Spring Break, 2010

Last Monday, our little family headed out for a week long vacation in the Bavarian Alps. I was excited, as I'd never seen REAL MOUNTAINS before (at least from the ground) so this was going to be a first for me. Well, I take that back... I saw the mountains in Roswell... and the "big hills" in Big Bend... but the Alps? COME ON! Nothing else compares :) This blog is going to be brief, cause there's just TOO much to tell... so I'm adding some pictures of highlights of our trip to share in all we saw...

Monday - we drove in and got checked into the lodge around 530pm. We unpacked, got settled in, and then walked downstairs to the buffet for dinner. Was sort of a bbq night, so we had brisket, baked beans w/ rice, corn bread, mac and cheese... The girls indulged in chicken nuggets, and Ava proudly ate her cornbread - all the while calling it CAKE! Afterwards we went back up to the room and settled in for the night.

One of our first glimpses of the mountains

These little hay barns dotted the fields all over

Churches were all over the area, in the valley

A view of our lodge with the mountains in the back

There were paintings on a lot of the buildings... Beautiful!

Tuesday - The Lord blessed us with GORGEOUS weather on Tuesday. We woke up and made the spontaneous decision to visit the Zugspitze (highest point in Germany!) Definitely one of the most "adventurous" things I've done... as the summit requires a trip by STEEP cable car! Stevie and I both held on for dear life while Ava stared wide-eyed out the window at the world. Thanks to daddy, we have tons of pictures to share our experiences :)

Self Explanatory

Daddy and Ava at the top!

Breathtaking :) (maybe cause it was -10c!)

Mommy and Stevie at the top
X marks the highest point
The view down beneath the cable car!
Ava, not too sure about the descent
I wasn't either - it's STRAIGHT DOWN!
(this is the view from inside the cable car)

Also on Tuesday, we drove around and saw more beautiful scenery... Later that evening we took a horse & carriage ride through the city of Garmisch. Ava LOVED it! Stevie and I were both glad that modern technology makes transportation a bit faster and more comfortable hehehe.

Spring blooms on the mountainside

Crystal clear waters

The big fish in the water

Our carriage with horses

Ava, being silly in the carriage

Wednesday - doom and gloom. We woke up unable to see the alps because of the cloud cover, and it rained throughout the day. We took a road trip toward Linderhof Palace, but turned around at the entrance because we didn't want to pay for their parking :P So we went back into Ettal and saw a BEAUTIFUL church/cathedral (whatever it's called...) There's also an Olympic Village where the olympics were held in Garmisch in the 1930's. We drove down close and saw the HUGE ski-jump platforms. Didn't realize how big they were! We also had a hike scheduled with the lodge to see the Partnach Gorge as well, but the gorge was closed due to weather, etc... so that was cancelled :( A disappointing day to say the least. Hey, at least Tuesday was gorgeous right?!

The church in Ettal

The outside didn't look like much... but the inside - WOW!

Everything was lined in gold, gorgeous paintings covered the walls

The ski jump platform... HUGE!

Thursday - The weather didn't give much for Thursday either. We took a short drive through Austria and ended up back at the hotel. Bad weather gloom soured the mood and left us REALLY wishing for some sun and warmer weather. The girls and I spent the afternoon in the arcade and at the pool in the lodge while Nico relaxed with a book in the room. Stevie had a "kid's night out" planned with a lot of other kids from the lodge. So at 5pm, we walked her down to send her off for fun, and then Nico, Ava and I went downtown for dinner.

The evening ended well... Stevie spent 4 hours with the kids doing what only kids do best... PLAYING! We walked around downtown Garmisch and took a few pictures. We ate at Techmer's steakhouse and had some WONDERFUL steak and baked potato!! The highlight of the evening was the "ayigator" that Ava refused to go introduce herself to!

Spring blooms in downtown Garmisch

Ava, do you want to see the alligator?? Ava: "What ayigator?"

THIS ALLIGATOR! RAWR!!!

NO! I NO WANT IT AYIGATOR!

Friday -checkout time for the lodge was 1100am. We woke up, a little eager to drive to see Neuschwanstein (the gorgeous castle that the Disney castle was modeled after) and thought we'd have GREAT weather for the trip! So we started drving... through Austria, then back around to Germany... Unfortunately, we got into the bed of the valley only to find a thick layer of fog covering EVERYTHING in it's path. So we decided to put off Neuschwanstein for another trip. Better to see it in all it's glory than to squint and try to find it in the fog!

Goodbye Garmisch, Austria, and the Bavarian Alps... Thanks for a great spring break and BEAUTIFUL scenery!! See you again in November maybe!

Could be a postcard...

As Vicki would say... Waiting on the unicorns!