The Meier's German Adventure

This was our last day down in the Alps. We drove to a little town nearby our hotel called Garmisch-Partenkirchen. The towns were joined before the 1936 winter Olympics and since then has remained a winter sports haven in Germany. The picture of the kids is taken at the very scenic Partnach river gorge. The 700 meter gorge was cut over time by the wild Partnach River. It was very cool! The trail is a narrow footpath through the rock and just below is the rushing river. Parts of it were really loud - especially the rapids area. Things are very different here in Germany - its basically do everything at your own risk. I played the protective mother role perfectly always reminding the kids to not run and don't go near the edge. Scott of course kept reminding me that they were just fine. The kids thought the hike was great! It was beautiful. I know I keep using that word but just everything this entire weekend was beautiful! After we hiked the gorge we walked into the old Olympic stadium and saw the ski jump area. Our trips to the Alps was very memorable - and a must do again!!

Oktoberfest!!! Prost!! (Cheers) We took the train into Munich from our hotel and arrived at Oktoberfest by about 11 in the morning. Once our table in the beer tent was secured, Scott, the kids and I went off to explore. This fest is huge - over 6 million people visit it during the 2 weeks it is open! Besides the beer tents - which are plenty, there are huge amusement park size rides. We did the bumper cars ,the kids rode the swings, and we all rode the wild mouse. We checked out some of the other tents as well. The tents themselves are an amazing sight. They can hold between 8 - 10 THOUSAND a piece inside! There were about 15 different tents, plus seating outside each for lots more!! The tents are big fun.. The jubilant brass bands are playing music while the crowd eats, drinks (1 liter beers of course), sings and dances! Scott and I learned several new drinking songs/toasts! We went with some people from Scott's unit and had a great day! Jake even made friends with the band and they just invited him into their group and started chanting U-S-A ! U-S-A ! They let him pick one of their pins from their outfit! He and Kaitlyn had fun! We left the tent and headed back for the train at about 5 p.m., just as the tent was getting very crowded. Oktoberfest - WOW!

On Sunday, we got up and drove out to Bertchesgaden to go visit the Kelsteinhaus - Hitler's Eagle's Nest. It is perched high on a mountain top - over 6,000 feet up. To get to the mountain retreat we took a tour bus up on a very narrow, winding road, which the kids and Scott loved. Once off the bus we enter Hitler's tunnel to his private solid brass elevator. The house is now open for visitors only after the snow melts until November, since the road is impassable with snow. The morning we got there, some fresh snow had just fallen on the peaks of the alps and it was so beautiful. The kids were making little snowman at Adolph Hitler's place. The views were a real live postcard! We explored the house, which is now a restaurant, and then followed the path up a little higher on the mountain. The views were amazing. Once inside we got some lunch and a beer at Hitler's house! We have a great picture of Scott drinking his beer in front of Hitler's fireplace. I joked that the only thing that would make that even better was if we were Jewish. Lunch was very good - some schnitzel for the kids and some hearty soups for Scott and myself. The ride back down the mountain was much better(for me) than the ride up. The scenery driving to Bertchesgaden and back was just breathtaking. Such a beautiful country.

This was the first stop on our trip to the Alps in Bavaria! It is called Neuschwanstein Castle and is the most famous castle in all of Germany. This is the one that Walt Disney designed his castles after. We could see why! We got down to the castle in the afternoon and signed up for the castle tour. The castle was built for King Ludwig - Germany's very eccentric King. He had lots of castles built for his fairytale world. Unfortunately, the castle was never completed on the inside - he mysteriously died before its completion. The rooms that were finished were amazing! The wood in his bedroom took 14 wood carvers over 4 years to complete. The entire castle is the embodiment of a romantic, medieval castle. The Throne room is full of ornate marble, gold and beautiful paintings. Unfortunately we were not allowed to take any photos inside the castle. The picture of us overlooking the castle is taken form Marienbrucke (Marie's Bridge)named after his mother, which spans the 45m high waterfall and is 92meters above the gorge. You can really appreciate the romantic landscape of the surroundings from this bridge.

What a country! Today we went to a town called Bad Durkheim for a Wine Festival! The festival takes place over two weekends in the month of September. There were about 15 different wine tents set up with about 12 different wines to try! We took the kids on some rides for a little while, the picture is of the kids up on the big ferris wheel Jupiter. When it was time to sit down and sample, we got some food, picked a tent and got some wine. The glasses that they serve the wine in were a little bigger than normal - 1/2 liter glass! It was a another beautiful day in Germany. The town is located along the Deutsche Weinstrasse - the German Wine Route. All along the strasse are small towns where you can stop in at any of the cafes and try some wine. The towns are separated by the beautiful vineyards. This is definitely worth going back to for more exploring! The kids had lots of fun on the rides -can you tell by the smiles!

Ferrari Days!! On September 5, 2004, Scott and I went with some friends, Greg and Jeannette Derner, out to Nurburgring Germany for Ferrari Racing Days! Wow! We counted over 400 Ferraris - easy! The day was a mix of professional Ferrari race teams competing as well as anyone that owned a Ferrari racing each other as well. We purchased tickets that allowed us to go down into "the pits". From there we could could get up close and personal with several million dollars worth of Italy's finest hotrods! It was an all day event with lots of shorter races and demonstration runs. Even some Formula 1 action. We were also treated to an appearance from the famous Michael Schumacher. He arrived by helicopter right on the track and drove 3 cars - a new Mazerati, a new Ferrari Enzo and of course, his Formula 1 ride. Its not NASCAR, but it was a cool substitute!!