The Land of Wild Swans

Nana and Grampa are like perennials around our house.  When Spring starts to peek its way through the frozen winter curtain, Nana and Grampa pop up at our house.  I think the tradition began when we moved to Santiago 6 years ago and they came to help us move (though back then they were coming in early Fall, not Spring).  No matter how it all began, we are just glad that they continue to visit and share our breaks with us.

Nana and Grampa arrived almost two weeks ago just in time to pick the girls up from school on their last day before the start of the two-week break.  We took a leisurely stroll home from school, enjoying the sunshine and catching up.  We had an early dinner at one of our favorite places and headed home to pack.  Because, in keeping with tradition again, we were heading off on our first road trip in the morning.  I say first because we had a few planned.

 Ready for dinner and our Spring Break adventures.

Saturday morning dawned, and we headed for the train station.  Our destination?  The town of Hohenschwangau, a tiny little village that lies between two pretty impressive castles and is home to a gorgeous lake.  It was a quick two-hour train ride, and by noon we were all checked into our hotel and in search of lunch.

Our hotel - pretty nice view from the front.

And a pretty good view from our rooms too (the other castle in town).

It was a gorgeous day, and we had nothing planned for the afternoon (our tours were the next morning), so we wandered a few hundred meters down to the Alpsee and secured a table lakeside.  We had a very leisurely lunch that included some pretty spectacular views...and a few silly girls...

With lunch under our belts (almost literally), we headed over to see if we could rent a boat and spend a little bit of time on the lake.  Sure enough, they had some paddle boats available.  We had to split up into two groups as the largest boat only held 4, so MadHatter took off with Nana and Grampa while Stinkerbell, B and I got situated.

 Situated and ready to paddle.

 Stinkerbell's legs were a little short, so she had to sit on my lap to reach the pedals.  She tired quickly, so she decided she wanted to take in the view from the front...

Our half hour was almost up, and we were away out so we decided we would have a race back to the docks.  MadHatter took it very seriously and pedaled furiously even though she could barely reach...and it paid off for them as they pulled in first.

And as we were heading to find some ice cream, I ran into was run into by this one...

Such a surprise to see G and her family as they live in Prague!

The ice cream was located and eaten, and we had just enough time to make it up the mountain to tour the outside of Neuschwanstein castle.  Like I said earlier, our tour tickets were for early the next day, and you cannot enter the castles without a tour.  It was a 3-minute bus ride up the side of the mountain (and it gave me flashbacks to the time I thought we were going over the edge on our way up to Machu Picchu) and another 2 minute walk uphill to get to this bridge...

And the views are worth the feeling that somehow, any second, one of those shaking wooden boards beneath your feet will shatter and send you plunging down into the rocks and waterfall below. (Can you tell I have a slight fear of heights?)

Nana and Grampa enjoyed the view!

It's simply impossible to take a bad picture.

We got off the bridge and worked our way down the hill towards the castle.  And took in a few more stunning, mist-shrouded views...

And happily skipped our way all the way down the mountain in search of some dinner and a good nights sleep because tomorrow we had another exciting day!

Out of this world

MadHatter turned 9 in January.  A full 2 1/2 months ago and due to complications* of being a foreigner in a foreign land we had yet to celebrate.

She had her heart set on having her birthday party at the Planetarium and I was happy to comply.  I booked the first available date at the Volkssternwarte München mit Planetarium and told MadHatter that she would get her dream party but she would have to wait for it. Thankfully, she was OK with that.

Finally, last Friday we gathered most of the 3rd grade (and a few from the 2nd) for a bit of space exploration.

First, we explored the planets and our Galaxy before heading into the theater to watch a short movie on how stars are born. After a Q&A session, the display cases were opened and a few of the meteorites were taken out and shown us.  We even got to try our hand at picking up the largest one - it was HEAVY (and over 4.5 Billion years old).  I don't have a picture of MadHatter with it because she asked that I not take one.  But I do have a few of the others, including Stinkerbell.

Next up - the telescope.  It was a glorious sunny day in Munich which is fabulous after a long and gray winter but it makes it difficult to look at a magnified sky.  Instead, we got a quick lesson on what the sun would do to us if we attempted to look directly at it through a lens -

Can you see the smoke?  It took less than a 1/2 second for it to burn a hole where his eye is.

We learned that you can look at the sun if it is deflected onto another object.

And Stinkerbell found a way to make paying attention more fun...

The final piece was the planetarium where we got to travel from the city of Munich to the Milky way over the course of a 24 hour period (on time lapse).  We also learned how to find the Polar Star and how to identify a few of the more famous constellations.  I will say this was probably where the kids paid the most attention and were amazed by the light show in the dark. (It was too dark for any pictures except this very first one)

Tour concluded we all went back in the party room where we had a few snacks before singing to the birthday girl and then diving into the Alien cupcakes MadHatter had requested.

We had only a few minutes left and before pick up and the kids made great use of it by becoming aliens - or messy cupcake monsters.  What a fun idea MadHatter!  I hope you had a great party!

*Complications in no particular order - I do not speak German; the people booking the party do not speak English.  I could write an email in German (with Google Translate's help) but they say directly on their website that they will not reply to party requests by mail but will only book by phone.  Go back to the first sentence and realize my catch-22.  Finally send out a plea for help on Facebook and give all details to a super understanding native German speaker who is a complete stranger.  Find out that this is a popular place and the next available date they have is March 31 and you would have known that if you were from Munich.  In the end - it was resolved - as all of these things are but not without a bit of stress.

Park Boheminium

After spending a few days catching up with the girls (our adventures are here and here), it was time for me to head back home to the family  but not before I checked out one last spot - Park Boheminium.  As the most visited attraction in the region, I simply could not be so close to it and not check it out.

After a saying a quick see you later to my girlfriends and I headed off on the whopping 1 km drive to the Park Boheminium.  With over 7 dozen Czech landmarks all replicated on a 1:25 scale it is the 4th largest miniature park in all of Europe and the only one of it's kind in the Czech Republic.  With it's gorgeous location in the forests of Marienbad and the working models (the train, the cable cars, the boats) kids and adults are kept entertained.

As I was alone and eager to get back to the family, I only spent about an hour here and did not get a chance to see all of the models.  But I was very impressed with what I did get to see and it was a lot of fun to re-visit some of the sights I have been lucky enough to see firsthand.

Each miniature had a sign (in 4 languagues - thank goodness) that told you where the monument was located within the country, why it was famous and other supporting details.  Educational and fun.

Some I have seen - like the one above and the one below...

Cesky Krumlov

The Kolonada just down the street.

and the one right next door to it.

And there were a bunch I would love to see in person but was happy to get to explore in miniature.

Hrad Bezděz - one of the most majestic of the Czech Castles

The funicular up to Ještěd peak.

The UNESCO World Heritage listed Zámek

and one I think I will just be satisfied with reading about...

The places, outside of town walls, where the capital punishments would take place.