Germany

Our parents flew out of Minnesota on Christmas Day on the red eye and made it to London Heathrow on Monday.  Kelsey and I picked them up from the airport and brought them back to our place.  We took it easy that night as we had plans to fly to Germany early the next day.

The taxi arrived around 3:30 AM to take us to London Victoria Coach Station.  From there we hop on our coach to take us to London Stansted Airport in just over an hour.  We get to the airport and fly RyanAir to Frankfurt-Hahn Airport, Germany!

We arrive in Frankfurt in about an hour and we go pick up our rental car.  From there we didn’t really have a whole lot planned so we just hit the open road!  Our hotel was in Heidelberg so we slowly made our way there.

Luxembourg

Our first stop was in Luxembourg.  We stopped for a few pictures and drove around the downtown area.  It was a very beautiful city, but we kept it moving!

We next made our way to Ramstein Air Base.  I’ve heard they had a big shopping center so we wanted to check it out.  It was so great to see Americans and American products!  We stocked up on a few things that we haven’t had in a while.  Taco Bell was necessary to have on the way out!

On the road again, we finally make it to Heidelberg.  We drive around for a while and only can imagine how pretty this city will be in the daylight.  We check into our hotel and walk around to find a Christmas market.

Bratwurst

 

For dinner we find a nice restaurant close to our hotel.  Of course we all needed to have a beer in Germany so we all tried different local beers, and Kelsey opted for a local Riesling.  Food was excellent and the beer was awesome.  Aces!

Onion Soup

Beets, Schnitzel Balls, Beef

Meat and Cheese Platter

The BEST potato pancake I've ever had!

Cheers!

The next day we wake up for a full day of driving.  We had heard great things about the Black Forest and decided that would be our route down to southern Germany.  It sure did not disappoint.  Our pictures don’t do justice and we encountered a lot of fog, but it was a very pretty drive.

The Black Forest

 

We made a stop in Zurich, Switzerland for a few pictures.  I would definitely like to come back here and explore more.  We also drove through Valdez, Liechtenstein, the 6^th smallest country in the world covering 62 square miles!

 

Finally after just about the most gorgeous drive I’ve ever been on in my life, we make it to our destination, know to many as the Disney Castle, Neuschwanstein Castle.

The castle was under construction so they had lots of scaffolding up.  It was also dark by the time we arrived and the castle wasn’t lit up so our pictures didn’t turn out well.  Dad, Kelsey and I made the hike up to the top and got a better view up close.  The castle and views were breath taking.  This one had the “wow” factor.

This is what we would have seen, had it been light out and they wasn't scaffolding all over!

The next day, Mom, Dad, and I wanted to tour the Heidelberg Castle, while Kelsey wanted to shop.  We took this tram type thing up the hill and explored the castle.  We had great views of the city.  The castle was really neat and I’m sure it would’ve been in its heyday.

Heidelberg Castle in the background.

It was then time to leave Heidelberg and make our way to Lohr, Germany.  My dad had a work friend there and he invited us to go out to eat with his family.  Where?  A castle!

View from our hotel in Lohr.

We check into our hotel get ready for the night.  The reason I liked this area so much is because this is what I pictured Germany to be.  Quaint, simple, and friendly.  We were definitely out of the tourist areas and in small town Germany.

Günther invited us into his home where his wife and two 20-something daughters greeted us.  There was a bit of a language barrier so we just had to smile and go with it!  We had a quick drink before dinner at their neighbor’s outdoor enclosed gazebo type hut.  It was awesome and very cozy to have outside in their backyard.

So imagine this: Günther, his wife and two daughters, his brother-in-law and his wife, who none of them really speak English, the four Americans, and his Chinese business partner and fiancée who don’t speak a whole lot of English!  It adds up to an uncomfortable dinner in a castle!

No, it wasn’t that bad, it was just funny basically.  I think a lot was lost in translation but everyone was so nice and everyone was laughing.  It turned out to be really great!

After dinner, Kelsey and I decided to go out on the town!  It was necessary to take a shot of Jägermeister to start.  We met some local German guys who were really nice.  To stereotype, they were big buff, beer drinking, athletic looking dudes.  They were really friendly to us but we only understood about every third word!

Friday was our last day in Germany and we left Lohr back to the airport.  On our way we drove through the heart of Frankfurt.

We had one final stop to make and that was Burg Eltz Castle.  Again with the scaffolding?!  It still was gorgeous nonetheless.

Back to the airport, we make the flight to London and crash.  We had an awesome experience in Germany.  Everyone was so friendly to us and very accommodating.  I would love to explore more of Germany in the future and recommend a trip to all!

Auf Wiedersehen Deutschland!