6/28/08 Saturday ~ Travel Journal

Fussen, Germany

10:18am

We are on a train heading to Fussen Germany. There is a castle called Neushwenstien castle there that we want to see. Yesterday we walked in the old part of Munich. We went to the Karlsplatz fountain and walked through the pedestrian zone where there are shops and restaurants. We went into a Swarovski Crystal shop and another store that was like a department store. After a bit of walking, we came to a plaza where the Glockenspiel Church is located. There is a clock in the bell tower that has figures that dance at certain times.

It's a pretty nice thing to view when coming into a plaza. Basically we spent the afternoon wandering around. We really wanted to watch a movie at an Imax theater located on the map but we got there and the girl told us it had been closed for the past three years. it was another type of theater but nothing for us to see. Soo we walked. After a while it was close to dinner time so we headed to the Hoffbrau Haus. It's a well known beer garden because it's one of the largest. I ordered a "Radler" which is beer with lemonade.

Jere ordered an "Original" which is original to the Haus. I also got a large pretzel while Jere ordered "The Suckling Pig". It was a nice atmosphere and we enjoyed just sitting. We met some people from Northern Germany who were on a holiday for four days in Munich. They seemed really friendly and took pictures of us with our huge drinks.

By the time we got back to the camping we were exhausted and went to bed around 9pm! I woke up around 4am but fell back asleep till 8am.

This morning while Jere showered, I ate breakfast and met an older guy named Richard. He is from Arizona and seems to have traveled a lot. We just talked about our experiences and various tips and advice. He advised that if you aren't getting results from lower level people in a company that you should just go straight to the CEO. Write a letter or E-mail. Seems like he's gotten some good results. So, now we're heading to Fussen to see the castle that Walt Disney used as inspiration for the Cinderella Castle.

11:24am

Well we've been on the train for about an hour and chatting with Gentz. he is in advertising and is visiting his girlfriend in Geltendorf. He was really friendly. He just got off and we still have an hour and a half till we arrive at our destination.

4:11pm

On the train here, we chatted with some folks from Korea. They are so nice. Because we arrived about the same time, they are on the tours of the castles with us. We visited the Schloss Hohenschwangau and it's a pretty sweet castle. The tour guide was pretty plain and seemed bored. It's just cool to hear the information. So after we toured the castle of Ludwig II parent's, we went to his castle. First we stopped to get a snack because we were starving. We are still hungry so hopefully we can get a good dinner.

Instead of taking a carriage like I wanted, we hiked up a really steep mountain side. When we got up to the castle, we met a couple from Florida. They lived in Kansas for a while so it was nice to chat. We were also on the same tour as the Koreans that we met. The girl doing the tour was really cute and animated so it was fun. Not like the boring tour of the guy at the first castle. I really liked the rooms in the Neuschwanstien castle because they were so brightly colored. And none of it was faded. maybe they've been touching it up over the years. It's so interesting to me to think about living in the time period when people would have lived in castles. In this case 1660-1880's.

Once the tour was over, we walked down the steep, steep hillside to the base. We caught a bus and now we're waiting for a rain to take a two hour train ride to Munich. Hopefully we can get a good meal somewhere for our last night in Europe.

The Neuschwanstien Castle is surrounded by trees and sits atop a high mountain.

8:38pm

We are eating at the Hoffbrau Haus! I am starving. I'm going to get Bavarian potato soup to start and then two meatballs and mashed potatoes. I am also looking forward to the Radler beer. It's nice and sweet.

(Jere at dinner)

To see other pictures from our trip visit our flickr account.

6/27/08 Friday ~ Travel Journal

Munich, Germany

2:11pm

We are sitting in a Greek restaurant just finishing our lunch. It took us a while to get around this morning but we did laundry, ate food and showered :) We walked from the camping to an ATM and walked through the grounds of a castle on the way. There is the castle and then a wall surrounding the grounds.

This castle is the Nymphenburger Schloss. Schloss = Castle. It was so random, we didn't know it was there and just stumbled onto the grounds by accident.

Along the wall there are houses attached to the wall. It looked pretty cool. There were swans swimming in a pond and it was nice to look at them and think about jumping in the water.

Today we don't have time to make it to Dachau or the Neuschwanstien Castle (Disney modeled after this castle) but we have tomorrow to go to one place. We'll probably visit the castle as someone said it's a good size day trip. Today we'll just explore the city and go downtown.
As we asked for the check for our lunch, our waiter brought us two drinks instead. Jere was given whiskey and he gave me a fruity drink. It was good! And free! Maybe he liked us since we're foreign.

In the evening, we ate at the Hoffbrau Haus. I wrote about that and other activities that we did the next day.

6/26/08 Thursday ~ Travel Journal

These posts are taken from the journal I kept while traveling in Europe in June 2008.

Vienna, Austria

10:27 am
We are waiting for Ingrid and Mirjam to get home so we can get something to eat. I am starving! The plan right now is to leave on a rain at 1:40pm. We would get into Munich around 6:30pm if we go through Salzburg instead of going directly to Munich from Vienna.

10:55am
We are still hungry. Someone kept calling but we didn't pick it up. We found out about five minutes later that it was the cleaning lady. We heard someone come up the stairs and open the front door but it wasn't who we were expecting! She didn't speak English and basically made a signal that she would call Ingrid. Weird meeting someone who doesn't know what's going on!

Obviously Jere was still hungry...

7:05pm
We are on the train to Munich and should arrive around 8:30pm. I think the camping is close to the train station, not a far walk. Ingrid and Mirjam got home a bit after 11am and we went to the Hummel Cafe for lunch. I had Wiener Snitzel and Jere had Fikergoulash. his was more like a stew and it was really good. The meat was really tender. Ingrid ordered us some Sache Torte cake to tr and it was really good. Mirjam had a dessert but it was striped. I can't remember what it was called. So Mirjam took Jere and I to the store and to a bakery called "Aida" to buy a small Sache Torte cake.

Check list for 6/27/08

• Laundry


• Shower


• Send Ingrid Money


• Get nose ring

Munich, Germany

11:56pm

We arrived in Munich Germany around 9:30pm. We took the tram straight to our camping - "The Tent". It seems like a really cool place with lights strung places, a bonfire going, nice toilette's, Internet, cafeteria etc. The people seem very nice so far.

Yesterday afternoon I got a message on Facebook from a friend sending condolences about Lady. I was confused at first but didn't have a good feeling and was certain she had died. I cried (with Ingrid and Mirjam present). I chatted with Rachel last night and she said she was sorry I found out this way on the trip. Tonight, Dad sent me an e-mail telling me the whole story of how she passed and what happened. It's so sad because I can picture Lady's sweet face laying on her side like she did at our house. Dad said he thinks she had a stroke or heart attack. She was breathing but not responding. Dad took her to the vet and let her go while petting her and telling her what a good dog she had been to us. And she has. She has been such a great dog. I just can't get over the thought that she won't be around staring at the person cooking the food, always under foot. I'll just let the tears come until they stop on their own.

At first I didn't want to write about Lady dying into my travel journal, but realized that it would probably help. I had been crying on and off since I had found out and after I wrote my feelings down I was able to go to sleep and calm down for the rest of the trip. I was so sad.