Tuesday, May 26, 2009

J'aime Paris!!

Last weekend Cameron and I took the new car out for its first long haul to Paris. The car loved driving on the autobahn as much as we do, and refuses to return to America and drive 65 mph!!
We got in late thursday night, and started friday morning off with the breakfast of champions- Nutella crepes from a stand outside our hotel. YUM! On friday we climbed the Eiffel Tower to the second platform, but I couldn't bring myself to go up to the very top- the second platform was high enough for me!
This is the view of the Champs de Mar from the second platform of the tower. The building at the end is the French military academy that Napoleon graduated from at the age of 15 (still has bullet holes from WW2 occupation) and the park was originally used as a training ground for the cadets, but was totally packed with picnics and frisbees while we were visiting.
Us at the bottom of the Eiffel Tower while waiting in line
On the Champs de Mar- you can see the three different platforms you can visit
This is outside the Louvre (just like the DaVinci Code...). This used to be the Palace for the royal family, and each king added a new wing, until Versailles was built and the royal family relocated. At that point it was empty except for squatters and starving artists. Eventually it was turned into a museum during the French Revolution. Not only is it a museum, but it also houses some good shops and the best bathrooms in Paris (in my professional opinion).
The Mona Lisa is surprisingly small for all the attention she receives- she is displayed behind bullet proof glass and no other piece in the building had a fraction of the attention.
This is a photo of the gardens at Versailles...
... and the building from the gardens (I'll keep Schonbrunn Palace in Vienna as my residence)
Our last night in Paris we took a romantic dinner cruise on the Seine River. It was fantastic to see Paris at night and get a glimpse of all the things we didn't have time to do in our short visit. Paris is beautiful at night, truly the  "ville lumiere" or the "city of lights".
Below is a video of the Eiffel Tower during a light show! 

Wednesday, May 20, 2009

Operation Cowboy

In late April 1945, a group of soldiers from the Second Cavalry marched into Czechoslovakia on "Operation Cowboy". The objective of this operation was to free POWs and the famed Lipizzan horses of the Spanish Riding School being held by German troops. The Second Cav. was recently re-stationed in Germany (Cameron's regiment) and the Czech people haven't forgotten about "Operation Cowboy". For the 64th anniversary, people in three Czech towns held ceremonies celebrating the event for the return of the Second Cav. 
My favorite part of the day was driving through the beautiful Czech countryside in a WWII jeep. We were supposed to ride in a bus (boring), but Cameron managed to get us a ride someone's jeep! Pictures don't really do the scenery justice, it was so beautiful and such a perfect day. 
To give you an idea of how many re-enactors there were, the picture below shows the road curving along the left, with jeeps as far as you can see. As much as Americans tend to have a bad rap, it was really cool to see how many people dress as American soldiers and participate in these events.
There were at least a hundred WWII jeeps and owners dressed in American uniforms that turned out to participate in the parade through towns, and citizens were outside their homes watching and waving.
This is the jeep we rode in, not exactly luxurious, but sturdy!
I think this photo says it all... you really have to love America to wear an American flag t-shirt!

The Romantic Road

The other overnight trip that we took with my parents was down the Romantic Road. We started in Wurzburg and toured the Residence and its gardens, built between 1720 and 1744 for the Prince Bishop  of Wurzburg Johan Philipp Franz von Schonbron, and had lunch in a wine garden- a treat for my mom after all the time we spent in beer gardens!
Next we went to Rothenburg ob der Tauber to tour the historic city and visit the Christmas shops. Like most medieval German cities, it is surrounded by a wall, a portion of which is enclosed and Mum is walking through below.
After spending the night in Rothenburg, we drove to Nordlingen, the site of a crater formed by a meteorite thousands of years ago. In hopes of seeing a huge crater, Cameron and I climbed to the top of a 90 meter steeple- great views but no crater. Turns out, the town in set into the crater, with the surrounding hills actually being the lip of the crater. Intrigued by stories of NASA training in the crater, I was disappointed to find I wouldn't have noticed it was there if I didn't read about it. Wikipedia brought to my attention that the town the glass elevator floats over in the end of Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory is actually Nordlingen. Being able to tell my kids I've been there will be pretty cool someday (although, they will probably be watching the Johnny Depp version and I don't know if its the same in the end...).
From Nordlingen we took the scenic route to Fussen, our jumping off point for the famous castles, Neuschwanstein and Hohenschwangau. They are so cool, you have to read the Wikipedia article for all the info. The gist of it is, crazy Prince Ludwig II of Bavaria built this lavish castle as a retreat, and used influences of Richard Wagner's music to design rooms. The whole place has a swan theme, and there is even a fake cave built into his sitting room. Only a few rooms are completed and open to the public because soon after he moved into the castle he was deemed insane and taken out of power (and shortly after that mysteriously drowned).
We took a bus up to the castle, but took a horse drawn carriage down. Mum had to sit in the back with some chatty Americans while the rest of us rode with the driver.
This shot overlooks the Alps, while the one below is of Fussen and the surrounding area, including an alpine lake that looked pretty dry.
Inside (and out) it is easy to see how Ludwig nearly bankrupt Bavaria with his lavish spending- and the castle hadn't yet been completed! Ludwig did not allow visitors to his castle, but shortly after his death it was opened to the public by the German government (probably to pay off some of Ludwig's debts!), and 1.3 million people visit it annually.
The entire trip was fantastic, and I had a great time with my parents.  I would never be able to fit everything we saw and did into my blog, but I hope this gives everyone an idea, and makes you want to come visit us too!!

Massachusetts to Munich

I apologize to my schnitzel readers for the delay in posting, the last few weeks have been a whirlwind of traveling and entertaining my parents. The list of towns we visited and sights we saw could fill a whole page- Weiden, Regensburg, Nuremberg, Bamberg, Munich, Dachau, Ingolstadt, Wurzburg, Rothenburg, Fussen, Austria for a hot minute.... even IKEA. I will let my mother fill in the details as I've been told she can recite everything about the trip. Here are some highlights from our 3 day stop in Munich, but again I have to apologize, I got carried away with what Mum was taking pictures of and forgot to take many of my own....
Of course, no trip to Munich would be complete without a beer at the Hofbrauhaus in Munich. This famous beer hall is as historic as any monument or museum, and is much more fun to visit! Hitler started the National Socialist German Work's Party here in 1920, and was a meeting spot for the Nazi Youth. Rumor has it that the ceiling had a gigantic swastika on it, but has now been painted over with scenes of jolly Bavarians swigging steins of Hofbrau beer. 
Daddy especially liked this tourist stop for the drink, but their lack of brautwurst sandwiches was a major disappointment to him. 
We also walked through the Englischer Gartens our first day in Munich, and stopped at the Chinesischer Turm for a beer and pretzel. Despite being overcast, the park was beautiful and a lot nicer than the last time we were there in the snow. Poor Mummy doesn't like beer but still had to suffer through our frequent beer stops!
This is the one building that Mummy is not sure exactly what it is, so make sure you ask her about it! The tour we eves-dropped on said it was heavily bombed during WWII and when it was rebuilt, the wings on either side were made of glass "so that the people could see government happening". You can't see the sides of the building in this photo, but I took this picture because I love the 3 gold paintings in the arch ways. The Bavarian Lion in the middle is my favorite.
A short walk from there is the Residenceplatz, including the Temple Diana, pictured above. Musicians petition and audition to play under the domed roof (great acoustics), and it is considered a huge honor to be allowed to play here. 
The Residence itself was impressive, although it was almost completely destroyed in the 40's and the furniture and apartments are reproductions based on what the trustees assume to be accurate (the residence in Wurzburg is a better representation- everything that was moveable was removed and hidden in bomb shelters and farms to protect it from bombing, then replaced afterwards with the help of meticulous photographs). The Treasury, also located in the Residence, was fascinating. There were so many exquisite pieces of jewelry, crowns, swords, nicknacks, alters, etc. It was interesting that some of the pieces had colored glass in place of gemstones- some of the families had sold the original stones and replaced with faux pieces!
Also in the Englisher Garden there is a man-made surfing wave. How it works I have no idea, but it was really funny to see people walking around in wetsuits with surf boards in the middle of a city. 
Munich was a great time, and we only went the wrong way on the subway once (!). We also took a day trip to Dachau, visited the toy museum, the Marienplatz, fulfilled Mum's desire to visit a German department store, and ate gelato every day. The question on everyone's mind- did Daddy get to go to BMW world? Yes- we went immediately after I picked them up at the airport and took a tour of the factory. Unfortunately that was why my father visited Germany, and the rest of the sightseeing was no match...