Europe Day 4 - The King's Castles

Sunday, June 25, 2018

• Drove to Neuschwanstein via Austria - new country for Liz!
• Drove by Ehrenberg and saw a terrifying suspension bridge, decided to visit later after looking it up in the guidebook
• Parked at the foot of Neuschwanstein castle and hiked up with my mom, dad, and Kurt. Most tourists took a bus.
• Lots of tourists since it was the weekend
• Didn't bother going inside the castle
• Views from Marienbrucke, Kurt hiked up a ways after the bridge for even better views
• Walked to the castle itself but did not bother going in, came across my other siblings
• Ate a yummy outdoor lunch at Schlossbrauhaus Schwangau 
• Hugo decided he'd rather play on the bricks than the grass - likes the slapping sound when crawling
• He ate a lot of spatzle
• Watched lots of parasailers nearby
• Big tour group was eating nearby
• Took a weird rural route to the Wieskirche (UNESCO World Heritage site)- one lane roads through farmland
• It was very pretty inside, but workers were making a lot of noise and moving things around
• The Jesus statue in this church is said to have cried at some point a long time ago which is why it is famous.
• Picked up Dave and Kurt in Oberammergau and went to the alpine coaster
• The wait was very long (45 minutes), long ride up to the top, Liz lost sunglasses when she set them down to take a selfie not realizing the back of the bench wasn't closed off, but the ride down was super fun
• Wandered around to get dinner (most places closed since Sunday), ended up getting some simple paninis at the train station in Partenkirchen

Hiking up for views of Neuschwanstein

Lots of tourist on the bridge for a view of the castle. It did clear out eventually.

Closer view of Neuschwanstein

Spatzle

I don't think we were supposed to drive on these roads, but this is the way our GPS took us!

Wieskirche from the outside

Wieskirche from the inside. Unfortunately they were setting up for an event.

Heading up to the alpine coaster. This selfie cost Liz her sunglasses!

Europe Day 5: Salzburg

Monday June 25, 2018

• Long drive that was made longer by a road closure near Bad Tölz, about 3.5 hours to get to the salt mines
• We had the car GPS and Google GPS compete (Google was usually better, but it forgot about the road closure on the way back)
• We first went to Berchtesgaden to visit the salt mine. Mom and dad weren't thrilled about it at first, but they had a good time
• Coveralls for everybody, including Hugo
• The tour itself includes a train ride in and out, two long wooden slides, a boat through a briny grotto, and a funicular
• Laser shows and animations are new
• Learned a lot more about salt mining than I expected
• Proceeded to Salzburg next. Parked at a P&R and rode the bus into the city. It rained a bit, but it cleared up by the time we got into the city
• Ate at a restaurant called Fisch Krieg - the vegetables and sides were forgettable, but the fish was delish. I had plaice, Liz had red perch. They were selling fresh fish in the same building and there was a tree growing out of the middle of the building that we didn't even notice for a while.
• Stopped at H&M to replace the sunglasses that Liz had lost. It's right next door to Mozart's birthplace.
• Strolled through Salzburg and saw a lot of the sights in the old town (UNESCO World Heritage site) following Rick Steve's tour. 
• We canceled our Sound of Music bicycle tour due to rain but still saw a few of the sights - the theater they sang in and the hall the dad waited in before singing Edelweiss, St. Peter's Cemetary which inspired the Hollywood set where they hid from the Nazis, fountain where Maria sang "I Have Confidence"
• Bought a yummy cream-filled pretzel
• Met up with my other family members at the "confidence" fountain
• Salzburg buses have USB drives on them
• Had trouble getting gas on the way back - gas stations at the border with Germany were more expensive so we had to drive a little further back into Austria
• GPS adventures (led us to a rest stop in a really weird way, didn't know about the road closure)

Observations:

• Lots of RVs
• Very few pickup trucks

Kurt needed hair assistance

Ready to tour the salt mine!

The photo opp turned out pretty well!

There was a tree growing through our restaurant!

Fish for lunch!

This is the back facade of Mozart's birthplace. Checked that one off the list.

Liz in the tunnel where Captain Von Trapp hung out. The stage is in the background of the photo.

Cemetery that inspired the cemetery hiding scene from The Sound of Music. The scene was actually filmed in Hollywood.

This pretzel was so delicious! Choux pastry with a cream filling.

I HAVE CONFIDENCE!

Abersold siblings

Mozart rubber ducks were a popular souvenir

Mark playing air violin in front of the Mozart statue

Salzach River selfie

Europe Day 3 - Garmisch

Saturday, June 24, 2018 (Liz)

• Woke up SUPER early (2:30 for Liz, 4:30 for Mark and Hugo), most of the rest of the family was awake in the 2:00 hour also due to jet lag
• Liz went for a run and enjoyed the scenery
• First destination: the river and surrounding area where Leslie and Dale played frequently as kids. Mark remembers it but was too young to do a lot of playing there.
• Climbed up several large rocks (some with names) that they had climbed as children
• Wild tiny strawberries - much more tart than sweet
• a natural barrier has been constructed there now so you can't see their old military housing from the area
• 2nd Destination: Military base. Mark's dad convinced them to let us go in so the kids could see their old house. But first we had to sign our lives away and give them our passports. Additionally, Mark saw his old preschool and the older kids saw their old school building.
• Brief stop at the AirBNB to find a simple lunch - most of us ended up with pizza slices - nothing too special
• Final stop: hiking in the Garmisch mountains
• Took a tram up to a peak called Alpspitz - explored up there first. Tram ride was a bit terrifying. So far above the ground. Most of us went out on a platform out beyond the peak with metal grates. Had lots of great places to stage photos. Lots of parasailers around.
• Then hiked 4 km over to another peak called Kreuzeck. Mostly downhill (2000 ft). It was rough on the ankles, especially with Hugo on my back. Wildflowers, beautiful views, moutain bikers going up
• Just over halfway through stopped at a restaurant for Germknödel, a dumpling with plum sauce on the inside and warm vanilla sauce on the outside. The Abersold kids all love it. I thought it was okay but I probably wouldn't order one again. But it was nice and warm and it was chilly in the mountains so the warmth was welcome.
• Hugo was asleep for most of our hike - worried he won't sleep all night as a result
• Went down the mountain from the lower peak in a gondola. Nice view and saw some sheep and goats on the way down.
• Dinner with Kurt and Dale- very mediocre especially compared to Friday's resturant.
• Mark had a farmer's pan with various meats, sauerkraut, potato, and horseradish
• Liz had some pork/gravy with red cabbage and potato dumpling
• Hugo ate quite a bit off our plates but then totally zonked before we left
• World cup game going on - Germany vs Sweden. We watched from our airbnb and heard cheering from outside

Garmisch scenery from Liz's run

Typical Garmisch house with fake cow out front

Tiny wild strawberries!

Abersold kids on a rock they named 35 years ago. I don't know what the name is.

Garmisch is so scenic

Mark lived here as a very small child.

View while going up the tram

Dale signed the guestbook at Alpspitz

 View from the crazy lookout bridge at Alpspitz. Liz refused to go all the way out.

 But Mark enjoyed it.

He even laid down on the bridge!

 Scenery on our hike

Germknudel!

Hugo slept through the beautiful scenery on our hike.

Gondola selfie. Unfortunately Leslie and Dixon got cut out.

Farmer's pan dinner. Mediocre at best.

Europe Days 1 & 2: Travel and Arrival in Garmisch

Thursday June 21 and Friday June 22, 2018

Background: This trip has been in the works for a long time. Mark's parents decided to take all of their children and spouses (plus Hugo) back to Europe in celebration of their 50th wedding anniversary. We will spend the majority of our time in Germany and Switzerland, but we will also have stops in France, Austria, and Liechtenstein.

(Traveling with a baby, we were super busy and had to change the format of our journal entries a bit for this trip. We are also ridiculously slow in actually getting these posted!)

Travel:

• We flew Icelandair so we had a layover in Iceland. We set foot on the ground! The weather was blustery and cold.
• Rekjavik airport is interesting...treat you a bit like cattle when preparing to board a plane
• None of us got more than a couple hours of sleep - Hugo included

Travel to/Arrival in Garmisch

• Flew into Munich, Germany and got set up with rental cars.
• Mark's first driving experience in Germany - very happy and loved the scenery while driving! Mark's mom rode with us.
• Drove from Munich to Garmisch, just under 2 hours
• All the houses and buildings are like Boehm's chocolate chalet
• Mountains are super close like in Provo - but way more beautiful
• Airbnb is super nice - 5 bedroom loft with individual showers in each bedroom. Right in the center of town
• Walked to the grocery store to get breakfast items
• Went to Alpenhof restaurant for dinner with Carolyn and Dave- super delicious!
• Mark got Hungarian goulash with spaetzle
• Liz got some fish filets on top of some housemade ricotta lime ravioli

Observations

• Traffic lights turn yellow before they turn green to advise you that the light is about to change. This is so efficient and it should be implemented in the US!

Still fresh on the flight

On the ground in Iceland!

Mark's first ever driving experience in Europe

Strolling the streets of Garmisch

First legit meal