Europa Park is about halfway between Cologne and where we stay in Italy, so we figured it would be a fun place to stop for a day and break the trip up. We figured right- we had a blast! This place is probably the closest thing there is to Disneyland in Germany, only smaller and […]

Märchenwald is about a 35 minute drive from Köln. The best way I can describe it is Brothers Grimm stories brought to life in the forest. You walk for a while into the woods until you reach these adorable little mini homes. Each home or setting represents a different Brothers Grimm story. It’s a long, […]

  Another highlight of Getrudenhof was the amazing food! They had rows of wooden huts that sold all different kinds of homemade food. cauldrons of soup amazing bread Rivekoche (fried shredded potato, onion and egg). Lots of people here like to dip it in applesauce, but I prefer it plain. produce galore! and many potatoes, […]

Once we were unpacked from our October vacation in Italy, Halloween was only a few weeks away. We decided we needed a dose of Autumn and some pumpkins to carve for Halloween. We checked out a new place, Gertrudenhof. It’s a farm just outside of Köln that sells pumpkins, flowers, produce and other food goods. […]

Here are some pics that didn’t make it into any of the other Bavarian posts… On the way there and back were hundreds of miles of these yellow flower fields on both sides of the Autobahn (intermittently interrupted by cute little villages- often with cute little castles upon their hills). I looked the yellow flowers […]

On our way home we stopped by the Ehrenberg Castle Ensemble in Austria (also called the Ehrenberg Ruins). It consists of four 13th century medieval castle ruins (that were once connected by a wall). It also has a kid-friendly Castle Museum that the girls loved. I really wanted to hike up to the ruins but […]

Ettal Abbey is a Benedictine Monastery built in the 1300’s (and since rebuilt a few times). We stopped by there on the way home from Linderhof. Simon and Kiera were tired, so only Quinnie and I went in to check it out.   Quinnie     view opposite the entrance   There was a church […]

Linderhof Castle was the smallest of King Ludwig’s castles and the only one he lived to see completed. The grounds are expansive and beautiful. When you first pull up there’s a little village at the bottom of the hill with a few houses where you can buy snacks/ meals and souvenirs…     love that […]

This was everybody’s favorite day of our vacation. It was AMAZING. The Zugspitze is Germany’s highest mountain (9,718 ft. above sea level). We waited until Thursday when the weather report said it would be clear and sunny. It was the perfect day to go. We planned on taking the Seilbahn (Gondola) up to the top, […]

Wieskirche is a Rococo church built in the 1740’s to house the dilapidated wooden statue that was seen to have tears running down it’s face, and pronounced a miracle. It has become a popular pilgrimage sight. When we first pulled into the parking lot there were busloads of people. I looked at the church (which […]

Oberammergau is a town famous for it’s Lüftlmalerei (paintings on houses) and woodcarving artists. The Lüftlmalerei started in the 18th century, and was a way for wealthy merchants, farmers and craftsmen to show their status. I read that Oberammergau has a world famous woodcarving school that is very hard to get into. You wouldn’t believe […]

One of our favorite days on this vacation was the day we spent at Partnachklamm. It snowed a bit, so that was a HUGE bonus. Our girls have had very few experiences with snow, having lived in San Diego most of their lives. We went to the gorge with a father (Jaime) and daughter (Evie) […]

Schloss Neuschwanstein (New Swanstone Castle) is one of the most famous castles in the world. It’s the castle that Walt Disney based Cinderella’s Castle on. It was VERY impressive (and I think only 1/3 of the castle is shown to the public). Again, no pics allowed inside the castle so these are of the walk […]

The second day of our vacation we visited two of King Ludwig’s castles. They are located fairly close to each other, and between them there is a little village at the base of the mountains connecting them. We bought a pass to see both castles in one day. The first castle we went to was […]

Bavaria is a very picturesque and traditional part of Germany. It’s famous for it’s Lüftlmalerei- painted houses usually depicting religious scenes or themes. There are also lots of Fachwerkhäuser- half timbered houses. It is a very Catholic and traditional region. To the point that my usually “anything goes!” husband wouldn’t let our girls walk barefoot […]

Sorry it’s taken me so long to get our Bavarian vacation pictures posted. I was a bit overwhelmed- I had to edit and organize over 2,000 pictures! On top of that, I was sick with a horrible head cold for 2 weeks, Quinnie had Strep Throat TWICE, and then Simon got sick. Add our normal […]

A few weekends ago we went on a mini vacation (3 days) to the Grieshof, a working farm two hours outside of Köln that Ruth told us about. The girls are crazy about animals so this type of vacation is pretty perfect for us right now. We only paid 60 euros ($84) per night for […]

For years Simon has been telling me about this fairytale place from his childhood. He described it as straight out of Hansel and Gretel. It is his Aunt Jenny and Uncle Kurt’s vacation home and he used to go and visit his cousins there. Opa Friedel and Simon decided to take the girls there one […]