Neuschwanstein Castle

Do to a mistake on my part we had an extra day in Munich before we left. It ended up being a blessing in disguise.

The Volvo that we rented had a GPS so we put in the directions and went to visit Neuschwanstein Castle near the German - Swiss border. The drive down there was great. The mountain/hill that the castle was on had no snow but immediately behind it were the Swiss Alps which were covered with snow. It is believe that the castle was the basis of Walt Disney's Magic Kingdom castle.

The castle was begun by King Ludwig of Bavaria in the late 19th Century. However, Ludwig died before the castle was completed. In fact only 14 of the planned 200 rooms were completely finished. Only 6 days after the king's mysterious death the castle opened up to the public. It was a long walk up to the castle but definitely worth it. The castle was amazing and so was the view over the valley below.

It was a great way to end an awesome vacation.

Austria Vacation - Salzburg

On Thursday we dropped the kids at the ski school and the adults, inc the grandmas, headed to Salzburg. There was no snow there and the weather was pretty good. We walked around the old town for a bit and then got lunch. While Jennifer and Grandma Viv shopped after lunch I took the opportunity to visit a few more churches: Salzburg Cathedral among them. The first church on the spot was built in 774 by St Virgil.

There is so much to do in Salzburg that a few days minimum is needed to see it all: churches, castles, museums, etc. In the main Mozart square was another small church and an outdoor ice rink.

All the churches we saw in Munich, Salzburg, and St Johann in Tirol (near Kirchdorf) were all very ornate and bright. It was a very different feeling in these churches than in the churches in England.

Austria Vacation - Skiing

Like I said a couple of times earlier this year was definitely different but still a lot of fun. The first day we just stayed at Kirchdorf to be near the kids.

On the second day we went to Feiberbrunn, a resort about 20km from Kirchdorf. It was at a higher elevation so had a bit more snow. I rode my first gondola. However it didn't have seats and you needed to stand the entire time. After lunch, Darren and I took a 2nd gondola to a higher peak to ski an intermediate slow. However, due to lack of snow, many trails were closed. We couldn't make it back to the mid point and ended up skiing to the bottom of the mountain. It took forever and we went down trails that at some parts had more rocks the snow. Our legs were killing us.

Day 3 found us heading to Steinplatte also very near to Kirchdorf. Natalie's ski class also went there that day. We had to take a gondola from the parking lot up to the top of the mountain. On the far side of the mountain was the skiiing. When we got off of the gondola we felt the wind and the sting of the snow/ice of the storm that was coming in. On our first trip down the hill Jennifer's hair pretty much froze because of the ice. Luckily the chair lifts to the top of the mountain had plexiglass covers so we didn't feel the wind too much.

After a few trips we were freezing and the weather was getting worse. Earlier I had noticed Natalie's class heading down a trail to a restaurant. We decide to make our way there, too. The storm seemed to intensify. On a particular ridge it was so bad I couldn't see about 20 feet in front of me. I inched along until I could see a little better. While shielding my eyes I made it across a flat-ish ice patch and heading down the trail to the same restaurant. We get to the restaurant and started to take off our hats, gloves, etc.

It was then we were told that the mountain was closing because of the storm and we had to make our way down to the bottom. The wind was so bad that it was dangerous to use the chairlifts. We got everything back on and made it down. There was a lot of snow (rather than ice) down here and it was sheltered a bit from the wind. The resort was shuttling people down the rest of the mountain back to the car park. While waiting we see Natalie's class make it down. We drive in an Audi mini-SUV down a winding road in the snow with other vehicles coming up to get the rest of the people.

This was the only snow that we got the entire week but it changed everything. We got back, picked up the kids and proceeded to make snowmen and snow forts. Snowballs were flying. Even Pinot, the Mayr's dog seemed to perk up while playing in the snow.

The timing of the snow was perfect for the Ski Show where the instructors come down with the flags of all the countries with people at the school. The 5 levels of the school are Eggy Sneggy, Funny Bunny, Wanda Panda (Rachel and Colin were here), Bino Dino (Natalie was here), and Fast Tiger. During the show one of the instructors dresses up as Wanda Panda and all the kids in that level can ski down the slop behind the panda in front of a couple of hundred people. Only 3 kids did. Two were Rachel and her friend, Brenna. It was so cute.

Austria Vacation - Ski Thief

The Ski/Boot room at Sport Mayr , where we stayed and got the skis from, was a bit crowded. Because of that I wore 3 different pairs of boots during the week. Luckily they were all the same size.

When we got to the room on Ski Day #2 (Monday) we couldn't find Jennifer's skis. We looked everywhere and talked to Herr and Frau Mayr. Jennifer got new skis and we went on our way. However we never forget about the skis and wanted to find them. On Wed Morning we happened to see the skis on the back of a bus that was pulling out to a different resort.

Darren Hansen and I wanted to just grab the skis then but didn't. I went to Frau Mayr and explained that we saw the skis. Darren and I planned the return of the skis. I was out at the bus stop around 3:30 waiting for the bus and, truth be told, the kids coming back.

The first bus pulled in. Nope...not there. Then comes the second bus. Right in the back within easy reach were the SKIS. I just grabbed them and walked across the street right into Sport Mayr and returned the skis. I could watch the lady who had the skis get a little frantic because she couldn't find them. He He...

The thing is that the skis most likely hers didn't look anything like Jennifer's.

Austria Vacation - Downhill and Apres skiing

Things were a lot different in Austria this year. There was no snow on the ski school hill in Kirchdorf except for the man-made snow but it was enough to get the ski classes started. The school brought the kids right up the tow rope and had them ski down to determine which class they were in.

Natalie and the girl she became friends with last year picked up where they left off and were pretty much inseparable. It was great seeing many of the same families as last year.

Since there wasn't snow on the hill for a New Year's eve celebration. It started with a candlelight procession from the slopes down to the city center about a mile away. In the town square there was a bonfire all set up. On the top of the wood pile was an effigy of a witch. The witch symbolized every bad from the previous year and, by burning it, all the bad things were forgotten. Afterwards there was a large fireworks display in the town.


We made our way back to the condo and the kids went to bed. Around 11:45 PM the fireworks from everywhere started. The entire sky was lit up with colors and flashes. It was a sight to remember. Every direction there were sky bursts.

Watching TV in Austria was great. There were many US movies dubbed into German: Flashdance, Turner and Hooch, Wrongfully Accused (Leslie Nielsen Fugitive takeoff), and the great Grease 2.

One night Jennifer and my mom couldn't find the 3/4 full bottle of Merlot. We looked everywhere for it. Me, in my infinite wisdom, decided to check the recycling barrel where about an hour earlier I took some glass too. There, sitting on the top, was the bottle with the wine still in it. So, of course, I brought it back in the house. Can't let good wine go to waste.

Austria Vacation - Trip There & Munich

We had so much fun last year that we couldn't wait to head back to Austria again this year. I remember to bring a little notebook to write down all the little anecdotes throughout the week or so.

We were in line for security at Heathrow and they have a new rule where you can only have one carry on so we were cramming things into the kids backpacks and YES it all fit. As we were getting up to the desk a Heathrow employee was escorting a VIP through the line. It was Sven Goran Eriksson, the former coach of the England National team.

The rest of the trip was uneventful until we got to the rental car place. They never got the online order for a van that I had confirmed over the phone before booking via the web. The car they were going to give us was very nice (Mercedes C class) but they were trying to find us something that would work for 6 people. The car would only hold 5, which was workable, but then it didn't hold all our bags. We ended up with a top-of-the-line Volkswagen Toureg.

We made it down to the hotel to check in..blah..blah...We decide to head to the Hofbrau House on the first night. We lucked out and got a table pretty easily. Food was average. Beer and pretzels were very good. The atmosphere was great.

Being a fanatic for churches I was lucky to visit 2 in Munich: Frauenkirche (Cathedral of Our Lady) and St Peter's. Both are near Marianplatz and the Glockenspiel. We went to a toy museum that had a great display of Steiff bears and other teddy bears dating back 100 years,

We walked around the square and the weather was a bit warmer than last year and, you guessed it, no snow. We bought some fruit from a stall and just enjoyed being outside in such a beautiful city.