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.

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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!