Exploring Bavaria

It's hard to believe it has been a week since my last post! Our accommodations on the farm were very good, but the weather was quite rainy (lots of mud) and we struggled a lot with communicating with the family we were staying with. We've gotten used to most people in Germany speaking at least a little bit of English, but were not so lucky in this case. It was fine, as they were very busy, so we just did our own thing. We were fortunate to be close to several towns we wanted to visit, so made day trips to Oberammergau, Ettal, Garmisch, as well as an awesome open-air museum called Freilichtmuseum Glentleiten.  I don't think any of us have ever been to a museum quite like this. There were free-roaming farm animals, craftsmen and over 60 original Bavarian buildings that had all been moved from throughout the local area to the museum grounds. Although it was drizzly, we had the place almost entirely to ourselves and it was so interesting! Almost all of the buildings were open and we could explore at our leisure. We also got to see a few live craftmen working on display (basket-making, pottery, leather-working and a man carving wooden furniture). It was fun to imagine ourselves living during those times or in those homes. On a related note, I've fallen in love with the tile ovens they used to have and am wondering how to get one in NC!

We spent Tuesday of this week in Munich. We drove a little over 30 minutes from the farm to a Park-and-Ride lot on the outer limits of the city and rode a train into the center. We saw the Glockenspiel (sort-of a giant cuckoo clock where figurines dance around on the hour twice a day), explored the market and walked the English Gardens where we were treated to an unexpected surfing expedition on a small man-made wave!  I took some photos but the Huffington Post wrote a fun little piece on it a few years ago. Before we left Munich, we had to make a stop at the Oktoberfest. It was great fun and we are so glad we braved the crowds.


Yesterday was "castle day," and we visited King Ludwig's castles of Neuschwastein and Hohenschwangau in the same day! Hohenschwangua was his childhood home and he built Neuschwanstein after he became king (at the age of 18!). Unfortunately, he died very young, so, although the castle is tremendous, apparently it was only 1/3 completed. We weren't allowed to take photos inside, but I think it is the most beautiful, ornate, romantic place I've ever seen!

We are headed to the Black Forest today, then gradually making our way east / north towards Amsterdam. We love hearing from everyone at home and hope you are all doing well! Oh, and for anyone who cares about food, the food here is amazing! My favorite meal so far was a wild game goulash with Spaetzel, roasted pears, cranberries and juniper.