it.
On Sunday morning, we saw the Bodies Exhibit. Unfortunately, we weren't able to take pictures in it. While Kurt had some misgivings about it, he thought it was interesting. Carrie absolutely loved it! It was really amazing to see parts of human bodies up close. One of the coolest pieces was the entire circulatory system. They pumped polymer through the circulatory system, let it harden, then chemically destroyed the remainder of the tissue so all that was left was the veins and arteries. Although not for the queasy, it was a great experience! Carrie would definitely go to another exhibition if it were in the neighborhood!
Afterward, we took a 40 room guided tour of the Schloss Schönbrunn (Schonbrunn Palace), which was the summer home of the Hapsburg family. The palace and the grounds were breathtaking! We had a great time walking through manicured gardens, finding our way through a hedge maze, and climbing to the Schönbrunn Palace Garden Gloriette for a beautiful view of the palace and the gardens. We wrapped up our visit with a sample and a demonstration on how to make Apfel Strudel (Apple Strudel). Melanie was chosen to help make it and was certified as a Schönbrunn baker! For all you bakers out there...remember, when making your dough, you know it's thin enough when you can read a newspaper through it!
On our walk to dinner that night, we made our way to the Danube river and visited the Judenplatz --the memorial to the 65,000 murdered Austrian Jews in the Holocaust.
On Monday, we visited the Collection of Ancient Musical Instruments, the Ephesus Museum, and the Collection of Arms and Armor in the New Castle Wing of the Hofburg Imperial Palace. Many of the instruments had recordings allowing us to hear what they sounded like. The Ephesus museum had many fantastic statues from antiquity and got us excited for a future trip to Ephesus. Finally, we spent a good deal of time walking through the arms and armor collection. It was interesting to see how armor changed throughout the years and see the differences between functional armor and 'dress' armor.
We wrapped up our trip to Vienna with dessert at Demel's--THE place to go for rich dessert in Vienna. As we've found with dessert in Germany, it looks better than it tastes. But at least we can say we ate there!
We did a lot of walking over the weekend, and as you will see in our pictures, we saw a couple churches, many statues and fountains, and generally beautiful scenery. Vienna is a beautiful, opulent city with a rich history.
Click below to see pictures from the trip:
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| Vienna |
Monday, July 28, 2008
Visiting with friends in Wiesbaden and Prague
We picked our friends John and Joanna up at the hauptbahnoff (train station) in Wiesbaden on 17 July. They flew into Paris earlier that day and started off their 3-week European holiday by visiting our area. Together with Danielle and Jonathan, we had a great weekend showing them around the area--Heidelberg, Rüdesheim, the Mainz beer festival, and of course Wiesbaden. Danielle dropped dropped them off at the hauptbahnoff on Monday morning and during the week they toured Munich and Switzerland.
We drove down to Prague to meet up with them for the weekend of 25-27 July.
It was a rough drive to Prague...what should have been about a 5 hour trip turned into about a 7 hour drive because of construction and traffic. Seriously, we think the entire country of the Netherlands decided to go camping for the weekend! John and Joanna were nice enough to wait for us for dinner and we ended up eating traditional Czech dinners in the Old Town Square. Unfortunately, we got ripped off at the restaurant--they charged us EACH $5 for bread (little tiny pieces of bread) and rounded up the bill. We ended up finding a cute little pub with cheap beer to get our minds off of it. Kurt was also able to take some great night shots on our walk back to the hotel.
On Saturday, we climbed the Petřínská rozhledna (Petřín lookout tower), which is sort of like the Eiffel tower on a smaller scale. The views were much different from the view we had in February! Afterward, we had lunch, shopped for souvenirs, and headed back to our rooms to relax and change since it was a ridiculously hot day. At dinner, we decided to go on a pub crawl. Our only stipulation was that the beers couldn't be more than 35 koruna (about $2). We meandered our way through the city hitting quite a few pubs along the way before having one last drink at the hotel pub.
On Sunday, we dropped John and Joanna off at the airport and they were off to Italy. We found out later that they got engaged in Cinque Terra! We were wondering if that would happen at some point on the trip and were so excited to hear the news! Congratulations John and Joanna! We're looking forward to your wedding next year!
We drove down to Prague to meet up with them for the weekend of 25-27 July.
It was a rough drive to Prague...what should have been about a 5 hour trip turned into about a 7 hour drive because of construction and traffic. Seriously, we think the entire country of the Netherlands decided to go camping for the weekend! John and Joanna were nice enough to wait for us for dinner and we ended up eating traditional Czech dinners in the Old Town Square. Unfortunately, we got ripped off at the restaurant--they charged us EACH $5 for bread (little tiny pieces of bread) and rounded up the bill. We ended up finding a cute little pub with cheap beer to get our minds off of it. Kurt was also able to take some great night shots on our walk back to the hotel.
On Saturday, we climbed the Petřínská rozhledna (Petřín lookout tower), which is sort of like the Eiffel tower on a smaller scale. The views were much different from the view we had in February! Afterward, we had lunch, shopped for souvenirs, and headed back to our rooms to relax and change since it was a ridiculously hot day. At dinner, we decided to go on a pub crawl. Our only stipulation was that the beers couldn't be more than 35 koruna (about $2). We meandered our way through the city hitting quite a few pubs along the way before having one last drink at the hotel pub.
On Sunday, we dropped John and Joanna off at the airport and they were off to Italy. We found out later that they got engaged in Cinque Terra! We were wondering if that would happen at some point on the trip and were so excited to hear the news! Congratulations John and Joanna! We're looking forward to your wedding next year!
Sunday, July 13, 2008
Naples, Florida
Carrie went to Naples, Florida from 14 June to 12 July for a conference. It was a really amazing opportunity to meet a lot of people from many backgrounds. We had a fair amount of long work days, but were able to find time to have fun as well! The hotel was right on the beach, so after work we were able to play beach volleyball a few times or just go for a quick swim. I tried running in the mornings a few times, but the humidity was killer!
Some of the fun things I got to do were:
- Shopping at several malls and shopping outlets. I definitely miss American shopping!
- Kayaking. Kayaking was a lot of fun but a very difficult workout...especially for someone without any upper body strength!
- Visiting the Naples Zoo. It was ridiculously hot and not very impressive. However, their primate exhibit was a group of islands without fences--apparently natural borders of water are enough!
- Sheriff's department ride along. It was neat to see what they do and their perspective of the community.
- Airboat ride on the Everglades. The landscape of the Everglades was completely unique and amazing. As the boat maneuvered through mangrove stands and over sawgrass, we saw alligators up close and birds peacefully flying overhead. I opted out of holding a baby alligator at the end of the tour. Our tour guide, a former gator wrassler, said that Florida is home to more species of orchids than any where outside of Asia and pointed out a few to us.
- Boating on the Gulf of Mexico for a morning. Several of us rented a boat for a morning and went out to the Gulf of Mexico. While several people fished, the rest of us had a good time swimming. We even found a shore covered in seashells and had fun finding really pretty ones.
Some of the fun things I got to do were:
- Shopping at several malls and shopping outlets. I definitely miss American shopping!
- Kayaking. Kayaking was a lot of fun but a very difficult workout...especially for someone without any upper body strength!
- Visiting the Naples Zoo. It was ridiculously hot and not very impressive. However, their primate exhibit was a group of islands without fences--apparently natural borders of water are enough!
- Sheriff's department ride along. It was neat to see what they do and their perspective of the community.
- Airboat ride on the Everglades. The landscape of the Everglades was completely unique and amazing. As the boat maneuvered through mangrove stands and over sawgrass, we saw alligators up close and birds peacefully flying overhead. I opted out of holding a baby alligator at the end of the tour. Our tour guide, a former gator wrassler, said that Florida is home to more species of orchids than any where outside of Asia and pointed out a few to us.
- Boating on the Gulf of Mexico for a morning. Several of us rented a boat for a morning and went out to the Gulf of Mexico. While several people fished, the rest of us had a good time swimming. We even found a shore covered in seashells and had fun finding really pretty ones.
Tuesday, June 3, 2008
Family Visit Part II
We had a great time showing Kurt's family around Germany from 22-31 May. (Katie, we missed you bunches!) We started out their trip with the traditional "Welcome to Deutschland" schnitzel dinner. Schnitzel, generally a breaded pork cutlet, is a traditional German dish that can be prepared plain, with brown gravy, creamy gravy, with or without mushrooms, as well as various other combinations. We met up with our friends Melanie and Adam and Adam's parents at the Pine Castle Tannenburg for one of the best and probably the biggest schnitzel we've ever had.
On Friday, we attempted to pick up a minivan we reserved for the week. Unfortunately, minivans aren't quite as common here as they are in the U.S. and they tried to rent us a "7-passenger vehicle." The 7-passenger vehicle was essentially, Kurt's Rav4 with 2 jump seats in the trunk. If we decided to take that, we would have not been able to take any luggage with us on our overnight trips! After saying no to that vehicle, they suggested that we rent a huge van, maybe 11 or 13 seats! It was ginormous! We quickly decided that while not the game plan we had in mind, driving both our cars all week, would definitely be easier and cheaper. After the car fiasco, we headed up the Rhein River to the Rheinfels Castle in St. Goar. We had a great time exploring the ruins. John got to climb up on top of a wall and only hurt himself a bit on his way down. We even remembered to bring flashlights to go through some of the underground passages! I think the boys enjoyed pretending they were Indiana Jones! Afterward, it was fun to introduce them to friends at Danielle and Jonathan's BBQ.
Saturday morning we started our caravan roadtrip and headed to Rothenburg ob der Tauber. We explored the Kriminalmuseum where we learned of all kinds of medieval crimes and their punishments of torture from masks of shame to fingerscrews to execution axes. From there we walked through the castle gardens and along the city wall until it was time for the Night Watchman's Tour. The Night Watchman gave us a brief history of Rothenburg and what it was like to live in medieval times.
We got an early start on Sunday and headed to Hohenschwangau and Neuschwanstein castles. Hohenschwangau built in the 1800s and was the summer residence of King Maximilian and his family. Maximilian's son King Ludwig built Neuschwanstein in the late 1800s but died before the castle was finished. Ludwig reportedly bankrupt the Bavarian state in building the castle and as a result it was opened to tourism immediately following his death.
On our way to Munich we stopped at the Wieskirche or The Pilgrimage Church of the Scourged Savior in Steingaden. The church is in the middle of a pasture with woods in the distance surrounding it. It is a beautiful church that was built to accommodate the stream of pilgrims coming to pay homage to the site where tears were seen on the figure of the Scourged Savior in 1738. Afterward, we stopped at Andechs Monastery for dinner. Our dinners were traditional Bavarian meals and we rounded them out with some freshly brewed beer!
On Monday, we took the New Munich Walking Tour and saw all the highlights of Munich. In the afternoon, we stopped at the Hofbrauhaus for a Maß of bier and some Bretzeln (beer and pretzels). Later that evening, we ate in a biergarten and stopped at another on the way back to our hotel for a drink. Before leaving on Tuesday morning, we climbed the tower of Peterskirche for a beautiful panoramic view of the city.
We stopped in Nürnberg for a few hours on our way home on Tuesday. Here, we explored the St. Sebaldus Church and the Nürnberg Castle grounds. John and Rachel also spent some time in the Albrecht Dürer house.
On Friday, we drove out to Burg Eltz in the Moselle valley, which is by far Carrie's favorite castle. The same family has owned the picturesque castle for 33 generations. Family members still live in portions of the castle! We went on a tour of the castle and walked through their treasury. A history of the castle can be found here.
On the drive home, we stopped in Cochem and made our way up to the Castle. Cochem is a picturesque town in the Moselle valley. We enjoyed our short time there. Below are some pictures from the trip.
On Friday, we attempted to pick up a minivan we reserved for the week. Unfortunately, minivans aren't quite as common here as they are in the U.S. and they tried to rent us a "7-passenger vehicle." The 7-passenger vehicle was essentially, Kurt's Rav4 with 2 jump seats in the trunk. If we decided to take that, we would have not been able to take any luggage with us on our overnight trips! After saying no to that vehicle, they suggested that we rent a huge van, maybe 11 or 13 seats! It was ginormous! We quickly decided that while not the game plan we had in mind, driving both our cars all week, would definitely be easier and cheaper. After the car fiasco, we headed up the Rhein River to the Rheinfels Castle in St. Goar. We had a great time exploring the ruins. John got to climb up on top of a wall and only hurt himself a bit on his way down. We even remembered to bring flashlights to go through some of the underground passages! I think the boys enjoyed pretending they were Indiana Jones! Afterward, it was fun to introduce them to friends at Danielle and Jonathan's BBQ.
Saturday morning we started our caravan roadtrip and headed to Rothenburg ob der Tauber. We explored the Kriminalmuseum where we learned of all kinds of medieval crimes and their punishments of torture from masks of shame to fingerscrews to execution axes. From there we walked through the castle gardens and along the city wall until it was time for the Night Watchman's Tour. The Night Watchman gave us a brief history of Rothenburg and what it was like to live in medieval times.
We got an early start on Sunday and headed to Hohenschwangau and Neuschwanstein castles. Hohenschwangau built in the 1800s and was the summer residence of King Maximilian and his family. Maximilian's son King Ludwig built Neuschwanstein in the late 1800s but died before the castle was finished. Ludwig reportedly bankrupt the Bavarian state in building the castle and as a result it was opened to tourism immediately following his death.
On our way to Munich we stopped at the Wieskirche or The Pilgrimage Church of the Scourged Savior in Steingaden. The church is in the middle of a pasture with woods in the distance surrounding it. It is a beautiful church that was built to accommodate the stream of pilgrims coming to pay homage to the site where tears were seen on the figure of the Scourged Savior in 1738. Afterward, we stopped at Andechs Monastery for dinner. Our dinners were traditional Bavarian meals and we rounded them out with some freshly brewed beer!
On Monday, we took the New Munich Walking Tour and saw all the highlights of Munich. In the afternoon, we stopped at the Hofbrauhaus for a Maß of bier and some Bretzeln (beer and pretzels). Later that evening, we ate in a biergarten and stopped at another on the way back to our hotel for a drink. Before leaving on Tuesday morning, we climbed the tower of Peterskirche for a beautiful panoramic view of the city.
We stopped in Nürnberg for a few hours on our way home on Tuesday. Here, we explored the St. Sebaldus Church and the Nürnberg Castle grounds. John and Rachel also spent some time in the Albrecht Dürer house.
On Friday, we drove out to Burg Eltz in the Moselle valley, which is by far Carrie's favorite castle. The same family has owned the picturesque castle for 33 generations. Family members still live in portions of the castle! We went on a tour of the castle and walked through their treasury. A history of the castle can be found here.
On the drive home, we stopped in Cochem and made our way up to the Castle. Cochem is a picturesque town in the Moselle valley. We enjoyed our short time there. Below are some pictures from the trip.
Saturday, May 10, 2008
Family Visit - Part I
Carrie's parents came out to visit from 1-9 May. We started off their trip with a trip to Rüdesheim am Rhein. After walking up Drosselgasse and having some gelato, we took the cable car to the top of the vineyard. It was gorgeous day and the view of the Rhein and the surrounding valley was amazing!
Friday evening we introduced Mom and Dad to several friends when we hosted a pasta dinner. The pasta dinner was in preparation for a half marathon in Luxembourg City that Carrie, Ashley, Adam, and Alan were running. Luckily, Mom, Dad, Kurt, Matt, Melanie, and Liz are all very supportive and drove out to Luxembourg with us on Saturday for the race. The run was long and hard...but we finished! It was a pretty warm day, which we weren't really used to and the course was packed! Also, it seemed like the pack never really opened up which also slowed us down. Alan came in ahead of us, but Ashley, Adam, and Carrie finished in 2 hours 19 minutes 42 seconds. Not too bad!
On Sunday, we went to see the Castle Frankenstein ruins near Darmstadt. The ruins were really cool and we had a beautiful view of Darmstadt.
Afterward, we drove down to Heidelberg. We went into the Heidelberg Dom and had a quick lunch on the square. It was a beautiful day and we had pretty views of the castle.
Monday, we went on a Rhein river cruise from Bacharach to Sankt Goar. It was really neat to be able to see the castles lining both sides of the river. Once we got to St. Goar, we got on a little train which took us up to Burg Rheinfels. After lunch on a castle terrace, we explored the castle ruins for the afternoon.
On Tuesday, we went to Rothenburg ob der Tauber, a medieval walled city that looks like it's right out of a fairy tale. Mom and Dad had fun shopping for souvenirs while we explored castle gardens. That evening we went on the Night Watchman's tour to learn the history of the city and what life was like throughout the ages.
On Wednesday, we drove to the Hummel factory in Rödental, Germany. We took a tour of the factory. It was really interesting to see all the steps involved in making the figurines.
On Thursday, Dad and Kurt relaxed on his last day of vacation while Mom and Carrie drove to Soufflenheim, a pottery town just across the French border. We had a nice time wandering in and out of several stores and made a few purchases.
Thanks for visiting! When's your next trip Mom and Dad?
Friday evening we introduced Mom and Dad to several friends when we hosted a pasta dinner. The pasta dinner was in preparation for a half marathon in Luxembourg City that Carrie, Ashley, Adam, and Alan were running. Luckily, Mom, Dad, Kurt, Matt, Melanie, and Liz are all very supportive and drove out to Luxembourg with us on Saturday for the race. The run was long and hard...but we finished! It was a pretty warm day, which we weren't really used to and the course was packed! Also, it seemed like the pack never really opened up which also slowed us down. Alan came in ahead of us, but Ashley, Adam, and Carrie finished in 2 hours 19 minutes 42 seconds. Not too bad!
On Sunday, we went to see the Castle Frankenstein ruins near Darmstadt. The ruins were really cool and we had a beautiful view of Darmstadt.
Afterward, we drove down to Heidelberg. We went into the Heidelberg Dom and had a quick lunch on the square. It was a beautiful day and we had pretty views of the castle.
Monday, we went on a Rhein river cruise from Bacharach to Sankt Goar. It was really neat to be able to see the castles lining both sides of the river. Once we got to St. Goar, we got on a little train which took us up to Burg Rheinfels. After lunch on a castle terrace, we explored the castle ruins for the afternoon.
On Tuesday, we went to Rothenburg ob der Tauber, a medieval walled city that looks like it's right out of a fairy tale. Mom and Dad had fun shopping for souvenirs while we explored castle gardens. That evening we went on the Night Watchman's tour to learn the history of the city and what life was like throughout the ages.
On Wednesday, we drove to the Hummel factory in Rödental, Germany. We took a tour of the factory. It was really interesting to see all the steps involved in making the figurines.
On Thursday, Dad and Kurt relaxed on his last day of vacation while Mom and Carrie drove to Soufflenheim, a pottery town just across the French border. We had a nice time wandering in and out of several stores and made a few purchases.
Thanks for visiting! When's your next trip Mom and Dad?
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