From Saturday-Saturday we were in Garmisch, Germany for a long ski vacation. We left Saturday morning around 11am to start the 4 hour drive which ended up taking almost double that because of the major traffic in our last leg of the trip!
Entering Austria
Whitney and Aiden trying to keep entertained during the traffic jam.
Putting on a show for the line of traffic behind us.
Saturday we ended up getting in around 7pm and went to dinner at Zuggy's. Oh, we were staying at the Edelweiss Resort, an American resort, so everything was just like being back in the State. The first thing I ordered was an iced tea, first time in 6 months and it was amazing!
The next morning Amy and Jeremy went to Dachau and I had the kids, so we went to explore the lodge and check out the pool and huge outdoor hot tub.
Monday was the boys' first day of ski school and my free day to ski. The day started off alright, not the best conditions, but turned into really heavy fog later in the afternoon. You could hardly see the person in front of you and I was stuck on one side of the mountain for the entire morning, which was fun until I freaked out I wouldn't be able to find my way back! After getting back to the hotel we headed straight to the hot tub.
Stopped for lunch at a cafe at the bottom of one of the gondolas
GAP- Garmisch and Partenkirchen
Whitney and I went on the Brotzeit Tour on Tuesday that took us to a cheese factory in the town of Ettal and the monastery there. The monks make their own schnapps and other liqueurs so I had to pick up a few for the brothers.
Milking the fake cow with her new friend
Cheese soup just like The Pub
Always ready for a picture
Whitney and I at the monastery.
Especially for MerEdith....Miss ya Ed
At the wood carving shop
That night Jeremy, Amy and I went on the Griesbrau Brewery Tour and the kids stayed back with the babysitter...weird, I know, leaving the kids with a babysitter so the other babysitter can go out! We got to the place and Wolfgang the owner came and gave us a tour of the brewery and let us sample some of the beers.
Wolfgang and the beer liqueur with whipped cream...really gross at first but then it went down smooth!
The portions were huge! My half of a chicken, potatoes and cabbage! mmmm
The bus ride home was hilarious and ended with a few snorers, lightweights :) It was so fun. I'm so lucky to have a host family that takes me out with them even when the going rate for babysitters in Garmisch is 12 eur/hr!!!
Whitney and I hung out at the hotel on Wednesday, a nice relaxing way to split up the week. We went swimming in the morning and exploring in the afternoon.
We found a playground behind the resort
My buddy :)
Way too close but Whitney looks so cute and happy!
The Alps and Edelweiss
Whitney's favorite mini rocking chairs by the fire
These pictures do not give the real thing justice...
That night we went to Sasalido's for dinner...most interesting quesadilla I've ever had but delicious!
Connor and his chicken wings at a mexican restaurant.
Thursday I went on a tour to Neuschwanstein Castle, the castle that inspired the Walt Disney Magic Kingdom castle. It was really amazing and a must see if your ever in the area!
We drove through Austria and Germany and saw some really cool areas with unreal scenery.
It was a perfect day!
1.5mile hike and then you see this
We stopped for lunch at German restaurant and I've been dying to have spaetzle so it was perfect.
I had lunch with my two new friends I met on the tour, an older lady from Columbus (crazy, I know) and a younger lady from Liverpool.
Friday I went skiing again, last minute decision, and it was the perfect day! It was warm and sunny, the complete opposite of my first day skiing. I went and saw the boys race on their final day of ski school and then went off on my own for hours of some of the best skiing! It was such a free feeling of just going down a bunch of runs, one leading to another not knowing where I was going to end up and just hopping on the lift to go again. I stopped for lunch at one of the many tented beirgartens for a brat and some German folk music, watching the skiers pass. I felt like I was having a mini "aha" moment where the world makes sense and life is just good! I'd have to say this goes down as one the top coolest days I've ever had.
Chairlift with heated seats
After a full day of skiing we went back to the hotel, the boys insisted on going to kids night out, so Amy, Jeremy, Whitney and I went to our last dinner at Zuggy's.
Saturday we packed up and hit the road and everyone was very sad to be leaving Edelweiss :( It was such an amazing trip--thank you Cates!!
I remember the castle, so amazing! I have the Seuffert family recipe for the cabbage!!!
ReplyDeleteMy family's recipe!? Ha, I don't even have that! But then again, I really don't like cabbage.
ReplyDeleteHeated seats on the chairlift...amazing! The Canyons just got heated seats with a bubble...the first of its kind in North America; European-inspired! I have to say, its the way to ski!