Pay it Backwards

The rest of the story....

Wednesday we finally had a chance to sleep in a bit, before getting up to catch the train to Munich.  The girls loved their new bed and room in Munich!

 Then we headed out to explore Munich....

 

Thursday, we took advantage of not having any place we needed to be, and slept in again before heading out into town.

The Glockenspiel in Munich is an amazing clock tower to see (it consists of 43 bells and 32 life size figures), we made it to the square in time to see hear all the bells (from many bell towers in the area) and watch the clock as it chimed and then re-enacts to famous stories from the 16^th century (the first appears on the top half, followed by a shorter performance on the bottom).

 

We headed over to the Viktualienmarkt, a fresh food market filed with over 140 vendors selling fresh foods of every kind – breads, meats, fruits, vegetables, cheeses, fish, juices, sandwiches, as well as many local delicacies – and had an amazing lunch.

 

Thursday was the most relaxed day day we have had -  we rented bikes and cruised around the English Gardens.  (Think Munich’s version of Central Park.  The English Garden is slightly larger than NYC’s gem and 70 years older.)  

We enjoyed the playground,

watched surfers (that’s right surfers)

fed the ducks,

 and the girls rode a carousel almost 100 years old. 

We also did the traditional German thing and enjoyed fresh GERMAN pretzels (my FAVORITE food of the trip)

 and a beer (for Matt and I) in the biergarten.

 After we turned our bikes into Mike’s Bikes – located next to the Hofbrau House – we stopped in for dinner (when in Munich…) then headed back.

 

Friday we took the train to Salzburg.  Or at least we attempted to take the train to Salzburg.   The train was delayed out of Munich 25 minutes.  Then for some reason, since we don’t understand Deutsch we don’t know what the reason was, the train made a regular stop at a town 20 miles west of Salzburg, but then said this is the end of the line for this train everybody out.    Oddly enough the Salt Mine in Hallein, Austria was closer to this unscheduled stop than Salzburg, so he hoped a cab and headed for the salt mine – a very unique experience.

Salzbergwerk Dürrnberg is one of the oldest salt mines in the world.  Celtic tribes began mining the salt from this mountain over 2,500 years ago.  For the tour we had to put on white coveralls to protect our clothes and to protect us on the wooden slides.

 

Our first adventure was an electric train that put us 1300 ft into the mine.

From there we went on two wooden slides,

 crossed the border from Austria in Germany, 

and rode a boat across an underground lake 

before we reached the deepest part of the tour (furthest in and down).  At this point our guide told us how many hundreds of tons of rock was above our head, I must have chosen to block this number out of my mind, because I have no recollection of the number, only that it was an overwhelming amount, and at that point I was ready to get out of the mine – as quickly as possible!  Luckily the journey out was short as we ascended on a long escalator and then boarded the electric train that took us back to warmth (the mine is a constant 50 degrees throughout the year) and daylight.

 

Once back in the town of Hallein we boarded another train that took us the rest of the way to Salzburg.  We found a great place for dinner, an outside table on the second floor, overlooking the Mozartplatz and Residenzplatz. 

 Turns out this place is a well known chocolatier, 

so of course the girl's had to try it out...

Matt and Vivian agreed this was the best chocolate mousse they had ever had (the outside is covered in chocolate syrup)  I think the chocoholics in our family would have loved it as well (Mom, Melissa, David...)

Isabella said this was THE BEST chocolate cake!

 

In this picture you can see the Hohensalzburg Castle on top of the hill, it is one of the largest castles in Europe.   This history of this castle is also quite interesting.  Construction began in 1077, and was continually expanded for hundreds of years.  The walls and the towers were added in 1462.   It was abandoned as a military outpost in 1861.  In the early 20^th century it was used as a prison, holding Italian POWs during WWI and Nazi activists in the 1930s. 

 This is a picture of Residenzplatz from the restaurant...

 

 

After getting back from Salzburg quite late, we slept in again on our final day in Europe.   Saturday we started off the day in our same usual manner.  Matt walked over to the train station (next door) and picked up breakfast, while the girls and I started getting ready for the day.  (As a side note we have all decided we love riding the train and the Munich train station is pretty incredible - why can't airports have food vendors and shopping like this???)

Saturday is a CRAZY busy day in Munich.  We decided we had so much fun on Thursday that we would revisit the Glockenspiel and then the fresh food market for another great lunch.  We decided to rent bikes again, and this time go on a bit longer (understatement of the year) bike ride over to the Olympic Gardens.  

Evidently we arrived at the park when they had a festival going on, so we took advantage and the girls took in a few attractions (they picked the two they wanted to do – the fun house and the haunted house). 

 

Along our journey we made a few scenic detours (most of them intentional), here are a few pics from the ride.

 

 

We woke up at 5:30am Sunday morning (10:30pm Saturday night Iowa time), and began our long journey home.  Honestly the 10+ hour flight from Munich to Atlanta went by quickly, and I think we all enjoyed it as we were all ready for some extended down time.  A few hours into the flight Vivian said, “Mom, how much longer?”  I thought, oh no we have a long ways to go and she’s already asking are we there yet?...  I replied, “It’s going to be a long time, honey, we still have 7 ½ hours”.   “YIPEEE!”  she said.  “Yipee???”  I asked her.  “Yeah Mom, that means I get to watch tv for 7 ½ more hours!”  And there you go – this is what happens to a child that enjoys her tv at home when she is deprived for 2+ weeks (a few times they did watch the Disney channel even though it was dubbed over in Italian or German – they didn’t care)…

 

AND NOW….. WE ARE HOME!   We loved the trip, and are looking forward to our next adventure.  Now if my body could just figure out what day it is, and what time it is, I will be back on track!  Thank you for joining us!

 

 

 

 

Cinderella's Castle

Isabella’s birthday!  The start of the morning as previously mentioned was great!  After breakfast we headed out for Neuschwanstein.  When we first arrived we walked over to Hohenschwangau (the summer home of King Ludwig I, and subsequently one of  King Ludwig II homes after his father died.) 

 

Then we walked up to Neuschwanstein. ( This infamous castle is what Walt Disney modeled Cinderella's Castle in Disney World after.)  The walk from Hohenschwangau is very windy and steep 40 journey.  So, Matt created a game to keep the girl’s busy while they walked…

The reward at the top is worth it!

 

 

The interior of the castle was more stunning and magnificent than I had anticipated.  He had 14 wood carvers work for four years just on his bedroom – a large chunk of that was on his bed. (Which looks like it has as many spires and as much detail as the Gothic Cathedral of Cologne).  The eccentricity of King Ludwig II is also apparent in the paintings that are on the walls of every room.  He loved the operas of Richard Wagner so much that every room had scenes decipted from various operas.  He also loved swans, in one room he has and alcove (the size of most rooms) that he called the swan’s corner, it has a beautiful lake scene full of swans.  The swan became the symbol for Neuschwanstein.  After the tour we walked over to the Marienbrucke (Mary’s bridge). 

 

Matt said he had heard so much about this bridge (from me) that we had to go there….  I visited Neuschwanstein for the first time with my parents and my friend Anne in 1994, after I finished my classes in London.  The line for the castle was ridiculous so we didn’t take the tour of the interior of the castle, but we walked around the castle and it was amazing.  During our visit we went a scenic viewpoint bridge (the Marienbrucke). I was VERY afraid of heights (at the time you couldn’t have bribed me with anything to paraglide or zip line so I must be getting over this J.   What I remember from that bridge is this;

The base of the bridge was made of boards, and in between the boards were gaps, gaps large enough that the boards barely touch, in between these gaps you could see the gorge several hundred feet below.  The sides of the bridge I could not longer remember for certain, but I was pretty sure they were just a few pieces of rope, as I remember the sense that the bridge was moving - severely.  So motivated to get a great picture I braved it for a few steps took a few pictures, then immediately returned to the safety of solid ground – so sure I was that I was going to fall off of that bridge into the abyss below if it didn’t just collapse first. 

 

In weeks leading up to this trip I literally had nightmares about this bridge, and the kids falling off of it.   I asked Matt is we could please not go on that bridge.   The kids can do many other things (even paraglide), but they CANNOT go on THAT bridge! Once we arrived and I saw all of the people headed towards the bridge, I thought surely they must have built a new one!  This bridge couldn't not be the same bridge of my nightmares, could it?    My parents have to be laughing right now, because they know the bridge we saw on Tuesday is the same bridge that was there in 1994.  I will say that there are gaps between the boards on the bridge, and yes you can see all the way down to the gorge which IS several hundred feet below, but the gaps are quite small.  The sides of the bridge – well here are a few pictures…..

We took the horse carriage back down to the bottom, then had FANTASTIC traditional German food for lunch, before taking the bus back into Fussen.  We walked around the quaint town of Fussen, did a little shopping, and had ice cream.  There was an organ grinder in the middle of town that played Isabella, “Happy Birthday”. 

 

Isabella had a sketch done of herself (Vivian was not interested). 

 

After watching several kids get in the fountain in the center of town, the girls decided they wanted to do that to.  (That is one of the things we’ve noticed throughout our travels, people get in fountains and play here - if the fountain is large enough to hold several people there is usually someone in it).

Vivian also found her Halloween costume for this year – here is a sneak peak….

On Our Own

Monday was a travel day.  We left the hotel at 7am, and traveled with a few of the families to the Zurich airport.  Here is one last look out our window in Lucerne before we headed out the door (the sun wasn’t quite up yet when I woke up and took the photo)…

There we said a few final goodbyes, and then boarded our first of three trains to Fussen.

Once in Fussen we took a taxi to the Hotel Summer.  This was an interesting experience because very few people spoke English, those that did spoke very little, and everything (from the menus to the travel literature) was in German.  As it rained all day on Monday, we played it low key, the girls swam, I went for a run, then we went downstairs for dinner.  This was interesting because we couldn’t read the menu and our waitress did the best she could, but all she could tell us was this one is from the cow, this one is rabbit, this one is from the pig, these two are different types of fish, and the pasta (which we understood), the kids menu was basically the same, but they had pancakes with chocolate as a choice so of course they went for that.  I had from the pig schnitzel with spatzle which was very good, and Matt had pig schnitzel with pommes frites (French fries).  At one point one of the waiters came over to Vivian and asked her is she (pointing to Isabella) was her older daughter?  He meant sister, but obviously had the wrong word, the girls made a face like what in the world is he talking about?  Quite funny. 

Our last day on Tour

Sunday was our last day with our tour.  Sunday we headed out for a final scenic journey through the alps for a tour of the Swiss Open Air Museum at Ballenberg. 

We had been very lucky with the weather the entire trip, until Sunday, but I guess it has to rain sometime….

The museum has a collection of rural houses and farm building dating from the 14^th through 19^th century from all over Switerland.  The historical buildings couldn’t be maintained in their original location so they were relocated to the museum.  In the buildings there are crafts people who work with traditional tools,  incredible exhibits (some of them interactive), and there are more than 250 types of animals. 

Isabella and Vivian sawing wood with the help of one of our guides, Jason.

Ella hammering a nail.  Also check out the rain, and puddles - good thing we had umbrellas....

The most interesting story to me was the about the hatters.  They would start with a piece of very stiff felt like material.  Then using a steam powered press and a mold in the shape and size of the hat they wanted to produced, they would press and mold the material into a hat.  The material they used produced toxic fumes that made this hatters a bit out of it (our guide’s deiscription was “similar to sniffing glue”).  In addition, the mercury was used in the pressing process was absorbed into the hatters skin and had a long term compounding effect on their mental capacity.  This is the origination of the phrase, “You’re as mad as a hatter!”

After we arrived back in Lucerne we took a quick trolley ride and then walked around Lucerne.  Lucerne is also amazingly beautiful, and rich with history.  He wooden bridge and tower in the center of town date back to the 13^th century.  There are also still various tower, and a portion of the wall that surrounded Lucerne hundreds of years ago.

 

 

 

Sunday night was our last dinner together with everyone on the Disney Adventures Tour.  Dinner was fantastic, and they even had Alpine horn blowers, and Wilhelm Tell was there (the guy that shot the apple with a bow and arrow above his son's head)

After they played a few songs, all the kids, and some of the adults, tried out. Vivian was second up and blew everyone away with a HUGE LOUD LOW sound - astonishing everyone....

Isabella was fantastic as well.  She got up there and on her first try played several different notes;

The tour was great!  I can honestly say it exceeded our expectations at every turn.  In addition to being a wonderful tour, we had incredible guides that added to the enjoyment, as well as smooth transitions of our journey.  And to put the cherry on top of the icing on the cake – we couldn’t have asked for a better group to travel with!  We traveled with 6 other families during the week, and loved getting to know all of them.  We had a families from Long Island, New Jersey, Western Pennsylvania, San Francisco, and two from Texas.  To any fellow adventurers visiting this blog;  We hope our paths do cross again!  We are already looking forward to our next Disney Adventure (the kids are already discussing where they want to go next year).  

The kids with Jason and Marco;

The adults with Jason and Marco;

Tomorrow we spring out on our own…..

 

Isabella's Birthday and back to Saturday

Today (August 4th) is Isabella's birthday!  Just thought I'd post this little bit jumping ahead since it is a special day!  Ella was a little homesick last night, missing everyone, and really wanted to go home for her birthday.  When we came down for breakfast this morning they had the table decorated, and someone wished her Happy Birthday! (this is alot because no one at this hotel speaks English - more on that later)  any way we got our breakfast and came back to sit down and they brought out a chocolate cake with a candle.  Well who ever heard of having chocolate cake at breakfast???  Then we started singing and a few people even joined in (we think they were from England) That certainly made the day start out in the right direction.  Here is Isabella this morning with her cake;

More later on the rest of Tuesday, now back to Saturday...

Friday we headed out to a Husky Camp.  These huskies are trained to be sled dogs in the winter.  In the summer they sponsor various kids camps, and each child is assigned a dog to take care of during the week, they also discussed how loving the dogs are and how therapeutic they are for many people.  They kids had a great time, we had a chance to play with them in the kennel, and then we each got our own dog to walk.  Isabella immediately became drawn to Kita, and walked her, Matt had a strong, and fast dog named Toraq, and Vivian and I shared a dog that took us for a walk, named Kodiak.  Here are a few photos.

 

 

 

The best part of the day;  We have one girl in our group who is 12 and has never liked dogs.  In fact, her parents told us, she has become more afraid of dogs more recently, and they are unsure why.  They have many friends that have dogs, and no matter how they’ve approached it, the fear has grown more intense.  Her mother came prepared to hang out with Stephanie while the other visited the dogs, sure that she would have no desire to be near them.  However, it came time to go in the kennel, and Stephanie wanted to go.  Shortly after that she was laughing and playing with the dogs.  When it came time to walk the dogs her and her 10 year old sister, shared a dog, she had a blast.  Her parents said they wouldn’t have believed it if they had not seen it with their own eyes.  Here is a picture at the Husky camp of most of the kids in our group;  From the left to right, Dana (10), Isabella, Vivian, Shawna (8), Kierin (turned 9 on Friday), and Stephanie (12).

 

 

This is a picture of the girls and our two guides, from left to right, Jason, and Marco.  Jason is from California, and he is an expert at character voices (recently he was the voice of a cartoon character on the WB).  The kids (and adults) look forward to the bus rides, and story time by Jason.  He reads from a book called Twisted Tales (I think) anyway its traditional stories you know that are a bit twisted.  Before he starts he asks for people to come up with characters (or voices) for each part – the result is hilarious.  Some of our favorites from the week – the Angry German, Paris Hilton, the Southern Baptist Minister, the Pakistani, and the Italian mobster.  Throughout the story he bounces back and forth between 4 or more (the last story he did had more than a dozen) voices, unbelievable.  Marco is from Italy, and is a phenomenal tour guide as well.  Marco, was also an instant hit with all of the kids, (and adults), as he is a very genuine and charismatic person.

 

We returned back to Lucerne around 2pm and had the rest of the day to enjoy.  Isabella and I decided to join part of our group on the Mt. Pilatus tour, while Matt and Vivian headed to the transportation museum.   The last tour for Pilatus left at 2:45, so we didn’t have a lot of down time.  At 2:45 we took a boat cruise to Alpnachstad (we arrived at 4:15pm);

and then we took the steepest cogwheel railcar to the top of Pilatus (we reached the top at 5pm). 

We rushed and took a few photos at the top, 

then headed part way down on a cable car to the toboggan run.   We all ran (all 11 of us with the kids, age range 8-66) to make it to the top of the toboggan run, and ride down on our “sleds”  they have wheels so they are not quite a sled. 

Then we took another cable car the rest of the way down the mountain, then walked a ½ mile and caught a bus back to the starting point by 7:15pm. A fabulous fast-paced adventure.

 

Matt and Vivian had a bit more of a relaxing afternoon, as they kicked back for a while before heading to the museum.  They went to the Imax, and then briefly toured the train, plain, automobile, and boat sections of the museum.  Throughout the museum there were interactive exhibits that Vivian loved.  Here is Vivian next to one of her favorites (the floating ball);

 

 

Vivian with one of the large trains.

 

Then we were ready for dinner, and tired of dragging the cameras around so we left them in.  We went to a place called the Stadtkeller, had a great Swiss meal, and watched a fabulous show.   They had entertainers yodeling, playing a variety of instruments (the wooden spoons, cow bells, a saw, the accordian, and the Alpine horns).  After they played the Alpine horns, they asked for volunteers to come on stage, Vivian raised her hand and the waitress took her up.  First up was an girl about 12 that struggled to even get a sound out of her horn, then it was Viv’s turn.  She got up there and at first…nothing.  Then they Alpine Horn player showed her what to do with her lips and….this HUGE, LOUD, LOW, sound came out of the horn.  Vivian had a huge smile on her face – SUCCESS!  Luckily she would have a chance to show off her new found talent again – more on that soon…

 

 

 

Traveling through the Swiss Alps

Thursday we departed Zermatt, took the train to Tasch, then boarded our coach for Lucerne.  The scenery is UNBELIEVABLE, I thought the Rockies were beautiful, and maybe part of it is the enchantment of Switzerland, but the Alps are AMAZING!  Our tour did a great job of splitting the journey up, and we stopped at several scenic places along the way.  

We stopped at a quaint little Swiss Alps town called Andermatt for lunch.  This is a town with a history that dates back to the 13th century, and now is a popular ski town.  We had a little time to tour the town before lunch.  There was a fountain in the center of town (this is very common throughout Switzerland), there was this, well I'm not sure how to describe it, but check out the whatever it is next to the fountain.

After lunch we drove a little while before we made the next stop in Flulen (Flooooo- len) and did a scenic bike ride along Lake Lucerne.  Here is a picture of our group, we are 7 families for a total of 23 people, plus two of the greatest two guides one could ever hope for!!! (Saturday is the last full tour day, after our transfer at the Zurich airport to the trains we are on our own for the last 6 nights).

We made a quick photo stop along Lake Luzern during our bike ride.

Next stop the Hotel Schweizerhof.  Once we arrived in Lucerne (Luzern) we had a chance to tour the city a bit before dinner. We had a great dinner with a family we met on our tour from Long Island, they have two daughters (10 and 12) and all the girls get along wonderfully.  After dinner we headed to bed (a bit early for a change) and got a great nice sleep before another full day of adventures on Saturday.) Unfornately our internet connection is a bit slow (understatement of the year) so I'm not able to upload as many pictures as I'd like but I will add more to current posts in upcoming days as time allows.

We would love to hear from you - we have no idea (well other than the very few who have commented) who is out there????