The day after Thanksgiving, we left bright and early for a little road trip to Germany! Ryan's job was sending him to a week-long class, so the kids and I tagged along and we made a fun family get-away out of the trip. The kids did fantastic in the car. A couple times I felt like I was going to lose it before they were! The first day we drove seven hours (which took us through four different countries!) and reached Bonn (in Germany). We dropped out stuff off at the hotel and hit the streets to find dinner and explore the Christmas market.
Waiting for dinner. Our first authentically German-food experience (since McDonald's on the road tastes the same no matter where you are). Delicious!
I only got a couple shots from the Christmas market. I was too busy perusing the stalls while wrangling kids who had been trapped in a car all day and were ready to GO! The streets were bustling and festive and it felt exciting to be there!
We had to giggle at the name of the hand soap in our hotel bathroom.
The next morning, we walked through the house where Beethoven was born.
It was pretty amazing to see two of the original pianos he played and composed on.
After Bonn, it was back on the road until we arrived in Garmisch that night. We had one full day to play and explore with Ryan before he started his class, so we went to the nearby Neuschwanstein Castle (also referred to as "Cinderella's Castle"). We opted to take the free route up the hill and get some exercise. Gretchen almost always prefers to walk on her own.
She needed a little rest after reaching the top!
The views were incredible!
Ready to head back dowwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwn . . . .
We could see Hohenschwangau Castle clearly on our walk down.
Pictures from the rest of the week still to come . . .
