Congratulations Erin and Jose!

I wanted to give a big congratulations to my wonderful sister who just got engaged! The lucky guy is Jose Domingo Aguayo Belausteguigoitia (don't get worried about that last name and learning to spell it- she plans to go by Erin Elizabeth Aguayo). They met a little over a year ago at a coffee shop where they live in Alpine, Texas and talked for over an hour (from what I understand it wasn't the most riveting of conversations), but friends kept pushing them together and they soon went on a real date where they immediately fell head over heels for each other- in Erin's words he is "awesome and perfect". Jose is super tall and is actually the grandson of a famous soccer player in Spain (they called him "La Furia") and he makes Erin so happy that I can't wait to officially welcome him to the family (watch out Jose- you're in for a wild ride!). As of now, they plan to get married in Alpine, TX Memorial Day weekend and in true Texas style will have brisket bbq for dinner, a cowboy band, and pinatas made by Jose himself! I can hardly wait for the big day- congrats again you two!!!

Innsbruck, Austria

I'm ALMOST done blogging about our trip last month...promise! After we left Munich, we headed down to Innsbruck, Austria for three days. The winter Olympic games were held here in both 1964 and 1976 and after seeing the Alps here, we know why! We had a lot of fun at the markets (I told you we bought a lot of Christmas decorations!) and it might be possible there are more famous Christmas markets in this world, but no other Christmas market has more fascinating scenery. The medieval old town of Innsbruck offers a Christmas experience in Alpine style with long tradition. We took it really easy here and just did a lot of walking and we also went to the zoo (sooo much fun)- definitely a place I'd love to visit again.

Feeding the goats at the zoo- this guy was a pig and ate all of corn before giving the others a chance! Our beautiful hotel- the architecture in Innsbruck is absolutely stunning. The fake Alps in the Christmas market with the real Alps behind it. Karl with the almost frozen river behind him The famous Golden Roof- the most important symbol of the city. Archdruke Friedrich IV built the roof for his emperor Maximilian I. As we know today, the emperor was very delighted about his gift. Maximilian enjoyed to sit in luxury under his golden roof, and view the lively activity under the square below. I thought this nativity scene was just awesome Me and the carousel at the Christmas market

Munich!

So call me lazy, but I'm still trying to get all the pictures up from our trip last month (there's just so many pics!). After we left Garmisch, we headed north to Munich for three days. Munich is an amazing city- the art, architecture, and history make it a must see for anyone who gets a chance to visit Germany. We were lucky enough to be in Munich just in time for the Christmas markets- it was unbelieveably cold, but completely worth it (I think Karl and I bought half the market and we have A LOT of Christmas decorations now!).

.

.

This is a close-up of the famous Glockenspiel in the Marienplatz Plaza. The Glockenspiel celebrates two separate events from Munich's past with two levels of clockwork action. The dancers are coopers and are depicted doing the "Dance of the Coopers". This is done in memory of the end of the plague in 1517. The other part is jousting knights. These re-enact a famous tournament that was held for the royal wedding of Duke Wilhelm V which took place on Marienplatz in 1568.

The door in the middle of the picture is very infamous throughout Munich; this was the door that led to one of the first command centers for Hitler. If you walked by this door without "hailing Hitler", you would be sent to a concentation camp and charged with treason. For this reason, to the left of this picture, Munich residents made a path around the building to avoid Hitler's door.

. Another picture of the Glockenspiel

.

One of the days we were in Munich, Karl and I drove right outside the city to Dachau Concentration Camp, the first-ever concentration camp. This was truely an experience that puts your life in perspective; it was so emotional that I couldn't even finish walking the grounds. We did get some good pictures, but most of them are heartwrenching and I have choosen not to post them. If you are interested in seeing pictures (keep in mind that some are graphic), here is a great website: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dachau_concentration_camp. The picture below is the entrance that prisoners came though for processing when they came to Dachau.

The building in the background now houses the Dachau museum, but used to be used for processing new prisoners. The sculpture in the foreground is a memorial to all of those affected at Dachau. We took this picture while standing in the old role call area where prisoners lined up everyday to be counted.

.

Below is the hallway of the prison of Dachau- this is where the most brutal punishments happened and it was a surreal experience. Karl and I were the only ones in the entire building and I was completely creeped out- I can't even explain it.

Back in Marienplatz, this is part of the awesome Christmas market!

Another picture of Marienplatz and the Glockenspiel building.

.

Karl's favorite place in Munich- the Haufbrauhous- the most famous beer hall in the world.

At Haufbrauhous- the band. I know it seems silly, but it reminded me of the Fest House at Busch Gardens (but more authentic of course)!

Karl at the BMW showroom and museum.

Next stop on our trip....Innsbruck, Austria!

Buon Natale!

Well, I've been very slow at getting up the rest of the pictures from our trip (I still have posts to do for Munich, Austria, and Northern Italy!), but I figured I should get up our Christmas pics before it got to be way too out of season. Karl and I had a wonderful first Christmas together and celebrated on Christmas Eve with our friends Ben, Leighanna, and their son Luke (we are so lucky to have met such amazing people-we'll miss them so much when they move in Sept). On Christmas Day, we had dinner with all of our neighbors at our friend's house. Our family spoiled us rotten with gifts and we missed everyone so much!

Our tree and presents on Christmas Eve :) Our mini-display of our German smokers and nutcrackers

.

It was nice to have some days to just relax together, so the other day Karl and I went and just walked around Carney Park for awhile. Carney Park is one of the great perks we have here in Naples; it is a dormant volcano crater that the US Gov't rents from the Italians and has turned it into a HUGE recreation center for all of us stationed over here. There is something here for everyone including a Irish Pub with good ol' American food (sometimes you just don't want Italian food- hard to imagine, but true). The cutest kid EVER- this is Luke on Christmas Eve opening his present from Karl and I- we were so excited to get to share in his first Christmas.