Day 46 Garmisch-Partenkirchen

 On our last full day in Germany we enjoyed another great day of skiing in the Alps. Today we went to nearby Hausberg, a part of the Garmisch Classic Ski Area. The snow is a bit behind this year and only a small portion of the mountain was open. Snow conditions reminded us more of East Coast granular on packed powder (ice) but the sun was shining and we were together. In fact, the familiarity of the snow made us feel a little closer to home. There were no lines and the 6 person chair moved swiftly. We skied until our legs hurt. We had lunch on the deck. Then we skied some more - all while surrounded by breathtaking views. The warmth of the sun blended with the warm memories of our exciting adventure together. A perfect last day. We hope you have enjoyed the blog. Thank you for reading along. We know that we are blessed to have had this experience. None of this would be possible without the generosity of Barry and Wendy Roland, whose continued support of the Burr and Burton teachers helps to make our school the special place that it is.

Day 45: Zugspitze

Wow!  What a great day! And to think, we came close to deciding that there was not enough snow and it wouldn't be worth the effort to get up to the Zugspitze to ski.......we are so glad that we decided to go for it. The weather did not look great this morning - it was rainy and dark when we left our apartment to walk to the Zugspitzbahn - the train that runs from behind the main station in Garmisch to the various ski areas, ending at the base of the Zugspitze (which is really not the base at all, as we climbed in the train for a good 45 minutes to get there!) By the time we had finished renting our skis, the weather looked clear at Hausberg, right in Garmisch. Katharina met us on the train heading up the mountain. As we started to climb, we climbed into the clouds, but they too were starting to clear by the time we reached the Zugspitzplatt. By lunchtime, it was absolutely beautiful out - clear, sunny and not too cold, except for the whipping wind! The snow was perfect and the lift lines were short. The boys were thrilled to be skiing in the Alps and definitely noticed a difference skiing in 'real' snow. We took a break for lunch and then headed out for a few more runs. We then boarded the gondola up to the summit, for some absolutely breathtaking views in all directions. The snow-covered peaks seem to go on forever! We were rather exhausted as we rode the train back down into Garmisch. We said goodbye to Katharina, who was continuing on to the main train station so she could get home to Munich. We stopped for some groceries on our walk back to the apartment and enjoyed another quiet evening together! We really couldn't have imagined a better way to end our adventures.

Day 44 Garmisch-Partenkirchen

Nicky was determined to see the Munich Zoo so we got up extra early to pack our things and be at the Zoo shortly after it opened. With just under two hours to visit we raced through stopping at a few key points. One of the highlights was a couple of wolverines that were quite actively playing/fighting. We also enjoyed the twin polar bears born just last year. There were two separate enclosures with sea lions and both groups were incredibly active - swimming and jumping up out of the water as we tried to avoid getting splashed.

We gathered our luggage from the hotel and hopped on the train to Garmisch-Partenkirchen. We checked into our apartment and headed to the city center for some shopping and strolling. The city of Garmisch is rather small, so it does not take long to walk from one side to the other. Like most German cities, there is a pedestrian area that takes up a large portion of the city center. On all sides, as you walk through the downtown, you see the Alps towering over the buildings. We enjoyed a quiet evening in the apartment, relishing our time together as a family, feeling a little saddened that this magical journey will be coming to an end in just a few short days.

Day 43 Munich

We were excited to add Schloss Herren Chiemsee to the itinerary for today as we had hoped to stop by on our way from Salzburg to Regensburg but we ran out of time. We started the morning with a stroll through the pedestrian zone in Munich. We stopped at some of our favorite stores and finished up some souvenir shopping. We also stopped in the Frauenkirche, Munich's most famous church. No building in the city may be higher than its twin spires. The interior of the church itself boasts high vaulted ceilings and marvelous stained-glass windows which are not visible from the entrance to the church as they are blocked by pillars. This creates an effect where light seems to emanate from the walls of the church. The boys enjoyed seeing the Devil's Footprint in the rear of the church. There in one of the marble floor tiles is a large footprint. It is explained only by the traditional tale that the Devil agreed to finance the building of a windowless church. When he realized he had been deceived, he stomped his foot and left the church leaving this curious mark behind. When we reached the end of the pedestrian zone, the boys skated in the largest outdoor ice rink in Munich.

From there, we headed to the train station and embarked on our trip to Prien am Chiemsee, where we literally embarked on a boat for a twenty minute ride to Herreninsel. Upon reaching the island, we had a 15 minute walk to get to the palace. The palace is one of the three existing castles designed by King Ludwig II, aka Mad King Ludwig. This palace, like its more famous cousin, Neuschwanstein, was never completed as construction ground to a halt when the king ran out of money. The projects were altogether abandoned when Ludwig turned up dead under suspicious circumstances. Even in its unfinished state, the palace was remarkable.

Sadly, no photography was allowed during the guided tour. The palace is designed as an homage to Versailles. Ludwig was particularly enamored with the Sun King. Ludwig's plan was to copy the layout and make it even better than the original. Before he ran out of money, he was able to complete the main building and a central garden. Construction on the wings never began. Only about 20 of the 70 rooms in the main building were completed. The rooms we saw were absolutely stunning. The truly amazing thing is that Ludwig's intention in building this castle was to have a private retreat where he could go to lose himself in the fantasy of what Louis XIV felt as he strolled through Versailles. As it turned out, Ludwig only spent one ten-day vacation at this castle before he died.

In the evening we were joined again by Katharina at Altes Hackerbräuhaus  (brewers of Hacker-Pschorr beer) for some traditional Bavarian fare. Dinner was excellent and the conversation even better. After Katharina went home, we headed over to Munich's most famous brewery, the HofBräuhaus, for a nightcap. Despite the late hour, the band was going strong and the beer hall was filled with the sights and sounds of tourists taking in this Bavarian style evening. Though the actual Bavarians, it seems, were back at the Hackerhaus.

Day 42: Munich

It was a full BMW day! We went to BMW Welt thinking we would just look through quickly and then see the BMW Museum. We ended up spending a couple of hours in BMW Welt - they had some great interactive displays, including Playstation driving games for the boys and many cars that you could sit in or motorcycles that you could sit on. The boys were very fond of the Minis (which I had not known had been bought by BMW in 1994). The boys even got to go for a ride around the showroom in the smallest BMW ever made.

After getting some lunch, we visited the BMW museum. The museum takes you through the entire history of Bayerische Motoren Werke (Bavarian Motor Works) with a good mix of statistics and narratives. Both the BMW Welt and the BMW museum are highly recommended for anyone spending time in Munich.

Day 41 Munich

Quite a day, today. We set out in a light rain, having decided it would be a good day for museums. Munich's great art museums are divided into three. The Alte and the Neue Pinakothek and the Pinakothek der Moderne. Our goal was to see all three but the Neue is closed on Tuesdays so we settled for the old masters and the modern greats. The paintings by Raphael were excellent. Since Rome Johnny has been reading up on Raphael. He was excited to point out what he knew about those paintings, which included how they resembled the style of Raphael's teacher - whose paintings were hanging in the adjoining space. It was a great connection moment. Nicky continues to prefer the works of da Vinci and has taken to making sketches in a little notebook.

The Pinakothek der Moderne had a really nice early modernist collection. We were able to see the development of Picasso's style with works that spanned about 50 years. Barb was especially excited to see some of the Bauhaus works. We were all amazed at Max Ernst's work.

We had a quick lunch at a medieval themed Christmas Market near Odeonsplatz and headed on to the Residenz to round out our day of museums. Along the way we stopped into admire one of our favorite churches in Munich, the Theatinerkirche. If we remember correctly, the builder of this church had 10 daughters but wanted a son. He was instructed to build a church if he truly wanted a son. He did and apparently got his son. Whatever the reality may be, we love the balance of simplicity and ornamentation.

The Residenz had been the residence of the Wittelsbachs - Bavaria's royal family for about 700 years progressing from a small fortification to one of the largest palaces in Europe. Like the other royal families, they based much of their design on Versailles and copied the French court in manner as well. Oddly enough it wasn't until Napoleon came through that a Wittelsbach could be proclaimed king. The treasury was spectacular. Our favorite piece was a jewel encrusted reliquary which supposedly contained a relic from St. George. The Residenz itself was elaborate and extensive. Unfortunately most of what we saw was the restoration done since WWII when most of the palace was destroyed. The artwork had mostly been hidden away during the war so that was still original. Much of the furnishings were pieces from the same period though never owned by Wittelsbachs which detracted from the experience.

We capped off the evening with a trip to Allianz Arena to watch Bayern München defeat Freiburg. It was enthralling. Though we thought we had left quite early the trains were already packed with Bayern München fans who were already deep into their celebration. It seemed that the arena's 70,000 fans were all on the same train, but it became clear when we arrived at the stadium stop that our train was just a drop in the bucket with more and more trains arriving even as the passengers from the previous train bottle necked at the end of the platform. We were truly awash in a sea of humanity that drifted steadily towards the arena. There would have been no way to stop if we had wanted to. Once inside the arena the noise was deafening as the fans cycled through a seemingly well-rehearsed rendition of songs, chants, and cheers. Munich scored two excellent goals and so we were able to partake in a whole new set of specially choreographed call and response. It was an epic event. It is hard to imagine that some people have season tickets and get to do this on a regular basis. For us, it was one of those once-in-a-lifetime moments and it was, as the kids say, epic.

(Do kids still say that?)