Linderhof, part zwei

Here are some of the Linderhof Palace. It is small but remarkable inside. There are also several very interesting buildings in the gardens, including this cool grotto. Ludwig was obsessed with Richard Wagner, and the operas he wrote, and built the "Venus grotto" as his own personal opera house. It actually included a lake, and Ludwig was rowed around in a small boat during the opera!! Wish we had some pics of that - it was pretty over the top...
We also took a horse/carriage ride in Garmisch that night - here are a few pics from that as well.

Palace Linderhof

On our last full day in the Bavarian Alps, we ventured out to check out one of Mad King Ludwig's castles, Linderhof. The weather was, well, not as cooperative as we'd hoped. We all vowed to make the best of it though, with raincoats and umbrellas. Linderhof is one of the smaller palaces, but absolutely stunning inside. Here are a few shots of the gardens surrounding the palace.

Bertchesgaden

We went into Bertchesgaden for lunch after the tour. Here are a few pics from that adventure! Michael is posing in front of a window at a conditorei (cake shop) with a big display of Mozart chocolates! Bertchesgaden is very close to Salzburg, Austria - you can actually see it from the Eagles Nest.

Eagles' Nest, part zwei

In order to get to the house, you have to go through a very long tunnel, which leads to an enormous (50+ people can fit inside!) brass elevator to the house. The tour guide told us that Hitler was claustrophobic, so he always stood in the very center of the elevator. Get this - all this very difficult work on this road, house, etc - and he was also afraid of heights! Here are some pics from inside - the round room was his conference room, and the fireplace was a gift from Mussolini. It looks sort of ragged due to the fact US soldiers chipped off pieces of it for souvenirs, and also scratched their names into the marble. The house is now leased by the German govt as a restaurant. Couldn't resist the opportunity for Chris to have a beer at Hitler's house on his birthday!

Bertchesgaden and Hitler's Eagles' Nest

We took a trip on Chris' actual birthday over to the Eagles' Nest. Kielstein Haus, as the Germans call it, was Hitler's 50th birthday present from the Nazi party. It was situated in an area (OberSalzburg) that Hitler thought represented the absolute best of Germany; it was even the seat of government for the Nazis at one time. The house is located on a peak in a beautiful valley, overlooking the town of Bertchesgaden and the Konigsee, an alpine lake. For those of you who watched "Band of Brothers," the HBO mini-series about WWII and the 101st Airborne Division, you remember that Easy Co were the ones to take possession of the Eagles' Nest. Here are some pics from the top - you have to take a special bus for the trip to the house; the road is only wide enough for one vehicle and is closed as soon as the snow flies, due to the danger! The first 2 pics we took from the bus.

Zugspitze, part drei

We took another cable car from the top down inside, to the glacier area. The boys enjoyed playing with the snow there. From there, we took the cog wheel train back down the mountain.

Zugspitze, part zwei

We checked out the summit of the mtn - man, was it cold up there! Yes, it is AUGUST and it was about 35 up there! The kids enjoyed checking out the snowball that someone gave them, and we looked around a bit. Chris liked the idea of the highest beergarden in Germany.

Zugspitze, the Roof of Germany

On day two in Garmisch, we ventured out to take on the mountain! We went up on the Zugspitze, which is the highest mtn in Germany. It was lots of fun - we went up on a cable car, to the summit. The ride up was quick, and the view was awesome! About 3/4 of the way up, we entered the clouds. We looked around a bit up there, enjoyed the snowball someone gave to the boys, and also checked out the highest beergarden in Germany. It was amazingly cold up there!

Garmisch: Edelweiss Resort

For Chris' birthday, we headed down to Garmisch, in the Bavarian Alps to the Army's Recreation Center, Edelweiss Resort. We set off from Wiesbaden at around 3 pm, and after what seemed an eternity of driving, arrived at Edelweiss around 10 pm. The hotel is beautiful; a huge complex complete with 3 restaurants, beautiful grounds, even an indoor swimming pool and outdoor hottub. Here are a few pics of the area.

Sinsheim, part drei

German museums are really cool - they actually had SLIDES that came down from all the planes. Yes, the ones on the roof! J wanted to try one, so we sent him off and he did so great! Here is a pic to show you how tall they were. You can see both the Concorde behind us in the pictures. Justin was totally pooped after all day!

Sinsheim, part zwei

We enjoyed the museum; it is HUGE! Its big claim to fame is that it has an original AirFrance Concorde, along with the Russian competitor, the Tupolev. You can visit both of them (as long as you are willing to climb onto the ROOF and up inside them......) We had a blast looking at all the military stuff, the antique cars, race cars, trains and motorcycles along with the airplanes. Gotta love those airplane seats, that are the seating in the museum areas.

Sinsheim via train

Back in June, we undertook our first USO tour, going via train to the Aviation and Technical museum in Sinsheim, Germany. It was an interesting day - we live about 3 blocks from the Hauptbahnhof (main train station) so we just walked down there to start the day. We all got settled on the train for the 45 minute ride over to Darmstadt, where we changed trains, and then on to Heidelberg, where we had a short time before heading out again. The boys loved riding the train - lots to see and do and Michael even made a friend!

Burg Eltz, part drei

We drove back out through the Mosel River valley, one of the world-famous valleys for wine production. It is beautiful; lots of Germans come here, camp, and ride their bikes along the river. There are hundreds of miles of bike trails here. Here are just a few pictures from the area.