We arrived in our hotel room in Berlin at 11:00 PM. The drive was, of course, beautiful and also full of staus (traffic jams). We passed a couple a fields that had over 20 big windmills that were spinning and spinning. I imagine they get a lot of energy from them. It was quite the site to see.
Saturday morning we met the Hunters and found a hop-on hop-off bus to help us tour the city. It helped us see basically everything a tourist wants to see in Berlin. We walked down the Unter den Linden, the most famous street in Berlin. This lead us to the Brandenburger Tor. This is the main gate to the city. It once was part of the wall. The statue on top represents victory in Germany's many wars. To the right of the gate is the Reichstag. This is Germany's parliament building. In it there is a big glass dome with a huge pillar made of mirrors. You can walk around the pillar to get to the top of the dome and see a view of the whole city. When we go to the Reichstag there was a huge line to get in. We decided to just take pictures and come back later to get in to the building and walk to the top. Then a man came over and told us there was a family entrance to use to get in with a stroller. We follows him to the entrance and were very happy to see the line was basically walk right in. It finally paid off to have that huge stroller with us! The inside was really cool. The mirror pillar was amazing. We had headsets that were programed to show us all the main sites in Berlin. Berlin had some very old buildings along with new buildings. They had to rebuild from all of the bombings. It was interesting to compare the different buildings and see the differences between the centuries.
After the Reichstag, we saw that a storm was coming. We hopped on the bus and circled the city. We were so glad that we didn't have to stand in the rain! We past different waterfalls and statues that had different meanings. Most were very cool, some were a little different. We hopped off and found a place to eat, right as the storm stopped. Yay for hop on hop off buses!
After lunch, we headed to Check Point Charlie. This was a checkpoint that the US military police opened to let people cross the border from East to West Germany. There was a very high priced museum that we could have gone into that had different stories of the people who used this checkpoint. But like I said, it was high priced and, with kids, don't last long in museums. I was talking to the lady at our home hotel and she was telling me her stories from crossing the border and wall. She said that she grew up in West Germany and her grandparents were in East Germany. She would visit them for 2 weeks a year because that is all West Germans were allowed in East Germany. She said the checkpoints for crossing were horrible experiences. She said the East side would check all the luggage and everything you were wearing. They didn't want anything brought into the East that wasn't from the East. They didn't want the East Germans to know what they were missing. The East Germans weren't allowed to watch TV that wasn't from East Germany. They weren't allowed to wear anything that wasn't from East Germany. They weren't allowed to leave. They could only leave if there was some huge event, but even then it was up to the guard that day. She said that when her mom died, her sisters weren't allowed to come over. She said the guards were just in a bad mood that day and that is how it was a lot. She also remember that once her mom had a ring on that was given to her by her mom, so from the East, and the guards took it from her on her way back to the West because she didn't have a record that she bought it. She said her grandma died soon after and her mom really wished she had that ring. It was amazing to hear her how she remembered the separation.
After the Checkpoint, we walked down the street to the remaining wall. It was left up as a reminder (and I'm sure a tourist trap). It was interesting to see the wall. It was basically a concrete wall with barbed wire on top. Behind the wall was rubble that they said they wouldn't touch because of all the evils things that we decided on in that spot. They had a wall set up with pictures and stories to read all about some of the horrible things that Hitler did. It was very humbling to see. It reminded me of how glad I am to be an American.
We hopped back on the bus and got to our starting point. We went to Alexandraplarz and had dinner. This also had the Berlin Town Hall and a couple of Cathedrals on in. It had a huge fountain (that someone had left a shopping cart in, Berlin wasn't the cleanest place we have been). We let the kids run around for a while. Then we walked down the street and found the Holocaust Memorial. It had huge rectangular blocks set up. It is called the place of no name. Zack liked running through the blocks. Steve and I enjoyed relaxing on the blocks after the long walk to get there.
Sunday, we woke up and went to church. We were a little nervous because we wouldn't find an English speaking ward. Last time we went to a German speaking ward, we didn't last very long. We weren't getting anything out of it because we couldn't understand it and our boys were out of control. So we left early. We showed up at a church in Berlin, hoping for an English ward. But it was German. But they had missionaries standing in front, I'm sure trying to get someone to come in. We talked to them in and they offered to translate for us. It was an amazing sacrament meeting. During the sacrament song, the Spirit was so strong. We could understand a word of the hymn or the prayer, but we could understand the Spirit of it. There were only about 30 people there (the Hunters and us included). It definitely testified to us once again that this is a world wide church and that Heavenly Father cares about every ward, even the ones with less than 30 people. The rest of the meeting, I felt like we were the American side show. The missionaries translated for us as we tried to control our boys. It is different to get them to sit still when there is a whole empty bench to your side and in front of you. Steve and I took turns taking boys in the hall along with the Hunters. By the end of the meeting, the missionary that translated for us said “Boy, family life is hard!” But we must not have been that bad, because the Bishop came over and invited us to a ward lunch after the block. We told him we would try to make it.
After sacrament, we walked down the street to the Victoria. It was a huge pillar with a statue of Victoria on top (I can't remember if Victoria was some goddess or a queen or what). The missionaries told us the call her Moroni's wife. Then we walked around the corner to a church that had been bombed but they left what remained. It was really cool to see the church. Inside was amazing! There were pictures in tile on the ceilings and walls. Of course pictures of Christ everywhere. Zack started singing “I Belong to The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints” after he saw a picture of Jesus. Good thing people can't understand him, we might have gotten some weird looks. There was also a water fountain next to the church. On our way back to the LDS church, we past the zoo. Zack say a big cement elephant and got really excited. I think that was his favorite thing in Berlin.
We arrived at the church a little late, but all the people were so kind and asked us to come and eat. There wasn't enough of the lunch to feed us. But they were just bringing out dessert. A member of the Bishopric told us to go grab some. We were kind of taking our time to make sure the ward member got what they needed. Then the Bishopric member was like “Come on. Grab some. We're not polite. It's Germany!” This made me laugh. I think this is their country motto: “We're not polite. It's Germany!” But, hey, at least they know it.
After eating desserts, which were quite tasty-but I couldn't tell you what they were, we headed out. We stopped on our way home at the Frieberg Temple. It was a little temple. I think our chapel at home is bigger. But the Brother in the visitor's center was a little offended that I called in little. Opps. It had hostels behind it to house the people that drive days to get to the temple and then stay for a week or so. It was a very beautiful temple!
Wednesday, July 29, 2009
Wednesday, July 22, 2009
PARIS!
“Mom, where are we goin'?” Zack asks, while driving in the car Friday afternoon.
“To Paris”
“WOW!” Zack yells. “I want to play with Paris!”
That is exactly what we did. We played hard in Paris. We drove there Friday night. It took us about 8 hours because traffic was so bad. Construction is every where, even outside of Utah. We arrived a little before 10:00 PM. We hadn't had dinner yet, just snacks in the car. There was a crepe stand just around the corner of our hotel. We grabbed some crepes and took them back to our hotel. Can I just tell you how god they were? They were delicious. I had never had a crepe with ham, egg, and cheese before. I was a little worried about trying it. But they were so yummy! I am going to have to invest in a crepe skillet when we get home. I really think they are the best 'new' food we have tried. Anyway, the next morning we headed out to explore Paris with our friends the Hunters. First stop: the Eiffel Tower. This was an amazing structure. It was even cooler than what picture show. To me it looked very similar to a bridge. The designer had won some contest and that was why it was built. The designer was a famous bridge builder. I forgot his first name but his last name was Eiffel, hence Eiffel Tower. We found out that when it was first built most everyone in Paris thought it was an eyesore. One of the higher up people would eat lunch in it everyday just so he didn't have to look at it. Now it is the thing to see in Paris. It was very, very crowed. We took the elevator to the 2nd floor and looked at Paris. It is a beautiful city. We wish we had know exactly what we were looking at, but we just enjoyed the view. We decided not to go to the top because the lines was hours long. We wanted to see more things in Paris. When we got to the bottom, there was a huge area blocked off and police every where. Everyone was staring at the tower. We looked up and saw a guy standing on the outside of the first floor of the tower threatening to jump. Of course we took pictures! Then we left. We don't know the outcome, but I'm pretty sure they had ropes around him by the time we left. Pretty Crazy!
Next we walked to the Arc de Triomphe. This was an amazing arc that Napoleon built to commemorate his victories. We had to walk under the street in a tunnel to get inside the arc. Inside the arc was a huge France flag. It was a beautiful structure. The engravings were amazing. It had many names on it. There was also a flame burning with flowers around it. We weren't quite sure what that symbolized or whose flame it was.
After the arc, we walked down the Champs Elysees. This is the most famous street in Paris. We enjoyed the walk and loved looking at all the old building. We just took in the Paris atmosphere. At the end of the street was the Place de la Concorde. There was a monument that looked very similar to the Washington monument in DC. This was given tho Paris from Egypt as a gift. This is also where the guillotines were during the revolution. Louis XVI and Marie Antoinette were beheaded here. We also saw some French Poodle walking around. We had to take a picture of that.
From here we walked through the Jardine des Tulleries. We stopped here for lunch. Guess what we had? CREPES! I think I am addicted. I might have to go back to France just to get one. They were yummy! We also had some French french fries. They tasted pretty much just like fries, but without salt. Still good. (did I mention I am going to come back 20 pounds heavier?)
At the end of the garden was the Louvre. This was the most massive museum I have ever seen. It was amazing! It is such an old building. We learned that if one person was going to spend just one minute at every exhibit in the museum, it would take 4 months to go through the museum. We decided we didn't have that sort of time. Sorry, Mona Lisa, we will catch ya next time.
Next we walked across the Seine river to the Notre Dame Cathedral. On our walk, we found THE wedding dress for Becky. You have to check it out. It is in the slide show. Someone make sure Becky sees it! I'm sure we can make it temple ready. :) Notre Dame was also a very cool building to see. The gargoyles were very neat. The line was very long to get inside, so we just looked at the outside. The back side looked even cooler than the front. The bell was very fun to listen to. Also around the Cathedral, there were hundreds of pigeons and a few people feeding them. One couple was nice enough to let Zack feed them. At first, he was a little timid but I think he liked it. It was all he could talk about the next day. Josh also loved the bird. The lady put some seed on his stroller. He was hollering and cooing at the birds. It was pretty cute to see.
From here we walked back up towards our hotel. It was already past 5. We saw a few more sites but I can't remember the exact names. I know we saw the place where Napoleon's tomb is and some universities. We enjoyed looking at all the sculptures. There were so many of them. We even saw one of George Washington and Thomas Jefferson. I really like the ones that weren't any one in particular, just women or men or babies. They were neat.
For dinner, we had a picnic in front of the Eiffel Tower. We sat under a tree and had our sandwiches. While we were eating, I felt something drop on my head. Sure enough, there was bird droppings in my hair! How many people can say they have been dropped on in front of the Eiffel Tower? Thank goodness we had lots of wipees. We ended the day there and got the boys to bed. I wish we could have seen the city at night, but we had already wiped the boys out. We figured out late that we walked over 9 miles this day!
The next day we went on a boat ride down the river. Zack really liked it. We was excited to be on a boat. But the wind started blowing and it got kind of cold. So his excitement didn't last long. It was neat to see the sites and learn more about them. After the ride, we head to the Versailles Palace. As we were driving out of the city, we were able to see the Statue of Liberty. I wondered if we were crossing the same bridge that Nicholas Cage was on in National treasure. It looked very similar, but there are a lot of bridges.
“To Paris”
“WOW!” Zack yells. “I want to play with Paris!”
That is exactly what we did. We played hard in Paris. We drove there Friday night. It took us about 8 hours because traffic was so bad. Construction is every where, even outside of Utah. We arrived a little before 10:00 PM. We hadn't had dinner yet, just snacks in the car. There was a crepe stand just around the corner of our hotel. We grabbed some crepes and took them back to our hotel. Can I just tell you how god they were? They were delicious. I had never had a crepe with ham, egg, and cheese before. I was a little worried about trying it. But they were so yummy! I am going to have to invest in a crepe skillet when we get home. I really think they are the best 'new' food we have tried. Anyway, the next morning we headed out to explore Paris with our friends the Hunters. First stop: the Eiffel Tower. This was an amazing structure. It was even cooler than what picture show. To me it looked very similar to a bridge. The designer had won some contest and that was why it was built. The designer was a famous bridge builder. I forgot his first name but his last name was Eiffel, hence Eiffel Tower. We found out that when it was first built most everyone in Paris thought it was an eyesore. One of the higher up people would eat lunch in it everyday just so he didn't have to look at it. Now it is the thing to see in Paris. It was very, very crowed. We took the elevator to the 2nd floor and looked at Paris. It is a beautiful city. We wish we had know exactly what we were looking at, but we just enjoyed the view. We decided not to go to the top because the lines was hours long. We wanted to see more things in Paris. When we got to the bottom, there was a huge area blocked off and police every where. Everyone was staring at the tower. We looked up and saw a guy standing on the outside of the first floor of the tower threatening to jump. Of course we took pictures! Then we left. We don't know the outcome, but I'm pretty sure they had ropes around him by the time we left. Pretty Crazy!
Next we walked to the Arc de Triomphe. This was an amazing arc that Napoleon built to commemorate his victories. We had to walk under the street in a tunnel to get inside the arc. Inside the arc was a huge France flag. It was a beautiful structure. The engravings were amazing. It had many names on it. There was also a flame burning with flowers around it. We weren't quite sure what that symbolized or whose flame it was.
After the arc, we walked down the Champs Elysees. This is the most famous street in Paris. We enjoyed the walk and loved looking at all the old building. We just took in the Paris atmosphere. At the end of the street was the Place de la Concorde. There was a monument that looked very similar to the Washington monument in DC. This was given tho Paris from Egypt as a gift. This is also where the guillotines were during the revolution. Louis XVI and Marie Antoinette were beheaded here. We also saw some French Poodle walking around. We had to take a picture of that.
From here we walked through the Jardine des Tulleries. We stopped here for lunch. Guess what we had? CREPES! I think I am addicted. I might have to go back to France just to get one. They were yummy! We also had some French french fries. They tasted pretty much just like fries, but without salt. Still good. (did I mention I am going to come back 20 pounds heavier?)
At the end of the garden was the Louvre. This was the most massive museum I have ever seen. It was amazing! It is such an old building. We learned that if one person was going to spend just one minute at every exhibit in the museum, it would take 4 months to go through the museum. We decided we didn't have that sort of time. Sorry, Mona Lisa, we will catch ya next time.
Next we walked across the Seine river to the Notre Dame Cathedral. On our walk, we found THE wedding dress for Becky. You have to check it out. It is in the slide show. Someone make sure Becky sees it! I'm sure we can make it temple ready. :) Notre Dame was also a very cool building to see. The gargoyles were very neat. The line was very long to get inside, so we just looked at the outside. The back side looked even cooler than the front. The bell was very fun to listen to. Also around the Cathedral, there were hundreds of pigeons and a few people feeding them. One couple was nice enough to let Zack feed them. At first, he was a little timid but I think he liked it. It was all he could talk about the next day. Josh also loved the bird. The lady put some seed on his stroller. He was hollering and cooing at the birds. It was pretty cute to see.
From here we walked back up towards our hotel. It was already past 5. We saw a few more sites but I can't remember the exact names. I know we saw the place where Napoleon's tomb is and some universities. We enjoyed looking at all the sculptures. There were so many of them. We even saw one of George Washington and Thomas Jefferson. I really like the ones that weren't any one in particular, just women or men or babies. They were neat.
For dinner, we had a picnic in front of the Eiffel Tower. We sat under a tree and had our sandwiches. While we were eating, I felt something drop on my head. Sure enough, there was bird droppings in my hair! How many people can say they have been dropped on in front of the Eiffel Tower? Thank goodness we had lots of wipees. We ended the day there and got the boys to bed. I wish we could have seen the city at night, but we had already wiped the boys out. We figured out late that we walked over 9 miles this day!
The next day we went on a boat ride down the river. Zack really liked it. We was excited to be on a boat. But the wind started blowing and it got kind of cold. So his excitement didn't last long. It was neat to see the sites and learn more about them. After the ride, we head to the Versailles Palace. As we were driving out of the city, we were able to see the Statue of Liberty. I wondered if we were crossing the same bridge that Nicholas Cage was on in National treasure. It looked very similar, but there are a lot of bridges.
Versailles Palace
This palace was MASSIVE! It was so big! I can't even begin to explain it to you. I'm sure the gardens alone were bigger than my ward boundaries back home. We didn't have time to tour the inside. The line again was long and both the guys with us had to back to work early Monday morning. We decided to just do the gardens. It was so amazing! There were water fountains all over the place. It seemed like where ever you stood you could see like 3 different water fountains. Zack was able to sit in our friend's stroller. He loved it. He laughed and laughed with their daughter. Matt would run over these large bumps in the walk way and Zack would yell “another one! Another one!” He thought he was cool. We are so lucky to have met friends here to share this experience with. Josh wasn't thrilled about the gardens. He was so tired! But we didn't want him to sleep so that he would sleep on the car ride home. He did get to the silly stage of being tired and ended up laughing at everything. Cute baby boy! We loved Versailles but had to leave to get home. We could have spent a whole day there. It took us less than 6 hour to get home. This was a very exciting weekend. Paris was amazing!
Joshua! (or Josh-Josh as Zack calls him)
I have been posting about all of our fun trips, but have neglecting doing updates about our boys. Josh is 10 months old today! Wow-time flys! NO-he still isn't crawling. He does an army crawl, but really prefers to scoot on his bum.
These videos were taken over a month ago. he started doing this just as we arrived. He is much faster now! Within seconds we can be across the room.
Both Steve and I agree that he does say three word (on purpose, when he wants it): mama, dada and baba (for bottle). So maybe he isn't too slow. He is quite the attention wanter. He will try to talk to everyone on the streets. He has learned to wave hi and will have his arm and screech at anyone passing by. He thinks everyone's attention should be on him all the time. The women and the hotel just love him. Zack is very shy with them, but Josh just smiles and laughs at them all the time. He is very social!
He has been sleeping in a play pen, while we have been here. The play pen has netting for the sides. He tries to crawl out of it. It is so funny to see his face all squished up. It makes me laugh and then he laughs and then will keep doing it just to make us all laugh. Last night Steve and I were laughing so hard we were both crying. He is such a silly boy!
These videos were taken over a month ago. he started doing this just as we arrived. He is much faster now! Within seconds we can be across the room.
Both Steve and I agree that he does say three word (on purpose, when he wants it): mama, dada and baba (for bottle). So maybe he isn't too slow. He is quite the attention wanter. He will try to talk to everyone on the streets. He has learned to wave hi and will have his arm and screech at anyone passing by. He thinks everyone's attention should be on him all the time. The women and the hotel just love him. Zack is very shy with them, but Josh just smiles and laughs at them all the time. He is very social!
He has been sleeping in a play pen, while we have been here. The play pen has netting for the sides. He tries to crawl out of it. It is so funny to see his face all squished up. It makes me laugh and then he laughs and then will keep doing it just to make us all laugh. Last night Steve and I were laughing so hard we were both crying. He is such a silly boy!
Tuesday, July 14, 2009
Legoland
The next two months we are going to be traveling a lot and doing things that Zack might not think are as cool as we do, so we decided to stay close and do something he would like to do. Legoland Germany is only an hour way from our home base in Boblingen, so we decided to go there. We went with the Hunter family. The dad, Matt, works with Steve and is doing the same rotation thing as Steve. They are also from Layton. They have 3 kids and are really fun to hang out with. In one of the pictures there is a baby asleep on Steve, it is their baby. She is really cute. The interaction between Josh and her is really fun to watch. We were glad they came with us.
We spent the day going on rides and letting the kids play. Zack loved it! He has been talking about it since we got back. He liked to see the dinosaurs and pirates. He loved riding the horse, driving the boat and flying the plane. He wanted to get in trucks (but you know how he really says it), but he was too short. (side note: I have discovered that German's also know that how Zack says truck is a bad word. You should see the looks I get when he yells that. I don't think they understand truck (the real word) when I try to correct him. They look like I am horrible mother because my son is saying that word. But really he is just excited to see a garbage truck. Maybe they should learn more English than swear words.) Zack did love all the rides! He giggled the whole time on a lot of them. But he was not a huge fan of the characters. He had to be in Mom's arms and on the opposite side of the Mom than the character. He held me really tight which explains my face in some of the pictures.
Steve and I thought the Lego City was really cool. They had all the big German cities and some other Europe cities all made out of Legos. It was really cool to see Venice and Berlin made out of Legos. I couldn't imagine putting them all together. It must have taken months to complete. They had a big soccer stadium made out of Lego. They had one side open and the stadium was full of lego people. They had lights flashing like cameras going off. It was really cool. That is how all of the cities were. They had things moving and lights flashing and music going. It was really cool.
We also learned about German line etiquette. They have none. They are very pushy and will cut in front of you if you are not moving in the line. We were in front of the line for a coaster. It had spots marked off corresponding to the seat on the ride. Steve and I were in our spot for the front two seats in a four seat car. There were three people behind us for the back row. When the gates moved so that we could get to our seat, the people behind us moved and tried to jump in front of us (these were the same people who had cut in front of us in line already). We just kept walking and got to our seats. They tried to look confused and said something to us in German. But we got in our seats and went for the ride. That is just one example of how they pushy they are in lines.
By the end of the day, Zack was exhausted. But he had a lot of fun. Now he wants to go to Disneyland (after watching the Disney Sing-A-long and realizing what the rides actually are) , so Grandpa you better be saving your money!
We spent the day going on rides and letting the kids play. Zack loved it! He has been talking about it since we got back. He liked to see the dinosaurs and pirates. He loved riding the horse, driving the boat and flying the plane. He wanted to get in trucks (but you know how he really says it), but he was too short. (side note: I have discovered that German's also know that how Zack says truck is a bad word. You should see the looks I get when he yells that. I don't think they understand truck (the real word) when I try to correct him. They look like I am horrible mother because my son is saying that word. But really he is just excited to see a garbage truck. Maybe they should learn more English than swear words.) Zack did love all the rides! He giggled the whole time on a lot of them. But he was not a huge fan of the characters. He had to be in Mom's arms and on the opposite side of the Mom than the character. He held me really tight which explains my face in some of the pictures.
Steve and I thought the Lego City was really cool. They had all the big German cities and some other Europe cities all made out of Legos. It was really cool to see Venice and Berlin made out of Legos. I couldn't imagine putting them all together. It must have taken months to complete. They had a big soccer stadium made out of Lego. They had one side open and the stadium was full of lego people. They had lights flashing like cameras going off. It was really cool. That is how all of the cities were. They had things moving and lights flashing and music going. It was really cool.
We also learned about German line etiquette. They have none. They are very pushy and will cut in front of you if you are not moving in the line. We were in front of the line for a coaster. It had spots marked off corresponding to the seat on the ride. Steve and I were in our spot for the front two seats in a four seat car. There were three people behind us for the back row. When the gates moved so that we could get to our seat, the people behind us moved and tried to jump in front of us (these were the same people who had cut in front of us in line already). We just kept walking and got to our seats. They tried to look confused and said something to us in German. But we got in our seats and went for the ride. That is just one example of how they pushy they are in lines.
By the end of the day, Zack was exhausted. But he had a lot of fun. Now he wants to go to Disneyland (after watching the Disney Sing-A-long and realizing what the rides actually are) , so Grandpa you better be saving your money!
Hohenzollern Castle
Sunday, after church, we headed to the Hohenzollern Castle. Unfortunately the only tour they had was in German, so I can't tell you mush about this castle. It was a really pretty castle both inside and out. I think it was a castle for a queen because the only bedroom was a Queen's room. We did see a lot of Knight Armor. It was really old. The swords, spears and daggers were really neat. We also saw a crown that was gorgeous. We saw the Queen's day dress. If I saw it before I got married and I had a reception, I would have looked for a wedding dress similar. It was the most amazing dress I have ever seen. But of course it was inside where no pictures are allowed.
Zack loves looking at the castles. He liked walking in the middle of this one. While we were walking along, he said “Guys, this is crazy!” I think that explains what we think everyday. We all get moments that are like “Oh, I am in Germany. I can't believe it,” basically “this is crazy!” We are enjoying ourselves here. But I would be lying if I said we weren't getting a little homesick. But that goes away as soon as we remember that soon we will be in Paris, Rome, Venice, Berlin, Belgium just to name a few.
Zack loves looking at the castles. He liked walking in the middle of this one. While we were walking along, he said “Guys, this is crazy!” I think that explains what we think everyday. We all get moments that are like “Oh, I am in Germany. I can't believe it,” basically “this is crazy!” We are enjoying ourselves here. But I would be lying if I said we weren't getting a little homesick. But that goes away as soon as we remember that soon we will be in Paris, Rome, Venice, Berlin, Belgium just to name a few.
Tuesday, July 7, 2009
Garmisch, Germany
On Thursday afternoon, we took off to Garmisch. This is a little town in the south east part of Germany. It is the base of the highest peak on Germany, the Zugspitz. We didn't visit the peak but looked at it from afar. It wasn't nearly as high as the Matterhorn or the other Swiss Alps, so we decided to check out some other things. We stayed at a resort that is only available to Military and Government employees. It was really nice to be somewhere were everyone spoke English. We were excited to celebrate the 4th of July here, but our boys were much too tired to stay up for fireworks. We just listened to them from our room while our boys were asleep. We are wearing those boys out. They have been great travelers. We drive a TON every weekend. They just hang out and rarely complain. This is one of the things Zack does to entertain us during our drives.
He made up this song all by himself. He is saying "The roar is going to come and get me." Sorry about the camera work. If he sees the camera he usually stops, so I was trying to be discrete.
On Friday, we woke up and went to see castles. We visited the Hohenschwangau, Neuschwantstein, and Linderhof castles. They were amazing.
He made up this song all by himself. He is saying "The roar is going to come and get me." Sorry about the camera work. If he sees the camera he usually stops, so I was trying to be discrete.
On Friday, we woke up and went to see castles. We visited the Hohenschwangau, Neuschwantstein, and Linderhof castles. They were amazing.
Hohenschwangau Castle
We walked a mile and a half up a big hill to get to the Hohenschwangau Castle. This was a Neo-Gothic castle that King Maximillian II restored. When he died, his son King Ludwig II took over the castle. We were able to go inside, but weren't allowed to take pictures. Zack was so excited that the castle was open. He has wanted to go inside every castle we have seen. Once we got inside, he decided it was scary. But I think he liked it. Since then he talks about the King's BIG bed. He even found a picture of the Salt Lake Temple and told me the King had a big bed in there.
Inside the castle was amazing. They didn't put pictures on the wall; they painted pictures on the wall. They would even hand paint frames around the pictures. The ceilings were incredible. There was molding all over in lots of different patterns- some was painted with color; others just blended in the ceiling. We learned that King Maximillian II had all the painted pictures clothed, but when King Ludwig took over, he had them repainted without clothes. This castle was beautiful.
When we walked out of the castle, it was POURING. The weather here is very interesting. It can be a sunny and warm and then within seconds start down pouring with thunder and lighten. We have learned we need to always be prepared. But we weren't as prepared as we should have been for this. We had umbrellas but no jackets. The boys stroller was left outside and was soaked! So instead of causally walking down the hill, we ran! The poor boys got soaked. But they re so good, they didn't cry or complain or anything. We grabbed our jacket and headed off to the Neuschwantstein Castle.
Inside the castle was amazing. They didn't put pictures on the wall; they painted pictures on the wall. They would even hand paint frames around the pictures. The ceilings were incredible. There was molding all over in lots of different patterns- some was painted with color; others just blended in the ceiling. We learned that King Maximillian II had all the painted pictures clothed, but when King Ludwig took over, he had them repainted without clothes. This castle was beautiful.
When we walked out of the castle, it was POURING. The weather here is very interesting. It can be a sunny and warm and then within seconds start down pouring with thunder and lighten. We have learned we need to always be prepared. But we weren't as prepared as we should have been for this. We had umbrellas but no jackets. The boys stroller was left outside and was soaked! So instead of causally walking down the hill, we ran! The poor boys got soaked. But they re so good, they didn't cry or complain or anything. We grabbed our jacket and headed off to the Neuschwantstein Castle.
Neuschwantstein Castle
The Neuschwantstein Castle is the castle which Walt Disney used to design Sleeping Beauty's castle at Disneyland. It looks amazingly similar. We also had to walk a mile and a half up to the entrance of this castle. Yes, it was still raining. We walked as fast as we could. We found a covered place to store the stroller and went inside. This castle was even more amazing than the last one. The wood work in here was amazing. It was all hand carved. Above the King's bed was a wooden canopy which was incredible. I think this is where Zack was amazed at the King's bed. It was also interesting to see that all the castles had a prayer room in the King's room. This castle was not finished before King Ludwig died and never go finished. We could only see the few levels he finished and they were breath taking. But again no pictures were allowed. Sorry.
After the tour of the inside, we walked around a little outside. It had stopped raining. But we were all wet, so we didn't stay long. It was a very pretty castle and the view was amazing. After running down the hill (it is easier to run with the stroller than try to walk with it, but you should have seen some of the looks), we made it to our car and headed over to the Linderhof Palace.
After the tour of the inside, we walked around a little outside. It had stopped raining. But we were all wet, so we didn't stay long. It was a very pretty castle and the view was amazing. After running down the hill (it is easier to run with the stroller than try to walk with it, but you should have seen some of the looks), we made it to our car and headed over to the Linderhof Palace.
Linderhof Palace
The Linderhof Palace was King Ludwig's favorite. He built it after the palace in Versailles, France. He also made it so that he could be alone. His dining room table was able to be lowered through the floor to the kitchen where the servants would load it up with food and then send it back up to the king. I guess he liked his alone time. The inside of this castle was also amazing. Many of it modelings and décor were covered with gold leaves. It also had a mirror room where all the walls were covered in mirrors. It was very funny to watch the tour guide show everyone how to look in the mirror and that it made us go on forever. We thought that looked a little familiar. Everyone else was amazed and how the mirrors could do that.
Outside the castle was a man-made cave. The King wanted somewhere to go to see an opera that wasn't crowded; somewhere he could just sit and listed. So he built a cave. In the cave, there was a stage, a place for the orchestra (not the whole thing, but most of it), and for him to sit. People would come and perform for him here. It was a pretty cool cave.
We headed back to the car and guess what...it started POURING again. Just as we had dried out, we got all wet again. This was the wettest weekend we have had so far.
Outside the castle was a man-made cave. The King wanted somewhere to go to see an opera that wasn't crowded; somewhere he could just sit and listed. So he built a cave. In the cave, there was a stage, a place for the orchestra (not the whole thing, but most of it), and for him to sit. People would come and perform for him here. It was a pretty cool cave.
We headed back to the car and guess what...it started POURING again. Just as we had dried out, we got all wet again. This was the wettest weekend we have had so far.
Crystal World
Saturday, we got up and really didn't know what we were going to do. We decided to head into Austria and see what we could do. We heard that “The Crystal World” was a cool museum. So we headed there. The museum was sort of under ground. Look in the pictures at the big head. We went into basically the head's ear to get inside the museum. It was an interesting museum. We thought there would be a lot of crystals and different sculptures in crystal or made up of crystals. There was some of that, but there was other stuff too. There were dancing legs and mechanical men and women (who were naked so there are no pics). There were a lot of cool technological things like a floor that made a stone walk way in the exact place you walked. We could watch a movie on a screen made of crystals. It was a fun museum to go to. When you exit the museum, you walk right into a crystal store. This store had some amazing things and was very pricey. Zack really liked the crystal tiger and really wanted the crystal soccer ball. He was a little upset when we told him no. We left that store only to find that they also had a park. It was the most normal park I have seen so far. Zack played there for a while.
When Zack was done playing, we headed off to Innsbruck to see what we could do. There's not much to do in Innsbruck. We tried to find a chapel with a gold roof that everyone told us about, but we couldn't find it. We left Innsbruck and check out a little town called Oberammergau, Germany. It was a neat little town.
When Zack was done playing, we headed off to Innsbruck to see what we could do. There's not much to do in Innsbruck. We tried to find a chapel with a gold roof that everyone told us about, but we couldn't find it. We left Innsbruck and check out a little town called Oberammergau, Germany. It was a neat little town.
Partnach Gorge
After the little town, we went to the Partnach Gorge. This was a little hike that followed the gorge to the top. The waterfall at the top was little, but the gorge was beautiful. It was a very fun hike. But just like this weekend had been. When we got up to the top of the gorge where there is only one way to go and that way is outside, what happens? It starts to POUR. This time we did have jackets and umbrellas and the stroller was in the car. But somehow with all that stuff, we still got drenched.
We returned to the hotel looking like we had just gone on Big Foot Rapids. We changed our clothes and went to dinner. The resort we stayed at was almost like a little America inside Germany. We actually had some onion rings and a good burger for dinner. It was nice! The resort had a lot of activities going for the 4th, but all Zack wanted to do was watch “Finding Nemo” which they had playing on a big screen. SO we skipped the Magic Show. I took Josh to bed. Steve and Zack were able to watch a little of a Bavarian Show. Zack was soon tired and Steve brought him to the room. Zack wanted to watch fireworks but was out before he could even think about it.
Sunday, we went to church in Munich. We were going to go to another castle that is close to our home hotel. But it started pouring. We will see it another time. When we pulled up to ur hotel, there were big tents and people everywhere. We couldn't even get to our parking lot. I ran in to see where we were supposed to go. The owner told me it was the annual Boblingen Festival. After we got our car situatated, we walked around and checked it out. It was a cool little festival. There was a little bit a everything. We even got to see the two drunkest men we have ever seen. We also tired so crepes. Delicious!
We returned to the hotel looking like we had just gone on Big Foot Rapids. We changed our clothes and went to dinner. The resort we stayed at was almost like a little America inside Germany. We actually had some onion rings and a good burger for dinner. It was nice! The resort had a lot of activities going for the 4th, but all Zack wanted to do was watch “Finding Nemo” which they had playing on a big screen. SO we skipped the Magic Show. I took Josh to bed. Steve and Zack were able to watch a little of a Bavarian Show. Zack was soon tired and Steve brought him to the room. Zack wanted to watch fireworks but was out before he could even think about it.
Sunday, we went to church in Munich. We were going to go to another castle that is close to our home hotel. But it started pouring. We will see it another time. When we pulled up to ur hotel, there were big tents and people everywhere. We couldn't even get to our parking lot. I ran in to see where we were supposed to go. The owner told me it was the annual Boblingen Festival. After we got our car situatated, we walked around and checked it out. It was a cool little festival. There was a little bit a everything. We even got to see the two drunkest men we have ever seen. We also tired so crepes. Delicious!
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