I love the Spring time. It is wonderful...the trees start to grow their leaves again, the flowers begin to bloom, the sun comes out...the list could go on and on. It has been beautiful here in Germany the past two weeks!
My mom and sisters arrived at the Frankfurt airport on 5 March at 6:30 in the morning! I knew they would be pooped from the long flight over here, so after we grabbed some yummy German pastries we headed home. Benson of course, greeted each one of them with more energy than you can imagine. He was spoiled last week with all of the attention he received. We all took a short nap once we were home and settled and then later started a fire and put on a movie while Brandon grilled us some yummy Bratwurst, potatoes, and corn! Sunday set the tone for the rest of week....the weather was beautiful, and our time together was fun and full of adventure!
On Monday morning we woke up around 8 and took a walk with Benson to the near by bakery, which was filled with yummy German pastries (I love German bakeries). After we got back from the bakery and ate our breakfast we took off and drove to Heidelberg. We walked around the Heidelberg castle, visited the Roman bridge, and went shopping downtown. On the way home we drove through Germany's wine country and arrived home in the evening. Brandon cooked us some yummy gumbo (with delicious sausage) and we had another movie night....we were excited to be going to PARIS, France the very next day.
The train was scheduled to leave at 7:20 Tuesday morning from a train station near by. Before heading to work, Brandon dropped us off at the train station. It only took us 2 1/2 hours to get to Paris (normally takes 4 hours by car from where we live). We arrived in Paris with the expectation that we wouldn't get very much friendly help from the French, however I was glad to be proved wrong, as every person we talked to was very nice (thank goodness so many people can speak English). We bought tickets for the Hop On Hop Off bus, which took us to every famous site in Paris including the Eiffel Tower, the Louvre, and the Notre Dame Cathederal. Let me first say this...one day in Paris is not enough! I loved Paris, although I was only there for one day. Unforunately, the Louvre is closed on Tuesdays so we didn't get to see the Mona Lisa, but we did go there and took a lot of pcitures. We also visited the Notre Dame Cathederal (which was beautiful) and went to the top of the Eiffel Tower (which was amazing). It really was a great day that went by way too quickly! We arrived home around 9:30 and Brandon was there to pick us up with the rental car (a lovely Mercedes Benz station wagon) that we would be riding in on our trip to Munich and Salzburg!
Brandon and I woke up early the next morning so we could run a few errands before getting on the road. We had to get a gas rations card for the rental and drop Benson off at Benson's godparents' house (our friends Mallory and Chris). I had no doubt that Benson would have lots of fun there...Benson loves Mallory, Chris, and their little girl, Bryn).
We were finally on the road around 10:00 and headed for Munich, one of our favorite places to go! We arrived in Munich around 2:00 in the afternoon, checked into our hotel and then headed downtown to tour the city a bit. For dinner we ate some good German food at the world famous Hofbrauhaus while drinking a delicious beer and listening to a German band play.
The next morning we headed to Dachau to visit the Dachau Concentration Camp. After visiting the memorial, we ate lunch and headed to Salzburg.
We arrived in Salzburg in the late afternoon, checked into our hotel, and then headed to the old town so that we could see as much as possible! Salzburg is surronded by the Alps and therefore it's countryside is beautiful! As many of you might know, "The Sound of Music" was filmed in Salzburg, Austria. This movie was one of my childhood favorites! With that being said, we were all pretty excited to take "The Sound of Music" tour (except for Brandon, maybe...he hasn't seen the movie). The tour was wonderful, not only because we got to see all of the places where the movie was filmed, but also because the countryside is beautiful so we were able to see a lot of the city and it's surronding country. That same day we also saw the birthplace and residence of Mozart, which was also pretty dang neat! Loved that city...
That Friday we headed back to Munich and hung out in the city that night and ate at the Hard Rock Cafe. I haven't had tasty American food in months, so I really enjoyed my sandwhich, french fries, and margarita. :)
That Saturday we visited the Neuschwanstein Castle, which is surronded by the Bavarian Alps in Germamy. This particular castle was used to model the "Disney castle" we know today! Pretty neat! It was amazing!
After eating a bratwurst and brochen, we headed back home and ended a great trip.
That night, our German neighbors came over with a bottle of wine and we had a good time drinking good wine, eating good sausage and cheese, and having good conversation. They are the sweetest couple...so thankful they are our neighbors.
My mom and sisters left on Sunday and we were sad to see them go..the week went by too quickly, as any vacation does. It felt good having them here and getting to give them hugs and having conversations in person. That day was also our 1st anniversary!I can't believe it has been ONE year already...what a wonderful 1st year it has been. :) We are planning to take a mediterrian cruise later this year, so on Sunday we spent our time eating wonderful pasta Brandon made, drinking some yummy wine, and watching movies. It was a wonderful day!
Well, back to work this week! I hope everyone has a fun St. Patrick's Day this Thursday! Don't forget to wear green! :)