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Thursday, December 16, 2010

Live in Italy Celebrate Thanksgiving in Germany!

                                                                                                            


•1 Thessalonians 5: 16-18 – "Be joyful always; pray continually; give thanks in all circumstances, for this is God's will for you in Christ Jesus."

Neither Italy nor Germany celebrate Thanksgiving, but Edelweiss sure does accomidate us Americans on the biggest eating day of the year! :) It was the first Thanksgiving in several years that it was just the five of us! So what better way to celebrate than going to a resort and making someone else cook and clean not to mention all the sighteeing we got to do and all the things we got to see in Germany. Greatest idea ever.....so much so that we are going to make reservations to go back next Thanksgiving. Edelweiss is nestled at the bottom of the Bavarian Alps in Garmish Germany. It is part of an Army post and is only open to American Service members and their families. This venture was only a 4 hour car ride (5 with Clark driving and his extra pit stops!) It was a very scenic and beautiful drive. As we drove higher in elevation, and got closer to Germany the snow began falling and the tempatures began dropping! After arriving mid afternoon and getting checked in, we did a little touring of the facilites and the kids of course smelled the pool before we ever found it! First thing on our agenda was DINNER!

 


Of course we couldn't pass up their drink special of 32 oz. Margaritas!

The evenings ended with the kids wearing themselves out at the pool for a good nights sleep! The kids especially enjoyed the outdoor hottub while the snow was falling. They didn't however enjoy getting out of the nice hottub to come into the building! :) 

 

Day two was spent taking a short 45 minute drive to the Neuschwanstein Castle. The Neuschwanstein Castle was the inspiration for Sleeping Beauty Castle at Disneyland Park. There was no photography of any kind allowed inside the building, however I reccommend you look it up online to see many of the rooms inside the castle. It is a once in a lifetime experiance and although the online photos don't do it justice, it was an amazing place. This is the castle of the late King Ludwig II of Bravaria. Ludwig wanted to build the castle in the hopes of creating a world of his own. One where everything was noble and beautiful. The castle was never completely fiinished and the King only got to live in it for a total of 172 days before his death. On our tour we were only allowed to see parts of the castle. On the way up to the castle we opted for the expensive horse and buggie ride, rather than the 40 minute uphill hike!    

                                                                                                         
 

 






     
   


                         



The following day we decided to stay in the area and do a little sightseeing in Garmish. This is a quiet and quaint little town.

 
That evening we had our nice Thanksgiving dinner!

  

On Friday which was our last full day in Germany we took an hour and a half train ride into Munich Germany to see the Christmas market! It was a cold and snowy day so we didn't get to enjoy the outdoors as much as we wanted. It was a long day and the kids were cold and tired. We did enjoy a NICE AMERICAN meal at Hard Rock Cafe.


         
And so concludes our very nice relaxing Thanksgiving vacation in Germany. The ride home was extermely beautiful through the mountains and the freshly fallen snow! Please remember that not all my pictures are posted on the blog (just not enough space) and you can always see the complete files on my facebook page. As always thanks for taking the time to read about our European adventures! Sending much love to you all!





 
 

Friday, December 10, 2010

Ottobre (October)

Hope that this particular blog finds you all doing well. Hope you are taking it easy among all the hustle and bustle of the Christmas season. I am all done with our shopping, cards are all in the mail, and packages are on their way across the ocean! I however am way behind on my blogging! Anyway I will try to play a little catch up here, and then post another one shortly here after. October came and went with the blink of an eye....we made a day trip to Venice with our neighbor friends the Robbins. With each trip to Venice we see something new and different, whether it be the yummy eye candy on the train to Venice (sorry gals I couldn't get a picture), watching my husband actually drink a Cappuccino, or seeing your son tag his name on Italian property (at least his name wasn't the only one on there, but probably the only AMERICAN name!)           

 There is always a street we haven't been to or something we haven't seen, or something new we learned.



October also brought our first Halloween overseas! The base sponsored a "Trunk or Treat" but it was a lot of waiting to get to the 20 or so cars that were passing out candy! For a three year old anything longer than 5 minutes is to long! Needless to say by the time we got to the trunks the kids were not in the trick or treating mood! This was also the first year that our Pre-teen was TO cool to dress up! That's why you won't see pictures of Kaleb......

                                          


Since the "trunk or treat" event was held on Friday, that left open the actaul night of Halloween. I was not aware that they did trick or treating in the Birdhouses. There are a total of about 38 birdhouses with all Americans in them. Since the Italians don't celebrate Halloween I just figured the even on base was it. But then I was asked if the kids were going to trick or treat the birdhouses? So we let them venture out in the rain to add to their loot. I guess that the Italians have caught onto our American holidays and traditions as there were A LOT of Italian kiddos dressed up and trick or treating at the Birdhouses. I am embaressed to say this but I was not prepared for that and ran out of candy, so we quickly went through the boys' candy and got together all the YUCKY stuff and passed that out!!! :) All in all I have to say I missed the door to door through the neighborhood of the states for Halloween! However it doesn't matter how I feel, the kids could have cared less just as long as they got candy, and well next year we will get in line early so we don't have to WAAAIIIIITTTTT so long!





      

Monday, October 18, 2010

Day 2 of our Labor Day Weekend Adventures....

After a semi-nights sleep we were on the road again! Only for a small jont before we had to stop for a Cappiccino! :) Must experiance a real Italian cappiccion to understand the appreciation for this coffee. Anyway after a quick stop we were on our way to Verona Italy.

Our first stop was to see Arena di Verona. The Roman Arena was used in the past for the gladiator fights, but now is used for operas and other cultural events. Part of the outer building was destroyed in the 1117 earthquake. The boys really thought this was cool, especially the people all dressed up as gladiators!

  
Arena di Verona was used in the past for gladiator fights, but is now used for operas and other cultural shows. Part of the outer building was destroyed in the 1117 earthquake, however this being one of the biggest theaters in Italy it is also the best preserved. Next we walked down Via Mazzini to get to Piazza delle Erbe (center of the city.) Mazzini is a perdestrian only street that is lined with chick boutiques. These particular boutiques are filled with Italian designer clothing!! :) Which is probably why we never stepped foot inside them! LOL



Next we headed over to the ever so famous
Casa di Giulietta (House of Juliet.) Juliet's balcony dates back to the 13th century. You can pay 3 euro and go inside the house to the balcony for a fun photo op, but there was to many people and wasn't really worth the wait. The brass statue of Juliet in the courtyard is another big photo op. Many believe that if you touch the right breast of the statue that you will have good fortune. Had Clark's hand not been on her right breast you would notice just how worn that breast is compaired to the left! :) Juliet's wall is another must see. Many believe that writing on the wall will make their love everlasting! OOPS we forgot our sharpie! It is also a tradition to put small love letters on the walls (Letters to Juliet) Regularly the walls are all cleaned and the notes are all taken down, just to keep the courtyard clean. They must have just removed all the notes when we visited because there were non on the walls. 

 


Gelato, Cappuccino, and lunch time. Yep in that order too!

After filling our bellies and getting a jolt of pick me up we finished our stay in Verona with a couple more tourist stops. We ventured onto the Scaligieri Graves, which are on the grounds of St. Maria Antica's Church. In front of the Church the Della Scala Family erected their own cemetary. Over the Church's front door there's the Cangrande Idella Scala Grave (1329) the most important Veronese monument from the 14th century. In the Arche Mastino II and the Cansignorio grave, rest in peace other members of this family that ruled Verona from 1260 to 1387. This monument was also open for touring for a fee, but we passed on going inside.
 
Next we made a quick pass by Casa di Romeo. Romeo's house was not preserved and so it is not open to the public for touring so there really wasn't much to see here.

   So this concludes our very fun weekend touring Pisa and Verona Italy! Be sure to check out my Facebook page for many more pictures.