Part Two: Germany

The first time Chris and I visited Germany, we wanted to see "the real Cinderella castle" or Neuschwanstein, but it was closed for the winter. When we realized our friends were only three hours away from the castle, it was on our list.  We took a sleeper train (one of Abe's favorite parts of the entire trip) from Venice to Munich. We rented a car and jumped on the Autobahn.  Chris did an amazing job driving in a new country and navigating our way.  Fussen was a cute little town, but it was cold! These Hawaiians were bundled up! 

In Fussen, freezing, but still smiling. 

Besides the castle, another fun sight we visited was a treetop bridge that was on the border of Germany and Austria. You could have a foot in both countries at the same time.  The view was amazing and it was fun to run and be outside after many hours of trains and cars.

The map of the bridge. The line in the middle separates the two countries. 

One foot in Germany and one foot in Austria. 

Abe just took off running. 

It was beautiful! 

Of course it was too cold for gelato, but we quickly found Fussen's famous treats... these amazing dough balls that were covered in chocolate and came in all different flavors. Amazing!

In the morning we drove to the two castles. In addition to Neuschwanstein we also toured Hohenschwangua. Both of course were spectacular!

With Neuschwanstein behind us!

A view of Hohenschwangau as we were walking up to Neuschwanstein

Before our castle tour

Of course we had to ride the horse and carriage back down. It was only fitting...

Just stunning!

After touring the castles we drove to see our sweet friends, the Cochrans. We met the Cochrans while living in Japan. We went to the same church and we all became quick friends.  They knew us at the beginning stages of our adoption and they prayed for Abe before we were even matched with him.  Jessica prayed with me over the phone while Abe was in the hospital after his surgeries. She was also one of the first friends I called to tell her I was pregnant with twins.  We were so happy to see them again and introduce Abe to them. Abe had a great time playing with their children, Molly, Jack and Sadie.  And Jessica and I were able to catch up and laugh together about our families!

Now, Abe's second favorite part of the trip was the sleeper train, but his first favorite was going to Playmobil Park.  It was amazing and we all had a blast. The park was in Nuremberg, which was an hour from our friend's house.  The way I describe it is as a park filled with life size playmobil toys.  There were no lines, it was just a massive park! Perfect!

You can tell Abe is excited!

At the pirate ship

Digging in the quarry

Climbing up the rope structure

Noah's Ark

Concentrating at the water tables

Jumping on the massive trampoline!

So fun!

Paddle boats

We had an amazing day! The next morning we drove to Munich to spend our last two days in Germany.  The boys toured the BMW museum while the girls sat in the cafe and chatted over coffee and pretzels!

After the cars, we went to an art museum.  Abe was noticing all the crucifixion pictures but then we noticed a series of pictures by Rembrandt about the life of Christ. They were amazing and they included the resurrection. They were our favorite!

That night we had dinner at the famous Hofbrauhaus! It was huge, so loud and can hold 5000 people! They don't even seat you, you just push around till you find a table.  Sounds crazy, but it was so fun! The music and food were great! 

We finally found a table!

Listening to the music while eating a pretzel! When in Germany...

The next day we took a walking tour of Munich (Chris loves those things). The must see on our list was the Marienplatz clock tower.  The clock has 32 life size figures in it that dance around every day at 11am, noon and 5pm.  The show lasts for 15 minutes. Now, this was a must see because the first time we were in Munich Chris had to see it, but we missed the show.  We were thrilled to see them dance this time!

Watching the figures dance! We made it! 

Our last family picture on our trip.

We had an amazing time on our trip to Italy and Germany. Abe did way better than we ever thought he would and it is so great to hear what he remembers! Next time our trip will definitely include Jack and Luke. Thank you to my sweet parents for keeping them for two weeks and for celebrating their first birthday with them! 

***Chris would also like for me to mention our famous tourist buy, the selfie stick.  It was the best $5 we spent on the trip. Even though it was bright lime green and all the venders were attracted to us every time we took it out, it allowed us to take so many great family pictures. He would like to encourage all travelers to invest in one.  You're welcome.