Garmisch, Germany

Sorry I haven't gotten pictures up sooner of the rest of our trip, but Christmas really took it out of us! Now that the crazy holiday time is coming to an end, I can finally continue on our journey and show you all the great places we went. After we left Verona, Italy, we headed North to Garmisch, Germany. Garmisch is a beautiful ski town and was home to the 1936 Winter Olympics. This is the kind of town that you would stick on a postcard because it's that perfect. We stayed at an awesome resort (and any of you who are military need to make a trip here); the Edelweiss Lodge and Resort is actually a US Gov't owned hotel and all active duty and retired military can stay there http://www.edelweisslodgeandresort.com/home.html! I can't tell you how nice it was to have an American breakfast after so many months of going without (I miss the small things I guess). We stayed in Garmisch for 6 days and had such a great time- I could have been happier with a little warmer temps though (it snowed everyday we were there). I started our stay there with a day at the spa and then did some day trips after that.

.

.

Karl took this picture when he went out snowboarding...I told you it was like a postcard!

While driving from Verona- these are the Bavarian Alps Another random shot while driving (We were driving though Austria when we found this castle just on the side of the road) I thought this was so funny- I have no idea what the Kissing Service actually entails though Just outside of Garmisch- it even looks cold....brrrr One of the day trips I took was to King Ludwig II's Neuschwanstein castle. I wish it had been a clearer day so the pictures would have turned out better, but it really does take your breath away. This is one of three of his castles and is often referred to as the Disney castle. We couldn't take pictures inside, but I found an English website about Neuschwanstein in case you wanted to see some more pictures: http://www.neuschwanstein.de/english/castle/gallery.htm To get back down to the parking area, you can either walk or take the horse and buggy ride- on such a cold day I thought 2.50 euro horse ride was extremely worth it not to freeze to death on the two mile hike back. On the way back from Neuschwanstein, we stopped at this amazing church named Weis Church. Weis is very famous throughout Bavaria as it houses a famous crucifix that is said to have healing powers. Pilgrims come from all over the world to pay homage to the crucifix.

Inside Weis Church- the organ and part of the ceiling On the last full day we had in Garmisch, Karl and I ventured out to Linderhof castle (another one of King Ludwig II's 3 castles though this is the only one that he ever finished). We got a privately guided tour of the inside and it was truely breathtaking. Once again, we couldn't take pictures, but I have another website you can go to and see some great shots of the grounds and inside (it really is worth checking out- just click on the link then choose English then choose a 'Tour of the Castle' on the left hand side and guide yourself through Linderhof): http://www.linderhof.de/ On the grounds of Linderhof A shot of the Alps from our hotel balcony before we left Saturday (it was the first day it didn't snow and we could actually see them) Hope you all enjoyed Garmisch, next posting I'll take you through Munich! Ciao!

Our Trip to Bavaria

We're finally back from vacation!!! Karl and I are enjoying our first day home after our trip to Verona (Italy), Garmisch (Germany), Munich, Innsbruck (Austria), and Bologna (Italy) and I have to say it's nice to be back home in my robe and slippers. We got so many great pics, I've decided to do a seperate blog for each of the different cities we went to. Karl and I started our trip on Dec. 9 and drove about 7 hours in the rain north to Verona, Italy to spend the night; Verona is the setting for Romeo and Juliet and is truely as romantic as it sounds. There were Christmas markets in all the streets and the art and architecture are amazing!

.

.

This is the entrance to the old city- the Christmas markets are right though the archways!

Karl in the main Piazza

Juliet's Balcony! This is said to be the home and balcony of Juliet. It was so beautiful and Karl and I were the only ones there- there's nothing like a kiss in the most romantic spot in literature :)

In the portico leading to Juliet's house- so sweet!

Christmas markets in Verona

The old arena of Verona

Keep up with the next few posts as I go though the rest of our vacation spots!

Going on vacation!

Hi everyone! Just wanted to give you all a heads up that Karl and I are going out of town, but will be back right before Christmas, so there will be a lack of blogging for the next two weeks! Please keep up with us and I'll have pics up from northern Italy, Austria, and Germany right around the holidays! Miss you all!

Thanksgiving Weekend!

Sorry it's taken so long to get up pictures from our Thanksgiving trip, but we've been overly busy all week (better late than never though!). For Thanksgiving, Karl and I went to the beautiful Abruzzi Mountains for four days and couldn't have had a better trip; the weather was perfect and everyone on our trip was so much fun and we made lots of new friends! We stayed at Club Primula in Pesscasseroli (about an hour east of Rome); Pesscasseroli lies in a valley amid a mountainous landscape of uncontaminated and pristine clean beauty in the heart of the National Park of Abruzzi. This is a great area to go skiing and hiking and to just soak in the natural surroundings of Italy.

.

.

The town of Barrea and the Barrea Lake- I love all the little towns in Italy that are built into the hillsides!

Thanksgiving Dinner at the hotel- we were the only guests in the hotel that night, so they actually made us some American Thanksgiving staple foods (mashed potatoes, gravy, stuffing, and turkey). In addition to those, we also had lasagna! Our turkey! This was soooo funny- they knew the turkey was important to us, so they decorated it! Karl in the Abruzzi Mountains My bear friend in the Pesscasseroli nature park Outside our hotel Karl and I in the snow!!!

Karl and Erik Schlegel...that's right- one of the guys on our trip (and who works in Karl's building) is named Erik Schlegel...small world! A pretty picture of Pesscasseroli Mikki whispering sweet nothings to the bear (I think Matt's jealous) The first picture on this posting was of the town of Barrea and the lake from the beach...this is a opposite pic- taken from the town of Barrea overlooking the Barrea Lake (who's jealous?!) :) Another picture of Barrea

Photo op! On Saturday, we visited the Valley of the Wolves (and acually did see some wolves!)

This is the valley and gorges Another great photo op... A group shot! We were so lucky to have such amazing people on our trip- they really helped to make our trip unforgettable and we're happy to have so many new friends!

USMC Birthday Ball

Last Saturday, Karl and I went to the USMC Birthday Ball to celebrate the 232nd birthday of the Marine Corps; it was in a beautiful hotel just outside the city and the weather was perfect. It was a wonderful ceremony and Karl even got to escort the cake! We went to the Ball with our friends, Matt and Mikki, and had such a great time- the five-course dinner and guest speaker were both fantastic. Wish we could have birthday ball more than once a year!

Mikki and I

Karl escorting the cake :) He looks so good in his uniform! Dirk after a few drinks... Me in the lobby of the beautiful hotel Karl and I Cigars for the boys Happy Marine Mikki and Matt

Thinking of You!

Last week I just couldn't resist taking these pictures-it's such a beautiful view we wanted to share it with everyone! I also wanted to let everyone know that I figured out how to call us from the states (sorry to those of you who tried to call using the number I gave you before!). If calling from the US, dial 011-39-081-303-6190. Miss you all!

Random Pics

I thought I would share some pics from a few different occasions that I never got a chance to post about before. Karl and I live in the heart of the Campania region which makes it easy to take day trips to some pretty amazing places...have I mentioned how lucky we are to live here?!

Last weekend, Karl, Kerry, Andy, and I went to the Castle St. Elmo in Vomero (part of Naples about 20 min. from our house). Vomero is on the top of the mountain that overlooks downtown Naples and we had the most spectacular views of the city!

From the top of the castle looking at Naples, the port, and Mt. Vesuvius Karl, Andy, and Kerry with the volcano. Kerry and I found each other in a job orientation training- we went to Tech together and knew each other through our friends (we were both in sororities and hung out with the same fraternity all the time). Kerry and Andy (her awesome boyfriend) just moved here from Prague and live about 10 min from us. Kerry and I are getting a VT Alum chapter going out here and it's so great to have a friend so close (we even have Italian class together). Karl and I (the volcano we live on is the one in the distance) Moving onto another night...Karl and I are so lucky to have so many great friends here and we had an awesome time celebrating Karl's 27th bday bowling with two of our fav. couples, the Zook's and Chaney's. This is Judy, me, and April. The husbands...Greg, Jason, and Karl Karl lovin on the ladies Another memorable night was when we went to the Oktoberfest celebration at the NATO base with our neighbors. Each year, the Germans at NATO put on their own version of Oktoberfest....you know, beer, sauerkraut, sausages, pretzels, and more beer. We had way too much fun and we left before Karl could start dancing on the tables like the true German he is. These were the steins we got :)

Our wonderful neighbors (me, Lisa, Kevin, Mark, Rick, and Cindy)