Sooo....... We have been very overwhelmed since getting into our home and very busy traveling with The Theriots, our friends in town from Atlanta:). They arrived on June 5th and are visiting through July 4. I will go back in time with my blog but first I wanted to share about this past weekend while it is fresh in my mind.
On Friday, June 14, we took our weekend trip to the Bavarian Alps and stayed at Edeilweiss Lodge in Garmisch. The resort is owned by the US Government and is available to all government employees...... Yay that is us. It reminded us all of Animal Kingdom in Disney, was rugged and fantasy like AND it was nice to use American money and not worry about the language barrier.
On the ride up we visited Neuschwanstein Castle, Disney replica castle. So beautiful we learned all about Mad King Ludwig, this is the castle he lived in when he died at such a young age. This castle is still not completed but it was very interesting to walk through. After the long steep 30 minute walk to the top we knew we were in for a treat. Besides e castle being amazing we were able to walk on Mary's bridge..... It was completely held up between 2 mou tains and was in the air in e middle of nowhere. Great pics of the castle from here.
After the castle tour we walked around the town a bit then headed on to Austria. That was pretty neat to just go in another country so conveniently. We bought Austrian beer and wine, which were both wonderful.
After all that we headed to the resort where Tanya and I visited the bar while everyone else swam. I had my first stoli vanilla and diet since leaving the states. Ahhhhhh..... For dinner we had a burger, salad, and buffalo wings, all American:) AND the kids played in the arcade, WooHoo
Saturday morning we woke up well rested and ready for the cheese factory tour Tanya had planned for us. Oh, we also had Starbucks , again for the first time leaving the states. Although every coffee shop has a Latte Machiato, which is my new favorite coffee:) AND it tastes delish from any coffee shop we visit.
Anyway, the cheese tour, that we frantically rushed to was not all that much of a tour after all. The cheese making place was partenered with the Ettal Montestary and called Ammergauer Alpen. The cheese, butter, cheesecake, and milk were all delicious but there really was no tour. It was a 30 minute video all in German, so we understood ZERO!!! But we ate cheese at the end:)
After the video presentation we visited the Montestary built in the 1300s. Can we just say BEAUTIFUL '!!!!!
When dinner rolled around we bussed it to a very are tic German restaurant where we had Jagerschnitzel covered in cheese and spinach with a mushroom gravy and a side of spatzle, there famous "egg noodle" see picture below. We also had Goulash Soupa, words cannot describe how good that was. This was the best German food we have had since we have been here. There were 2 boys that were dressed in their German attire doing slap dancing to the man playing the tunes on the piano. These boys looked about 14, maybe (see pic below) and were sitting at the bar drinking very dark beer, known in Germany as Dunkel. We were all cracking up laughing over this.
Once we finished dinner we walked back to the bus and the sky fell out. Literally. The bus came and when we reached the resort it was still pouring and we got SOAKED! All part of the fun of living in Germany I guess. The weather here changes instantly, it is unbelievable.
Sunday, Fathers Day, we took a ski lift up into the Alps then had about a 30 minute hike, then grabbed a wine spritzer while the boys slid down a mountain in the snow, very entertaining. After we hopped on another ski lift and went higher into the Alps, we were seriously in the clouds. Breathtaking..... Pics below
Afterwards, even though we were exhausted, Tanya pushed us onto the Partnach Gorge. We were able to see the stadium used for the 1936 Olympics and then walk on through the gorge. Yes, we literally did an evening walk through the gorge!!!! This is probably the coolest thing I have ever seen/done in my life!!!!wow!!!!! The pics below do not do it justice.
On the walk down we were able to pet the sheep and feed them grass:) the best part about all of this was how much the kids enjoyed it, soooooooooo we treated them all to the American dinner they wanted after hiking and not really eating all day they wanted the American Buffet back at the resort, we went back and ate and amazingly it was really good and had all the ice team they could want.
Then we began our 2 hour trek home so we arrived home at midnight, lucky Billy having to work the next day:(
Since then we have had a pretty laid back week. Shopping at the large mall near the house and last night Tanya and I went out in my city. We walked and visited 2 restaurants and 2 bars. Probably drank to much wine but that's ok because you walk home, even if it is at 1am:) that's one of my favorite things about living here:)and we actually ate Atari nice Italian restaurant with truffles to die for. We also wound up in a gay bar but didn't realize u til after we started drinking our beverages, so we stayed for awhile.
Today was very laid back, we visited the freibad, a public pool in every town. It was A. I I water park with slides and easily a few thousand people's in the pools and there were lawn with people everywhere (pic below). There is also a high dive which the kids loved.
We are thoroughly enjoying living here but I will do another blog on the things that make it a bit nerve wracking at times. It is very very different and we are trying to adjust.
Will keep you guys posted, thank for reading and supporting us on this endeavor.
IFUL
Ettal Montestary,
