The Friday Moment... Blog

I have been out for a while. My husband came home for R&R last week and we left a week ago to spend time together in Garmisch. Garmisch is in Bavaria, Germany; nestled within the Bavarian Alps it provided a beautiful, relaxing time for all of us. We stayed at the Edelweiss Lodge and Resort, which is an American resort for military and military retirees. I actually got a swimming suit and spent quite a bit of time in the hot tub and pool!

We spent about 5 hours driving to the resort, and while we were there my husband and I went to the Neuschwanstein castle, the kids, my husband and I went to the Linderhoff palace, my husband and I visited a monastery and cheese factory, we all went indoor rock climbing, and we drove to Berchtesgaden to visit the salt mines. I wanted to go to the Eagle's Nest, but we were running short on time in order to get back to the resort in time for dinner reservations.

So here are some pictures of our almost week long stay in Bavaria:

My husband and I at Neuschwanstein Castle

My husband and I in Austria. The mountain behind us is the Zugspitz.

Me posing.. I feel so sexy!

My daughter and I at the Linderhoff

Husband and I in front of the Venus statue at the Linderhoff

"Front Yard" at the Linderhoff

"Moorish Kiosk"

My son cheesing for the camera!

The Linderhoff Palace from behind

The monastery

The monks make beer and liquor. He was in heaven!

Used for the Oktoberfest parade

At the salt mines in Berchtesgaden

Everyone loved the slide. My husband and I are not in the picture because he let go to pose... see where trying to be cool gets you? Out of the shot....

We all had a great time. My husband did not want to leave. We returned home yesterday and I was worried about gaining weight in the week we were gone because of all the fatty goodness I had been devouring. Good news is I did not gain anything! I did not lose anything either, but now I ma back home, can eat like I was before, and go to the gym...

Bad news is I have to return to work next week... the last week my husband will be here... but they are being oh so nice enough to let me have the day off that my husband has to fly back. Fuckers.

Ludwigsburg

It's been a bit, and I apologize for taking so long to make this post... now I am 2 posts behind!!!!

On my final day of the weekend in Stuttgart I decided to visit the residential palace and the gardens in Ludwigsburg. My feet hurt a little from getting lost at Baronschlossle, so I put on my tennis shoes and headed out.

I found a nice quiet residential street to park my monster and walked up to the palace.

The palace was HUGE! I walked through the gates and into the courtyard where I was in awe of the magnificence of the baroque style palace.

I wanted to see the gardens that I had read about online, so I started to walk towards the back gate. I had to pay to get in, but it was just me so I gladly paid.

I walked into some gardens and heard some accordion music. How German is that for you?

What follows is the gardens and everything around the area... no words, just beauty!

Looks a little evil, dunnit?

I kinda felt like I was in the raptor cage in Jurassic Park

After I left these gardens I found the fairy-tale garden. I had so much fun here! There was something to see from all of Grimm's fairy-tales and more!

Rapunzel's tower

There is her blonde braid....

Snow White

She was behind this magic mirror

It tells the kids in German what to say to activate the mirror...

This is supposed to be the whale that ate Pinocchio... a boat ride would take you into it's mouth (I think), but I think it looks like a fish.

The witch's Gingerbread house

The witch

 After I left the fairy-tale garden I came upon the last garden. It was here I was able to see the "Favorite Place".

 I did not go over there because by this time I had been walking around for 2 and a half hours and my feet were killing me, but that was ok because where I was sat the last garden I was to see that day right up against the palace.

The place was amazing. I walked three hours in total exploring the gardens alone. When I got back "home" I took off my shoes to discover a huge blister on each pinkie toe the size of my pinkie toe! You know what? It was so worth it.

Last weekend I went to a medieval festival with my two little ones and a friend... so until I write about that (Hopefully in the next few days) let me leave you with this:

“True enjoyment comes from activity of the mind and exercise of the body; the two are ever united.”~ Humboldt