Vacay w/the Parentals: Day 2 (Garmisch-Partenkirchen & Neuschwanstein)

What a busy week this has been!  And I speak not only for myself, but for Malu too.  I've said it once and I'll say it again....this dual military thing is no joke.  We work 12+ hour days, get home, and are like...let's get to bed already.  Seriously.  Lucky for me, the work week has somewhat come to an end already.  My directorate has an Organizational Day all day tomorrow, so it'll be a day of fun and excitement with the people I work with, which I'll take over sitting in the office ANY day!

So on these days of my parents' stay here, we visited Garmisch-Partenkirchen, a mountain resort town just three hours away from here in Bavaria (southern Germany).  Not too sure if everyone knows this, but all servicemembers have access to five different Armed Forces Recreation Center Resorts around the globe.  Many are familiar with the Hale Koa Hotel in Hawaii (which I've been too many times) and Shades of Green in Florida.  Well, the Edelweiss Lodge and Resort is located in Garmisch-Partenkirchen.  There is also a small military post out there, which makes it a prime location for servicemembers to head for some relaxation and enjoyment.  As a matter of fact, my best friend Chrissy and I stayed at the Edelweiss within a few months of its opening years ago.  We were on R&R from our Iraq deployment. 

I was excited to take mom and dad there.  Now they can add this resort to the two others they've been to--Hale Koa and the Dragon Hill Lodge in Korea.  The resort is nestled in the mountains; among them is the Zugspitze--Germany's highest mountain.  This is the view we woke up to our first morning.  It's so beautiful there.

That morning we left for a tour of the Neuschwanstein Castle--the same tour I'd been on years before.  The entire day was rainy, but it didn't put a damper our moods at all.  We were just to enthralled by all the sights.  Because the weather was so crappy, my point-and-shoot camera immediately fogged up and my pictures didn't come out as great as I would have liked.  The weather did get better by the end of the day, but bottom line:  I'm absolutely going to get the good camera I've been wanting ASAP.

On the way to the castle, we stopped by the Wies Church.  Although not too aesthetically appealing in its exterior, its interior is one of the most brilliant I've ever seen.  This was the first church my parents got to see on this trip and they were in complete awe.

See?  I told you it rained.  Like cats and dogs.  We remained damp a good portion of the day.

There was a service going on at the time.  We did our best not to make noise while taking these pictures.  Isn't it beautiful?

I made a Wordless Wednesday post with this picture of the church ceiling a few years ago.  It's still as beautiful now as it was then.  Malu and I have seen several church ceilings like this and I'm always beside myself thinking about how difficult it must have been to paint these masterpieces; most of the artists old in age.  Unbelieveable.

During the tour, our guide took us to a cafe near the church where they served up these homemade sugar donuts.  They were sooooo delish!  We also had some coffee and hot chocolate to warm up, as it was a little nippy out.  I swear, I'd drive all the way back there just for these donuts!

King Ludwig II of Bavaria built many castles in the state during his reign from 1864 to 1886.  One of them was the Neuschwanstein Castle in Hohenschwangau, which is said to be the inspiration for Sleeping Beauty's castle at Disneyland.  Since it was raining cats and dogs, we decided to take the shuttle up to the castle.  I was grateful.   I'd taken the walk up there before, so I was glad to get a break!  Oh yeah...it was really foggy up there, so pictures are kinda crappy.  The castle sits on a hill above Hohenschwangau, directly across the Schloss (or castle) Hohenschwangau, which was Ludwig's childhood home.  Even with the shuttle ride, there was still a short walk to the castle.  On the way there, we stopped on a bridge that gave a marvelous view of the castle.

Darn foggy lens!

We stopped to take this picture on the short walk to the castle.  And, in case you're wondering, Malu never wears jackets unless it's super super cold out.

Awww.....BFFs together again.  I love my mom!

The castle door.

I thought my dad was standing up there when I took this picture.  We're almost entirely inside the castle.  They don't allow you to take pictures of the interior, but if you're curious, click on the link above.  They've got pictures.

Out of the castle and heading back down to the village to link up with our tour group.

Me and my mini-me.  A true sport the entire way through.  I think she enjoyed being a princess for the day :)

On the way down, we found these and fell in love.  We forgot the name of it when we got back to the tour bus, but I think they're called quarkbaellchen.  Whatever they were, we tried to find them here in Stuttgart after that day but to no avail.  I want some right now!

We met our group in a restaurant in the village.  Not this one, one further down the street.  I just wanted to take a picture of a typical Bavarian building (with murals and flowers).  And what a beautiful view of the castle in the background!

We all passed out on the way back to the hotel.  Well, not the entire way.  Our bus driver didn't think it was necessary to slow down on the way down the mountain and just about scared us silly.

When we returned to the hotel, we took Sina to the pool for the first time.  I'll never forget it!  Malu, mom and I went back and forth from the pool to the outdoor hot tub.  Relaxing!  And we closed the evening with dinner at the hotel.  We were too tired to go out into the town, where there was a beerfest going on!

Next...the Linderhof Palace near Oberammergau, Germany.  If you want to see more pictures from this trip, you're gonna have to go to my Facebook page.

Oh, Friday, I'm so ready for you!  Hope you all have been enjoying the week.