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.
Tuesday, July 14, 2009
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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