Christmas Markets: Salzburg and Munich

Munich: Expensive Letterbox, Big Museum

We spent our last day in Germany exploring Munich. Since we had a late start from Garmisch we didn't get to see nearly as many things as we had hoped to...actually we only made it to two spots, but both were memorable in their own ways. Our first destination was a tiny alley where we parked illegally, dashed out into the cold, and followed clues to discover our first urban letterbox and also our first European letterbox! We have missed letterboxing since moving to Sicily so it was pretty exciting to find the box and to see some of the cool European stamps in the book. However, our excitement was dampened quite a bit when we accidentally scraped a rock while exiting that little alley. A few days later we were informed by our rental car company that the scratch (max 4 inches long and labeled on our exit sheet as "do not repair") will cost us $1200!Conveniently, the letterbox location was just a block or two away from our next destination: the world's largest science museum, The Deutsches Museum. It lived up to it's reputation with us and we literally had to drag the kids away at closing time. It is miles and miles of cool exhibits and interactive displays. Highlights from the small chunk of what we saw: the big display of ships (may not sound interesting, but really it was with boats from all over the world and different time periods), the kid's kingdom (pure hands-on fun for little guys with elaborate water area, huge legos, interesting musical instruments, not as big as some children's museums in the States, but still worthwhile), the amazing miniature train display (it runs at specific times during the day and we caught the tail end of it), and the robots. Similar to the Smithsonian experience, you could probably visit this museum every day for a week and still not see it all. Most things are in English and if not, just about everyone we encountered spoke English and was very helpful.I think we will always remember Munich as the place with the world's most expensive letterbox and the world's largest science museum. Highly recommend a visit, just be careful when backing your rental car out of a small alley or perhaps just stick with local transportation! Also, FYI there is a children's playroom and an outdoor playground at the Munich airport that sound great, but we didn't have time to check them out. Want to see more cool travel posts from around the world? visit Delicious Baby.

Olympic Love, Part 2

The Olympic love continued in Germany. When we arrived at the Munich airport, Noah was ecstatic to see a bobsled and sign advertising the German bid to host the 2018 Winter Olympics. And then we got to Garmisch where we were surrounded by some very striking reminders of the 1936 Winter Olympics. Our first Olympic experience was ice skating at the Olympic rink. Like most things in life, it looks much easier on tv! It turned out to be a fun and humbling family outing. Noah impressed all of us by jumping right in there and quickly learning his way around the rink. Thank goodness the rink had these little gnome guys that were perfect for first time skaters. I think they were probably intended for kids, but I grabbed one whenever it was free!After that we headed to lunch at the Olympia Hause which was used during the Olympics. We didn't know it at the time of our lunch, but Hitler stood on the terrace of the Olympia Hause during the Olympics since it is in the center of everything. And that brings me to the part of our trip that had me feeling a jumble of things while in Germany. One moment I felt awed to be in such an inspiring and beautiful location, flip flopped with anger and anxiety that in the not so distant past our little family would not have been welcomed (and worse) in the very same spot, quickly followed by pride that my Jewish children were gleefully sledding and skiing on the same mountains that Nazis tried to make their own. I am not alone in these conflicted feelings. It will be interesting to see what happens with Germany's bid for the 2018 Olympics.

After our filling German lunch we went sledding at the base of the ski jump (have you ever seen a ski jump in person? I couldn't get over how huge and scary it looked! I can't imagine doing that or watching my child do that). And the next day the winter sports experiences continued. Adam hit the slopes for some great skiing while Noah and Camille attended the German ski school. Noah loved skiing and continued to take lessons for the next two days, Camille was not so fond of it and chose to spend her time rolling and playing in the snow. I opted to drink hot cocoa and watch from the lodge.And here's one of the most exciting things that happened: we had the chance to meet members of the US Ski Team. They were in town for the World Cup Finals (we could see the downhill course from our balcony). All of them were so friendly and approachable. One of the most memorable moments was when Lindsey Vonn let the kids hold her Olympic gold medal. Noah is already begging for another ski trip and trying to convince us to move someplace where he could ski all winter. I enjoyed our snowy adventures,but I have to admit that I am glad we were just visiting and not living there full time....it's cold and it's a lot of work to get everyone bundled up and undressed after each outing!

Bavarian Wonderland

We have just returned from one of the most surreal trips we have ever taken. I knew when we booked our trip to Garmisch-Partenkirchen, Germany that we were going to be doing the winter thing. I bought and borrowed snow clothes, boots, and jackets. I packed hand warmers and extra socks. But somehow, I was not prepared for the strange experience of being transported inside one of those miniature winter wonderland scenes. You know the ones in snow globes or train scenes and yes even those created on movie screens? Well, we just spent six very full days sledding, ice skating, skiing, and exploring that winter wonderland known as Bavaria.

On our first morning we woke to a beautiful snow fall that continued for the next two days coating the village and the slopes with an amazing layer of brilliant whiteness. Having grown up in south Louisiana, I have a very distinct memory of the first time I saw snow and the first time I saw the Blue Ridge mountains in Virginia. I was awe-struck. I had a similar reaction when I spent a summer working in Colorado. But seeing the Alps covered with that fresh snow...it felt as if I had never really seen mountains or snow before. Seriously breathtaking. And then to add the quaint Bavarian villages with their painted houses, wood carvings, and rosy cheeked children. It was almost too much! More posts and pics coming soon.