Deutscheland Uber Alles

Our trip to Germany was a bona fide success. We learned a lot on this trip about public transportation and Germany was the place to be initiated because everything and I mean everything runs EXACTLY on time. Craig set his watch by Deutsche Bahn (German Rail) time and believe me, it was exact.
Craig and I both decided we need to learn more German, but we got by fairly well. Thank goodness for guide books. The kids wished we had walked less, but the food was good and always available, so they were mostly happy and they got to play in the snow which is something they all wanted to do.

A few notes:

1. German hotels are far better than French hotels;
2. We like self-catering lodging v. hotels;
3. Only spend 2-3 days in a city unless it's Paris or Rome;
   
4. German beer can be found world-wide and English beer is just as good;
5. There are a bazillion types of German wurst;
   
6. Germans seem to have no rhyme or reason when walking down the street. The main goal seems to be to bump as many people as you can or just play a game of Chicken;
7. Do not dally when entering a train car or your hand might get stuck;
8. Oompah bands are fun no matter how loud they play and apparently even more fun if you have a couple of beers in ya;
9. The Germans do not like vegetables unless it is a potato or cabbage;
10. Hunting (hence meat) is a big deal - there are deer blinds everywhere in the countryside.
    

We really enjoyed Mainz and Garmisch-Partenkirchen (the smaller towns). Munich was nice, but a city is a city. It was truly overwhelming how large the squares were in Munich and the scale of the old buildings. Here are photos:

Christmas market in Mainz (above and below)

View down Kaiserstrasse in Mainz

In front of the Gutenberg Museum in Mainz -
This is a sculpture of the Gutenberg Bible and Owen was helping his friend, Will, with his Flat Stanley project. We did not actually view the inside of the museum, but there were walls with bronze reproductions of old typeset blocks so we used Finn's pastels to do a few rubbings.

Arrival at the train station in Munich
We had to make a train transfer in I think Frankfurt am Main (main airport train station) in nine minutes with the kids and four pieces of luggage plus five backpacks. We were a bit stressed because our arriving train was in the lower terminal and our connection was in the upper terminal but it turned out to be fairly simple, just nerve wracking. Luckily, Craig had reserved seats for us, so we got to kick some people out of our spots and the Germans are very accommodating in that area - rules are rules and I can respect that - being German myself...

Street scene, playing with laser lights - you can see some green dots on the umbrella

The Residenz is the former palace of the former Bavarian kings. Half of it is the actual palace tour with all of the rooms and furnishings and the other half is the Treasury with all of the loot.
We much preferred the Treasury and it was just amazing what we saw. The most famous item is King George Slaying the Dragon and it really was gorgeous. I have a picture but it doesn't even do it justice.
This room below was FILLED floor to ceiling with Roman busts of the emperors and their families. That is Finn walking down the middle.

Perseus beheading Medusa, the Gorgon
A great boy statue (they even sculpted her spinal cord inside her neck and head) and a great visual from a book series Finn and I read - The Lightning Thief is the first one - definitely worth the read and your kids (and you) will learn Greek mythology in a cool way.

Ice skating in Karlsplatz.
Owen did an Owensplatz right on his face and bruised his nose.
It was swollen for a bit, but luckily not broken.

Family photo in front of the Deutches Museum (museum of Germans) - packed with exhibits and exhausting

The Hofbrauhaus - which literally means "main brew house" - good food, drink and entertainment.

And speaking of entertainment, please enjoy this video that Owen shot of the Oompah band in the Hofbrauhaus. I asked him to get a minute of the music and you should notice that he taped exactly a minute - I didn't even have to edit. I think he may have gotten some of that German rule following from me. Okay, who am I kidding - Owen... rules???
You might want to adjust the volume downwards on your computer before playing.



We went to Dachau to see the Nazi camp. Very sobering, especially in the cold. To put it bluntly, I would not have survived.

The Viktualmarkt - where you can buy victuals

These are videos of Marienplatz (Mary's Square) and the (in)famous Glockenspiel located in the Neues Rathaus (new town hall - I like how a town hall is called a Rat house) which was built between 1867 and 1908 (100 years new!)
It plays at 11 am, noon, and 5 pm and I guess it is worth viewing. We think it sounded tired and off-key, but it IS very old.
We got a true German tourist experience when a know-it-all-and-not-afraid-to-show-it tour guide decided he was going to tell the ENTIRE group of viewers (not just his group with whom he chose not to stand) the history of the Glockenspiel while standing two inches from me and completely in front of Owen (like he didn't exist) and shouting into my left ear. At least I wasn't paying him for the experience!

This first video is of the Marienplatz atmosphere with the church bells ringing and the Christkindlmarkt booths which I thought was lovely. All the church bells start ringing about 15 minutes early as a warm up for the Glockenspiel.



The second is der Glockenspiel. The top row is a parade of people which are followed by jousters. One jouster represents Bavaria and the other Lorraine. After a few go-arounds, the Lorraine jouster gets flattened by the Bavarian jouster. Then the second level kicks in (literally) with dancers kicking their legs and they dance around. I didn't get that part on video because we had seen it the day before and we just couldn't bring ourselves to relive the experience again. Ugly Americans - we just need action, action , action!



View in Garmisch-Partenkirchen

View looking up to the top of the Zugspitze in the Bavarian Alps. The two little black dots you see at the top are where the cable cars land. This photo doesn't even give the true scale.

Craig and I on the Austrian "Tirol" side.

Editor's note: You will notice that I am using a larger font because I don't want my husband to go blind since he is in need of bifocals but he is too vain (read "busy") to do something about it! Heehee!