January 2016
8 January 2016
Bavarian Alps
On our trip to Bavaria we took a couple days to explore the Alps. These are the mountains that form a range in the south of Germany. We were so close to the border that after being on the road into the mountains for twenty minutes we were in Austria! This part of Austria spoke German and there was no border controls so we only knew we were in a new country by the sign on the road.
We stayed in the hills outside of a town called Füssen. This is an old mountain town which had its own little castle. This castle now holds the tax offices! I couldn’t imagine having to visit a castle to pay your taxes! The place we stayed was called Berghof Kinker. It was a working dairy farm that had apartments to rent. The dairy had calves and bunnies that Ethan enjoyed visiting daily to feed. The farm was on the hills overlooking the mountains and castles of the area. The view was amazing!
I didn’t realize how much I missed seeing mountains on the horizon. In the north where we are living it is very flat and there are no mountains.
The day we drove into Austria we took a short hike into the mountains around a lake. It was sunny but very cold. The forest and lake were so beautiful. The adults loved the adventure but the kids were not having fun walking in the cold weather. We stopped a lot for snacks and pictures.
We also went into Füssen to visit their little Christmas market. While we were there we heard yelling and whooping in the streets. When we went to investigate we saw people dressed up as witches with masks and sticks. They were celebrating the day of the witches and were scaring away the bad spirits of the dark winter days.
This area also has two large castles, one of which is the famous castle Schloss Neuschwanstein. It was created by an eccentric king. It took from 1869-1882 to build this castle. It was built to look like a fairy tale. In fact, the castle at Disney World was fashioned after this real life castle.
At night this castle and the one close by of his father, Schloss Hohenschwangau, are lit up and shine on the mountainside. These castles are the most visited places in Germany and when we visited on an icy morning it was full of tourists and more buses were coming in every half hour.
We really enjoyed exploring this beautiful area. However, it made me miss home with its mountains and pine trees. We will be heading back to Washington State so soon! I can’t believe it has already been seven months since we first came to Germany. We have seen so many amazing things and learned so much. I can’t wait to return and share it with you. We have one more trip on our way back to the states. We have a day layover in Amsterdam. I will write to you about it when we are back home!
3 January 2016
Munich (München)
This past December we took a trip to the south of Germany to visit the Alps and the large city of Munich (in German: München). This part of southern Germany comrpises the state of Bavaria and is very different from the north. Just like in the United States people in the south talk with a different accent than people in the north. Our friends here in northern Germany even told us that they sometimes have trouble understanding people who live in Bavaria because of their accent. Many of the stereotypical “German” things abouth which we hear of in the United States come from Bavaria, such as Lederhosen, big soft pretzels and white sausages. Their houses are also different than the ones you find in northern Germany.
In northern Germany the houses are made from red brick, in Bavaria the bricks are covered with stucco and painted. Taking the eight-hour train ride to the south we also noticed the landscape changing. The flat farmlands of the north turned into hilly forests and grape orchards.
Munich is the third largest city in Germany. It was beautiful to visit during Christmas time, as the whole downtown area is turned into a Christmas market. There was a large ice skating rink right outside the main train station. And the old town hall building had a Christmas tree that was at least four stories tall!
The center of the city is home to old churches and castles some dating back to medieval times. There is a large palace that is now a museum whose outbuildings now make up much of the shopping district and restaurant buildings. We also went to a large outdoor food market called Victuals Market.
Here there are many stalls specializing in different foods. There are honey stalls, ones for cheese, meats, fish, bread, spices, and more. It was a great way to taste some of the specialties of the area.
Although we only had one day to explore this beautiful city we had a great time wandering around the streets and taking in all the old buildings and current culture. It really also felt like Christmas with the sun setting before 4pm and Christmas lights strung up all over the city.