Vacationing in Bavaria

Rich has been off for R&R since he returned from Afghanistan. We took a trip down to Bavaria to the resort Edelweiss in Garmisch, Germany for a couple of days. The weather was just gorgeous there and we had such a great time.

We saw Neuschwanstein Castle, the "Disney" castle built by the "mad" King Ludwig II. The inside was gorgeous but we weren't allowed to take any pictures. The views of the lakes, mountains, and Hohenschwagau Castle (his parents summer home ha!) below were amazing! After our tour we rode a horse and carriage back down to the village and at a traditional Bavarian lunch of sausages, pretzels, schnitzel, spaetzle and of course King Ludwig beer!

Edelweiss, the resort, itself was wonderful. It's owned by the military so everything is in English and there are Americans that work there. There are a couple of restaurants and there is a company that offers day trips and tours. Ariana loved the big stone fireplace and the old wooden rocking chairs in the lobby. There was also a really nice indoor pool and outdoor hot tub for swimming and relaxing. The steamy hot tub in the cool afternoon air was just perfect to relax in! Rich and I even got to indulge in a couples massage while she played at the daycare.

This is the view from our room and balcony!

We also went up the Zugspitze, the tallest mountain in Germany. It overlooks Germany and Austria. We took the cable car up which Ariana loved, me not so much. Of course there was lots of snow and it was really windy and cold.

Those views were gorgeous! We want to hopefully go back and go skiing up there. Well, we hope to take ski lessons up there. We've snowboarded once.

We also saw the Olympic Stadium that was built for the 1936 Winter Olympics in Garmisch. Inside they have 2 ski slopes and every year the World Cup Ski Jump is held there on New Year's Day.

Walking in the countryside was just gorgeous. The sun was shining and the weather was a nice 60 degrees. Most of the snow on the ground had melted but there were still a few patches here and there.

There was a pretty little stream that we walked by that was a interesting blue green color like I've never seen in a stream/river. We were told it was from the melting glaciers on the mountain and the calcium and lime in the riverbed.

Ariana got a little stuffed mountain goat that she first named Greta, and then renamed some made up name. She climbed on rocks everywhere we went!

The frozen Lake Eibsee was pretty even though it's suppose to be much nicer in the summer.

We only spent a little time here because of how much snow there was and we didn't have snow boots on. You can see in the picture below we are standing on packed snow with the lake behind us.

All in all it was a relaxing trip to the mountains. Just the time away we needed to recharge and refresh ourselves. After 6 months apart it was nice to get away together and reconnect. We are definitely hoping to go back again soon since it was only a 5 hour drive from us and well worth it. Part of me wants to see every season there!