Grandma & The Aunts come to visit

During the month of September we were fortunate to have Grandma Pat and Aunt Kerry, Aunt Kay and Aunt Kim come to Germany for a visit. It was wonderful to see them. Kent was thrilled to see his mom and sisters after two years of living here.

(Kent and his Mom)

During their two week visit we had a wonderful time visiting different sites all over Germany, taking a family trip to Italy and having a BBQ with some friends here at the house.

(Friends & Family at BBQ) (Kate, Kim, Kassi, & Kerry) (My boss Rich, his Partner Tindy & I)

I had the opportunity to take our visitors on a whirlwind trip to Bavaria. We traveled to the walled city of Rothenburg ob der Tauber where we shopped for Christmas ornaments at the Käthe Wohlfahrt store.

After we headed towards Munich. On the way to Munich we stopped off to visit the Dachau Concentration Camp.

After the concentration camp visit we headed into downtown Munich where we saw the world famous Glockenspiel in the Marienplatz.

After we enjoyed a delicious dinner at the Hof Brau Haus which is the world's most famous beer hall.

We then traveled to Garmisch to spend the night at Edelweiss Lodge & Resort which is retreat for U.S. military. After dip in the hot tub a good nights sleep and a quick round in the sauna and another dip in the hot tub we set off to journey to the top of Germany. We took a train and a cable car to the top of the Zugspitze which at approximately 10,000 feet is the highest peak in Germany. It was 32° and depending on which side of the mountain you were on there was a nasty wind chill.

We took a cable car all the way back down the mountain and hoped in the car for the short trip to Füssen, Germany to see Neushwanstein Castle. After a brief crossover into Austria, we arrived at our destination not a moment to soon as we almost missed the last tour offered in English for the day. We rode the horse and carriage up the very steep hill and then made the short walk the rest of the way up to the Castle for the tour. Since we were the next to last tour of the day, by the time we exited the castle, the last horse and carriage down the hill was already gone. So Kay ran down the hill and broke several traffic laws by driving the car back up the hill to pickup Grandma.

At this point we were all exhausted from our whirlwind tour of Bavaria and headed home where we would need to hurry and repack so we could head to the airport in the morning for our trip to Italy. It was amazing that one day were on top of the Zugspitze in the snow and ice and the next day we were in Italy basking in the warmth of the Tuscan sun.

(Kent, Kay, Kerry, Kim & Kim in Italy)