Germany Trip

So, today will be the first of several posts in an attempt to catch up. The last two months have been so hectic with our trip to Germany and our emergency trip home to be with mom for her surgery.

Our trip to Belgium, Germany, and Austria was AWESOME!! 14 days...2200 miles...driving through 6 countries...

Here is Elsa as we were boarding the ferry for the trip across the Channel. She thinks her jeweled passport holder from Jessica is quite cool.

The white cliffs of Dover seen from the ferry

First stop: Brugge, Belgium. We definitely want to go back! It reminded us of Venice, but without all the crowds and the expense. Plus, it is only 4 hours away. Belgium is known for its linens, chocolates, and beer (which my mom is now a huge fan of!). Here is the three of us in the market square.
Overlooking the canal. we took a canal ride through the city and learned a lot of its history.

The first night, our hotel hooked us up with a reservation at this quaint restaurant (which we now know not to do quaint with an infant who likes to talk/sign/make noise...LOL). Flemmish food is DELICIOUS. We dined on sea snails (once we figured out how to get the little suckers out of their shells), mussels, and bouillabaisse (shown below).

Brugge is also home to several breweries, so we enjoyed some local beers.

After two days in Brugge, we traveled to the southern region of Belgium and stayed at Villa Garcia. It is an old mansion with only eight rooms.

The inn owners were so hospitable and we would enjoy cocktails with them on the patio and they made us breakfast each morning. We visited a local garden (Garden de Annevoie) and an abbey (Abbey de Maredsous).

The weather at the garden wasn't the best, but we were the only people there so that was a plus.

Fortunately, the weather improved by the time we got to the Abbey.

Several Monasteries brew beer that you can only purchase it on sight. Aaron researched several of them, but you have to reserve a case well in advance and they only have selective dates for pick up (none of which corresponded with our trip). Too bad...would have been fun to see a monk in a drive thru handing out beer. This monastery brewed beer, that was available for purchase (and consumption) on site as well as off site.

My mom babysat so Aaron and I could go out for dinner. We said "We'll be back in an hour"...just to pick a fancy restaurant with what seemed like 8 courses. It was quite entertaining, because no one spoke English and we didn't speak any French. I think we ended up ordering the most expensive items on the menu and Aaron ended up getting a meal with raw beef! I at least recognized pesce...it ended up being the best sea bass I have ever had. The presentation was amazing, but dinner took over two hours!!

The next part of the journey was...interesting to say the least. We had to travel from Belgium to Austria. Mapquest calculated 8 hours. We figured with Elsa, it would take us 11. What an understatement!! I think all funds were released for road improvements the week we were there because EVERY road had construction!! Our GPS would recalcuate a route...just to have more construction or an accident. It took us 14 hours!!! Elsa was such a trooper!! But, the journey was well worth it. Innsbruk and Hall-in-Tyrol were so beautiful. Aaron and I want to become Austrian citizens. We stayed at the Gastof Badl (Recommended by Rick Steve's Europe show and definitely worth the stay!!) and our room overlooked the Austrian Alps

We took a train/gondola/cable car to the summit of Nordpark.

A view of the mountains in Hall-in-Tyrol

From Austria, we traveled back in to Germany and stayed at a US Military Resort, Edelweiss. It is in the heart of the bavarian alps and provided great access to many things: Oktoberfest in Munich, Castle Neuschwanstein, and Hilter's Berghof (Eagle's Nest) located near Berchtesgaden. We stayed there for 5 nights and enjoyed both the hotel's ammenities and the local area. We even took Elsa for her first swim, which she LOVED! Maybe we have a future swimmer on our hands!!

Aaron and I bought Lederhosen (for him) and a Dirndl (for me)--classic bavarian attire. He wore his to Oktoberfest. I was going to wear mine, but it is not exactly nursing friendly attire. Once you are in it... Here is one of the beer tents. I only stayed in the tent for a little while because they allow smoking it in and I didn't want Elsa's little lungs to be exposed to that. But, it was quite entertaining. People would jump up on the tables and do dances to the German songs and the band in the center kept the crowds entertained. We went there on a week day and arrived at 11 am, so at least the crowds weren't too bad. It definitely started to pick up by 3pm when we left.

The castle which the Disney castle was modeled after
Aaron was so excited about Eagle's nest. Unfortunately, once we reached the summitt, it was in the clouds and was so foggy. We weren't able to take in the incredible scenery people raved about.
I joked that Elsa had her first ferry, train, taxi, gondola, boat, horse ride...was nursed on a mountain summitt, in a beer tent at Oktoberfest, in an Abbey, on a ferry... visited 7 countries!! So many firsts before 4 months of age...too bad she won't remember any of it!

I think I would have put more photos had I posted right after our trip. But, more updates to do!