Germany, 2017

There was a lot of anticipation before our trip to Europe. It was Amelia's first big trip. We knew from our adventure to Florida that she's not an easy traveler. She has no patience and also it seems she might have some troubles with her ears, so taking off and landing are not easy for her. We tried to prepare as much and as well as we could. After all, we are experienced travelers!

Since we have not visited much of Europe we promised that each trip to Romania will be either preceded or followed by a stay in an European city. We found great rates for Munich and who doesn't want to see Bavaria? So our airplane tickets bought 6 months in advanced had a 5 day stop in Munich.!

The day we left it was sunny and very hot in Philly. The girls were happy, but we had a long wait for the taxi so that hampered our spirits a little. Not enough, not to appreciate beautiful art in Philly airport!

The trip across Atlantic was short and Ami slept through most of it, so no reason to complain too much there. The problem was when we arrived (after a long search...)at the hotel. The room was not ready, so tired and with 2 exhausted kids we had to go for a stroll in the city. Beautiful city. Walkable and clean. Great architecture and pastry shops.

Tired? Nothing a chocolate croissant and a good cup of coffee can't solve!

Beautiful city hall in Marien Platz

Amelia was very happy to run and walk around. Beautiful and spirited and fun, she attracted so many eyes one her! Catalina was gaining courage and she was running next to her. Seeing them together having fun, being sisters, fighting and making up, all of this just makes my heart sing .

Munich is beautiful, I said it. The buildings are all in perfect condition. It feels like it never rains, the bricks never fall. And people like to drink beer. And eat sausages.

 The famous Octoberfest beer place, Haufebrau house:

We could not have dinner in the famous beer place, it was way too noisy for my girls. But we found a pretty place right next to it. Just to find out it's also considered very famous!

We checked in early that night. I wasn't feeling very well, so I wanted to recharge. We did not have set plans for the next day, but I really wanted to see Munich's park, The English Gardens. Morning came with a horrible sore throat for me, but we still headed to the park!

The gardens are beautiful. A lot of nice places to walk to, trees and grass and...a nudist area :)). We are not a very shy family when it comes to the human body. Catalina wanted to see a naked boy for a long time, so we let her satisfy her curiosity. There are rivers, and lakes and clear skies. Amelia loved running around. Catalina liked walking gently next to us. Daddy took pictures, mommy suffered quietly.

 The "fun" started when Catalina's flip-flops broke. She was devastated. She kept making plans how to repair them. Mommy and daddy didn't know how to throw them faster...Barefoot, Catalina had to walk on little pebbles that were paving the road. To keep her company, mommy took off her shoes too and she can attest that it was painful walk!

At the hotel, Catalina wrote a nice "R.I.P. flip-flops" note and we forgot about it. We rested a bit and started again to see around.

 We finally ended up at the Olympic Stadium. What a wonderful find! WE had corn on the cob, beer, Ami ran up and down the hill multiple times to make sure mommy keeps a good shape.

 And then we found fun city in the Olympic Stadium. Lots and lots of wooden stands with colorful souvenirs. Games for kids.

Catalina tried the bouncing!!!! She also tried the bumping cars. I could not believe it when she requested it!!!

Really tired when headed towards the hotel. The big trip to the castles was scheduled for the next day! I was so excited to see Belle's castle. Apparently Ludwik the 2nd was a little crazy, but after visiting we all agreed he was just gay with a big crush on Wagner. Oh well, born too early :(

First on the list was Ludwik's only completed castle. We managed to find our group. We took the first 2 hour bus ride pretty well. And then things went slowly downhill. Nothing major, but let's just say that organized tours are not well done with babies. Traffic to the first castle was bad, so we had less time at the castle. This meant even less time for us (Catalina's bathroom break, then diaper change for Ami). We made it somehow to the bus on time after a short castle visit and pictures taken while walking.

 Next stop, a cute little town, Oberamergau (or smth like that...) It means little village over the river Amer. The houses have nice paintings on them, there are lots and lots of souvenir places where we left quite a few euros. But the main reason I liked this stop were the 5 minutes Ami had available to run around.

Next stop, the main attraction, Belle's castle, or Neuschwanstein Castle. To say the area was very crowded is a major understatement. It helps to think that the town where the busses stop is a small one, with narrow streets. The castle is up on the mountain and we were suggested to take a bus and walk down. Good suggestion, only if the busses ran more often and there was no overwhelming heat and no shadow... Once up there, we though we'll have a fast run to Mary's bridge to admire the castle before our tour. Well, there is no way you can run with hundreds of people on a small alley, so we all stayed in line to step on a bridge and take few shots, then return ASAP to the castle for our tour. We were already exhausted. Ami was sleeping in the carrier for the 2nd time that day. Catalina's legs were hurting. I was sick of crowds. Marius was sweaty. Nobody was especially happy. But the castle was beautiful inside and outside. I only wish we visited in October ...

When the tour was done, we hurried back to the bus. We barely made it. No lunch, just some water and the breakfast from the hotel.

Somehow we made it back to Munich. We put Ami in the stroller, Catalina had some regained energy and had a good dinner (sausages and beer, as Catalina says, that's all germans eat-very true). Next day, another much anticipated visit: the town of Garmisch with Germany highest peak: Zugspitze.
Breakfast at the hotel again. Amazing food, but as Ami already had trained us, we had to eat one by one as she had absolutely no patience to eat with us. On the road again. Ami in the carrier or stroller, Catalina on her 2 beautiful legs.

 Once again, waiting after waiting for the first train. Then for the second. The for the cable car. A lot of waiting. But when we got on top, the views were breathtaking and we had some place to breathe. There was snow in August and Catalina got a kick out of it. Amelia slept for most of the time at my chest and I was happy.

Sometime before we left, Catalina surprised me again, asking to rock climb. She was sooo good! The rock was on a smaller side, but it was actually quite difficult to climb, you had to really hold your weight on a rope. We both did it successfully!

We took the last cable car down the mountain, just because the lines for it were horrendous for the earlier ones. We had time for coffee, hot chocolate and beer at altitude. Ami was running around charming everybody who wanted to look at her. The day ended beautifully. It was nothing I had imagined (nice strolls through the town followed by a brief cable car ride), but I didn't have any complains.

We were tired enough that we all agreed for the last day in Germany to just stay put and walk around Marien Platz. Catalina found a miniature museum she wanted to visit, so we did. Ami of course wanted to run everywhere and I got some severe looks. Not that I cared...

 For lunch we went to the famous beer place just so Marius can fill his bucket list. We had once again sausages and beer and returned to the hotel. In the evening I dressed Amelia with a pretty dress and went to a toy store. Girls were happy :)

 Nice, relaxing day. Exactly what we needed, as the next day we had to take the plane to Romania. The plane was only in the evening, so we had some time to visit a science museum, Deutche Museum. Another place to relax and good way to end our german vacation.

We had a good time in Germany. Beautiful, breathtaking views. Not sure how happy the girls were, not a lot of walking for Ami, not a lot of down time for Catalina. But I do hope Cati maintains some memories that as a family we took many vacations, to many places. That people are different, speak different languages and eat different foods. And that's ok and beautiful.

From Germany, on to our next stop: Romania. Home (former), sweet home.