We interrupt this farm time for a brief trip to Germany. We had been planning on a trip since Jon took his most recent job in Maryland. With access to free flights on base, we took advantage. Two days of attempts to hop a flight and we were finally in the air, Europe-bound. We had a brief idea of what to expect, but no hotel reservations....just another adventure. We did have a rental car waiting for us! So there's that. After only about 2 hours of sleep during a 9 hour flight through the night we arrived in Germany at 7am local (about 1am Eastern). You'd never know by the kids' behavior that they hadn't slept much, as they began a wrestling match in the lobby of the hotel we were hoping had room. No such luck, but there was a hotel not too far that had a room to accommodate us.
Side bar: do you know how hard it is to find a place in Europe that can accommodate more than 2 people per room??
We arrived at the hotel to find our room with a full kitchen, pull out couch, pack n play and queen bed in a separate room. As you can imagine, the kids slept the entire ride to the hotel and were now ready to jump off the walls. So, TV on, showers taken and a nap for the adults. By dinner time the adults were awake, kids were asleep, and the sun was still shining. We moved the kids to the car, where they slept soundly as we took to the winding roads towards a restaurant on a castle ruin. It overlooked the town and was perched between two hills (that my Florida roots would call small mountains). After staying up until midnight with the kids we finally got more rest.
We planned our Germany adventures and started piecing together the logistics. We found a two-bedroom Airbnb in downtown Garmisch that was perfectly priced. We booked the house and hopped in the car the next morning heading south. Our first stop would be Heidelberg. Stretch our legs, tour the castle, eat some food and be on our way. We got to walk over the largest wine barrel in the world, capacity 58,124 gallons.
Our drive seemed to go on and on. We knew it was a long one, but we drove well past sunset. We even found ourselves driving through a spit of Austria. I can only imagine the beauty we missed by the curve of the road and the pressure I felt in my ears going up and down through the mountains. We made it to our rental home to meet the very sweet, bubbly and welcoming home-owner. She passed off the keys and we got ready for a sleepless night.
Neither Jon nor I could've prepared ourselves for the toll the jet lag would take on the kids. I've only ever done international travel without children when I could sleep as needed or force myself to stay awake a little while longer. In Germany, the kids would fall asleep at breakfast and wake up at 1am for the day. We were all kinds of mixed up.
The local area offered plenty of entertainment. We were tucked in a town that was home to beautiful pastures where cows, sheep and goat wandered aimlessly at the base of the tallest mountain in the country, Zugspitze. Numerous restaurants lined the streets and our Airbnb backed up to a beautiful park. We spent our mornings having coffee on the terrace with a view of Zugspitze, walking to the park or a nearby farm to watch the animals graze.
One of the highlights of the trip was, no doubt, our hike on the Hollentalklamm Gorge hike. We hiked up and back in 6 hours, further than we thought the kids would want. Over the raging gorge river, through countless tunnels, all with a view of the peak of Zugspitze getting closer. We stopped about 2 hours in at the small pub perched high above the base for a coffee and some snacks. The boys never whispered a complaint and Baby A slept on Jon's back for 2 hours up. But that girl can climb! She did the first 2 hours all on her own. The challenge of the hike, the beauty of the view, and the uniqueness of the trail have made it one of my top 2 hikes.
Now, we didn't make it the peak. Nor did we intend to. But we did make it to the peak using an alternative method of transportation. We crossed into Austria to ride the gondola to the top. In true Brynn and Jon fashion, we got on the last ride of the day. Jon even did a short bonus climb to the highest point in Germany. The kids were more excited about the glacier and snow at the top than the ride itself.
We enjoyed plenty of German sausage, kraut, beer and pastries. Did you know Aldi's have pastry vending machines in Germany?? Blew our minds.
One of the things about flying standby is flexibility. We found another Airbnb near the airport and made the drive back. We weren't going to make it back for at least another day, so I found some activities to do in the area. One was the Stockschleifern hike. One of the most unique hikes we've done. The kids were hungry and in bad moods but I told them we were going to a forest where gnomes lived and we had to find the gnomes. That got them excited. The race was on to find the next one. We found a castle on the Rein to visit after our hike with a view of the spectacular vineyards set on steep hills along the river. The boys were thrilled to find a paper mache dragon in one of the towers and Baby A still talks about the Princess dress hanging in one of the bedrooms.
We were able to hop a flight back to New Jersey, which complicated things a bit. We had left the US out of Delaware, so our car was...in Delaware. The kids and I checked into a hotel and Jon headed out with a few other people on a shuttle bus to rent a car and make the drive down to Jersey. It was a bit of a whirlwind trip, but it was a blast! Next time, we will plan for 2 days of R&R when we land to beat the jet lag.
No comments:
Post a Comment