German Genes

I guess I shouldn't be surprised that I loved Germany. I fell in love with a German years ago! He and his sons explored this market in Nuremberg.

I wasn't the only one who felt as happy as can be in Germany.

In Munich, I shared the biggest pretzel with my boys. The markets were wonderful, meaning full of various culinary and handicraft wonders!

The Hofbrauhaus lived up to the hype! I am so thankful that Joletta is my "mother-in-love."

After the girls left our shared table, we had to borrow their HUGE beer mugs for photos.

We got to meet Joletta's friend Heather and her boys in this cool Munich restaurant filled with birch trees.

Our boys see statues and they strike poses.

We enjoyed Munich.

How do you think this pair (Anthony and the minivan) performed on the autobahn? We had fun.

Feel free to convert, if you aren't familiar with km/h. Honestly, I didn't even have white knuckles, since Anthony is such a good driver, the roads were straight and smooth, and there were no other cars around at that moment. I enjoyed watching Porches and other cars doing what they were built to do while they flew past us in the left lane. If I can generalize, the drivers all seemed very safe. 

Beautiful Salzburg, Austria

Here is our second-annual April stair-steps photo with Grandma Jo.

Sam was so proud to be a true expert about Mozart and The Magic Flute when we went to see the impressive Marionette show. He had learned a lot in his preschool unit about Mozart.

Do you recognize the statue of horses from The Sound of Music?

Anthony was right -- they didn't actually film the cemetery scene here, but in a Hollywood replica. Can you see the door in the cliff?

Their smiles were permanent in Germany and Austria. Everyone seemed to be smiling at us, too!

Salzburg only got better in their eyes when we got to ride bikes for 4 hours!

It was nice to fit right in with brunette parents and blonde kids. It was shocking how often friendly people came up to us and spoke kindly to us in German until they realized from our silent nods and smiles that they needed to switch to their excellent English. One waiter even said, "I was sure that you were German-speakers since you look so Central European."

Sam benefited from the cool invention of the tag-along-tandem-bike.

These boys were singing songs (mostly in Spanish) from the movie most of the day.

Yes, I can take pictures while riding a bike

apparently even in an intersection? There weren't any cars.

Yes, the hills are alive with the sound of music.

We just don't get much time in nature here in Salamanca, so we made the most of it!

Do you think Captain Von Trapp would approve?

For my mom -- yes, that is a Blue Heron in front of the Alps.

Look how far we are from any buildings!

Springtime in Austria.

He is 16 going on 17.

Here is our annual 3-boys-with-tulips photo.

We returned to Germany and got to visit Neuschwanstein Castle, but not by paragliding.

Dreamy.

No children tripped over their own feet in the making of this photo

or this one.

There is the bridge we hiked to for the dreamy photo. For future reference, when you put your castle in a spot like this cliff in front of the Alps, you get the most amazing 360 degree views!

See?

The architecture was on my list of things I liked about Germany. Similarly, everyone's "My Favorite Things" lists included "the people are so very kind here in Germany and Austria!!"

The view from one of our hotels

Wisteria, bikes, cute houses and time with Grandma Jo equals pure refreshment...

and I haven't even raved about the food. Let's just say that every one of the 6 of us was completely content after every single meal.

Anthony's uncle Daryl remembers his grandpa talking about their heritage from Stuttgart. I don't suppose this palace was the home of their ancestors, but it sure felt like our family "fit" in Germany.

The Frankfurt airport allows anyone to perform on the grand piano!