Mom & Dad in Germany

10 wonderful days in Germany with my parents and it was a BLAST! It felt like it had been so long since I had seen them. It was so cool to travel and experience Germany with them. As my Dad said over and over: 'We make good tourist! If only we had unlimited money.' Here's a recap and glimpse at what we did and saw.

Day One: Tuesday, 10 April 2012

My parents arrived on a cloudy, rainy day (while at least in Landstuhl it was, apparently the sun was shining in Frankfurt...go figure! Landstuhl is a blackhole for clouds/rain/wind I swear!) around 9 am to Frankfurt international airport. I was working this day so I couldn't pick them up from the airport but instead instructed them how to get to the train station for Deutsche Bahn to get over to me. They successfully navigated to the office, platforms, a train change to arrive in Lanstuhl in the mid-afternoon. Around 2:30-3:00pm I got a wonderful phone call from my mother that they were safe and sound at the cute little hotel room I had reserved for them just minutes from the train station. Luckily my boss was kind enough to let me go a little early to go met up with them. I of course jumped at the opportunity, quickly changed clothes, and drove my little rental car down the hill to see them in PERSON!! After wonderful welcome hugs we hug out in the hotel room for a little while but then left to tour the city, grab some yummy German wine, and head back to my apartment for dinner and games. We spent the evening talking, eating and playing one of my favorites: Bananagrams until I could keep them up no longer. They actually did really well and made it until 9pm before I had to take them back to their hotel room to sleep. They must have listened to my order for lots of energy and enthusiasm because I was pretty impressed how well they did (while Dad did want to fall asleep after dinner but he quickly livened up and was his usual sneaky self while playing Banagrams ... ;) ) Unfortunately, I didn't bring my camera to the hotel so I don't have a lot of pictures - my parents have the initial reunion pictures. But I did grab this quick shot before we started the evening games. 

See how awake and cheery they are? Ready for some intense competition! 

Day Two: Wednesday, 11 April 2012

I worked. Mom and Dad went on the train to Ansbach to visit and travel around with our distant relative Heidi and her family. I don't know exactly what they did but they ate German food, saw all sorts of little villages and homes around Ansbach including the home where my great, great, great, great, great (i think that's enough) grandfather lived and immigrated to Michigan from. 

Day Three: Thursday, 12 April 2012

I worked until 1:00 pm and then went home, grabbed my things, said goodbye to my awesome roommate (wish she didn't have to leave before I did!) and then headed out to Ansbach to met up with Mom and Dad. I didn't get to Heidi's apartment until dinner time so my parents did some more sightseeing, shopping, eating - you know touristy things ;) - until I got there. I was able to met Heidi and Franziska, one of Heidi's son's girlfriends. We ate dinner and spent the night talking, laughing, and finding out what to do the next day. 

My roommie and I in our super cool 'matching' sweatshirts. Man, I miss this girl!

Day Four: Friday, 13 April 2012

Started out with a little drive through the country side to Schillingsfürst to see the falconry and show and tour of the fancy palace . We then went to the super cute village of Rothenburg. Rothenburg is one of the only villages in Germany that still has a completely intact city wall still standing around the entire village. It was so cool to see that and climb into and walk around for a while. They also have very cool cobblestone streets, shops, awesome Christmas stores, and schneeballen (snowballs). We had a lot of fun walking around the city, through the little city park, and eating regional foods. In the late afternoon we parted ways from Heidi and drove over to München to meet up with more 'family' - Wilhelm & Angelika. We ate dinner with them and visited but quickly went to bed to be ready and refreshed for a busy day of being tourists on Saturday. 

My Mom's in Germany with the city of Schillingsfürst in the background.

Mom showing off her birding skills. She was in heaven this morning to see all the birds of prey but also hearing all the  'regular' birds singing all around. 

The Schloss @ Schillingsfürst. The little wooden shelters on the left and right side were for all the birds. 

A falcon, hanging out. No big deal...

At the show. We saw all sorts and sizes of birds. It was crazy and they literally flew right over our heads as they went from side to side to perch on different trainers hands to get their food. The trainers talked about each bird, unfortunately it was all in German so we didn't understand any of it but it was still cool to see all the birds so close. No zoom used for this picture, she was literally standing right next to me!

Yup, that's a snowy owl! It was at this point that I recognized a few words during the show: Harry Potter...do you think this is Hedwig?!? ;)

The city of Rothenburg as seen from the view of the city wall. Every building has red roof tiles. 

Mom and Dad inside the wall.

Dad standing guard. 

Cute Easter decorations at the Golden Rose B&B inside the city. It was so cute and quaint I needed to take a picture. I love the decorations, I think I'll start incorporating this back home. Apparently this type of Easter decoration is only found in Bavaria, specifically Franconia which is were I'm from so I've got to!

Inside Rothenburg

Frohe Ostern!! Dad and I by the Easter fountain in Rothenburg. :)

Maultaschen: Swäbian ravioli recommended by Franzie. Noodles with meat basically, with salad,  potatoes, cucumber salad, green beans, eggs...yoummy.

Käsespätzle: cheese spätzle (traditional German egg noodle). Another dish recommended by Franzie. My mom had this and said it was yummy!

Schneeballen (snowballs)!! Fancy pastry dough strips rolled fancily into a ball topped with powdered sugar, cinnamon, or dunked in chocolate glaze. Look delicious, taste okay. Apparently they are good for breakfast with coffee...

The beautiful city of Rothenburg and it's city wall. 

The park just outside the wall. It's still early in spring in Bavaria as it's a little cooler there with the Alps and higher elevation. No tree buds/leaves while we were there.

Mom, Dad, and our wonderful host Heidi. And her trusty sidekick Lady.

Day Five: Saturday 14 April 2012

This was an action packed day. I got up, had a quick run (yes, I'm still training for my 1/2 marathon in 3 weeks!), ate breakfast and then we were off and running. Wilhelm was a great tour guide and took us all over Southern Bavaria. We drove to Garmische saw the cute city, tried to see the Alps but unfortuanately the weather was not cooperating. It was cold, extremely foggy/hazy/misty so we couldn't see the Alps at all. Garmische is home to Zugspitze, the highest peak in German. We went to the ski lift and got all sorts of ideas for a return trip to ski/snowboard up in the Alps. Plus, there is an igloo hotel that gets designed and built every year way up in the Alps that looks really cool and fun to stay at for a night! I know, the girl who doesn't really like cold weather wants to stay in an igloo, but it actually sounded really fun to do for a night! My goal is to come back in a couple years to go snowboarding in the Alps - gotta get some practicing in between now and then so all my boarding friends take me out and teach me and then come with me!!! We stopped by the huge olympic ski jump for the winter games in the 1930's and then went to Ettal for lunch and checked out the kloster. Back into the car for a drive through Oberammergau on our way to see Schloss Linderhof. This is a famous palace built and lived in my King Ludwig II (he also built the Neuschwanstein Castle the castle that inspired Disney's Cinderella Castle). This was like his summer home and was so intricate and fancy inside. Ludwig was obsessed with the French royalty and built Linderhof to be his mini-Versailles. We had a really nice tour, in English, to see all the fine things inside. Unfortunately no pictures were allowed inside. After seeing the palace we went to München so my parents could see the city and then it was back to the Appold's house for dinner and visiting. Plus, we talked with my grandpa and aunt in California. 

Saw Olympic Village in München on the way to Garmische. Home of the 1972 Summer Games!

Our lunch restaurant in Ettal. We had traditional Bavaria meals, including a pizza...yes, I got a pizza. I was over sausage, coleslaw, potatoes, etc. But I finished the meal with traditional Bavarian dessert though:apfel strudel. ;)

The Kloster in Ettal.

Inside the monastery. Amazingly ornate, fancy church. This was the painting on the ceiling of the dome. Crazy, how did they get up there to paint it??

The church organ. This is for you David, I hope you read and see this!

The alter.

The backyard of Schloss Linderhof. 

The french balcony outside Ludwig's bedroom. This is was symbol: a double L (for Ludwig II) with the Bavarian crown on top. This was on all the little balconies outside each window on all sides of the window. 

The front yard...

Out in front of the palace, waiting for our tour to start. Wilhelm kept joking that his was my new home...wouldn't that be cool?

Schloss Linderhof. Beautiful fountains, great backdrop..if only we could have see the Alps through the fog.

München!!

Day 6: Sunday, 15 April 2012

Sunday was a rainy day, perfect to go to a museum and travel back home. First though we went to the gardens outside the palace in their city. It was pretty with the daffodils blooming and the fountains going off. We spent the rest of the morning in Munich at the BMW museum before heading home. Once back home we made dinner, played cribbage and that was our day.

Schloss Oberschleissheim

blooming flowers are so pretty!

The fountains in the backyard

dad, me, mom, and Angelika

Dad, Angelika, Mom, and Wilhelm: GREAT hosts!

4 Cylinders: BMW headquarters. Pretty cool huh?

Special exhibition in the museum: 007's car (yup, Pierce Brosnan rode in and drove this car in The Golden Eye

haha, my future car, it'll look so good parked outside my new home: Schloss Linderhof ;)

Hanging out inside a limited edition BMW

Now, this is what I'm talking about. This matches my new home MUCH better!

Day Seven: Monday, 16 April 2012

I had to work again, so I put them back on the train to Trier. They came home for dinner and we spent the rest of the night planning out our trip for the next 3 days into the Black Forest (Schwarzwald). Oh, Dad & I also went to the commissary @ Ramstein to grab a bunch of the famous Happy Hippo's to take home and share with people.

Day Eight: Tuesday, 17 April 2012

We woke up early and pack up all their belongs and drove to Baden-Baden at the Northern aspect of the Black Forest. Here we checked out the old, old, old (11th century) castle ruins and went on an awesome 3+ km hike in the surrounding area. After the hike we drove along this great road called Schwardzwaldhochstrasse (Black Forest Highway) that winded and curved up through the mountains. It was really cool and so pretty. The road ended in Freudenstadt. We walked around for a few minutes, saw a cool L-shaped protestant church, and then went back on the road through the valleys to Freiburg and our hotel. Another beautiful drive, with a stop on the way in Alpirsbach to see a brewery (which unfortunately was closed) and eat a scrumptious dinner. 

Ready for a great day of touring: how can it be bad with the sun shining like that? Outside the ruins in Baden-Baden.

castle ruins 

Looking through the window into the forest. As my mom would say, that window is just meant to be looked out of!

Me and Dad at the very top of the castle.

This is for my Glahn aunts!!! Can you tell what kind of bird it is?

Welcome to the Black Forest!

View of the Black Forest from the cliffs we climbed up on our hike. 

More views from the hike and the village of Baden Baden in the valley below.

Mom and I on the hike, taking a little break to enjoy the view.

A view from the Schwarzwaldhochstrasse

Being silly in Fruedenstadt.

Dad and the Beer Budda

A delicious dinner in Alpirsbach and the Zwinker & Kaps. Pork tenderloin with mushroom gravy and spätzle, Vienna style schnitzel and Mediterranean cous cous garnished with rocket (my new favorite garnish: as American's call it arugula but I totally think we should replace it with rocket....)  

Day Nine: Wednesday 18 April 2012

Another great day weather wise. We started with a short drive south to see a great wasserfall complete with a small 0.5 km hike to get to the waterfall. We also had to drive up into the mountains to get there so it was a little chilly, foggy, and there was definitely some snow up there! After our hike, we drove back into Freiburg and spent the day exploring this cool city and did another little hike just outside the city that ended with a great view of the city from this awesome watch tower. After exploring the city we had a great dinner, had some great Freiburg wine, and enjoyed our last night together. 

Ready for a brisk walk. Lots of energy from my dad this morning...

The hiking trail.

This waterfall has three falls that make it up. This is the lowest part of the falls. 

Looking out from the top of the lower falls to the valley/mountains by the falls.

The middle falls. The water here was falling so hard and fast it was LOUD. We were shouting to each other over the sound of the falls. 

The upper falls

The creek/stream at the very top that forms the falls.

Hiking back down to the car. This is the lower falls again.

Master hikers.

This is now back in Freiburg. We made it back around lunch time and got there while the city market was still up and running. Lots of fresh fruits and veggies for sale - a big farmer's market. Plus, street food and delicious grilled brats with onions and mustard. Soooo good!

The Freiburg Kirche (church)

Freiburg Rothaus (town hall)

The city of Freiburg from the watch tower we hiked up to and then climbed 158 stairs to the top of the tower.

Another view from the top of the tower.

Random cross on the trail to the tower.

Enjoying a little drink at Domino's Cafe after our hike. 

A beautiful park in the middle of the city.

The Park

More of the park

Pretty flowers in the park

The streets in Freiburg. They have this cool tiny brook that runs throughout the city streets. Legend has it if you accidentally step in the water you will marry someone from Freiburg. Don't worry my friends, I didn't misstep - I'm coming home! ;) But maybe I should have... 

Dinner: cherry pork chops, ravioli's and salmon. 

To top it off, Black Forest Ice Cream Sundae. Love German eiscreme!!

Day 10: Thursday 19 April 2012

Up bright and early with a plan to stop in Worms before dropping them off at the airport around 12 for their flight home. It took a little longer to get to Worms then we thought (stupid construction on the autobahn and McDonald's not being open until 8...what's up with that?!?). So we had about 30 minutes in Worms - just enough time to see the awesome Luther statue where he refused to recant the 95 thesis at the Diet of Worms in 1520. It was so sad to drop them off and send them back home. I so badly wanted to go jump in their suitcase and come home for just a week so I could go to the bachelorette party of wedding...looking forward to at least FaceTime into the wedding Saturday! 

It's Marty!!! Unfortunately they had a fence around the statue and there was this ugly orange construction thingy out as the statue was getting cleaned the day were were there. Unfortunately we couldn't get very close...

What great memories we made and I'm so happy they were able to come visit and see so many awesome things in Germany. They made great tourists and now we need to come back to see Northern Germany! ;)