Hannah and her friend Erin visited us for 10 days in August. During the first 3 days of their trip, we showed them all around Munich. On Monday, we did some light sight-seeing and enjoyed a traditional Bavarian meal at our favorite Bavarian restaurant, Görreshof. We had them try the schnitzel (pork, not veal), as well as one of our favorite traditional desserts, Kaiserschmarn. The next day, they went on a guided tour of the city and visited the city’s palace, the Residenz. On Wednesday, they took another walking tour, but one which specifically focused on the Third Reich’s history in Munich. Afterwards, the three of us enjoyed a lunch of currywurst, which is type of sausage with a curry and tomato sauce that is a specialty of Berlin. Since they didn’t have time to make it to Berlin this trip, we brought Berlin to them. In the afternoon, they toured one of Munich’s most popular art museums, the Neue Pinakotek. After dinner, we took them to try our favorite gelato place in Munich, Ballabeni. I think they enjoyed it! We kept them pretty busy on their first few days!
On Thursday, we headed to Prague for a quick overnight trip. We arrived in the city around lunch time and found a cute café where we could eat. Afterwards, we walked across the famous Charles Bridge and explored the castle area of the city. When we needed a respite from sight-seeing, we stopped to enjoy some Czech beer. We chose a Czech restaurant for dinner, and we all enjoyed the goulash and bread dumplings. After we were finished eating, we strolled around the city, making sure to stop for a sweet treat of Trdelnik, which is spiral-shaped bread covered in sugar. They serve it warm and it is delicious! We capped the night off with a visit to a really cool cocktail bar called Hemingway’s. The ambience was really cool and our drinks were all very creative and delicious. The guy at the table next to us got a drink that was served inside of a book! On Friday, we were up early so that the girls could head to a Prague walking tour. Since Matt and I have done this tour before, we spent that time meandering around the city. When the tour was over, all four of us grabbed pizza for lunch on a restaurant that is situated on a docked boat. The weather was gorgeous and we had a great view of the castle. After that, it was time to quickly head to the train station to catch our bus back to Munich. We didn’t get home until late, so we relaxed at the apartment before we all passed out.
Although the weather forecast on Saturday was not great, we headed to Tegernsee, which is one of the most popular lakes just outside of Munich. It is situated in the Alps and the views are usually fantastic. Unfortunately, it was cold, rainy, and foggy – not the perfect lake day we had in mind. We compromised by enjoying another traditional Bavarian meal – this time with sausage, sauerkraut, pretzels, and Obazda, which is a delicious, creamy cheese spread. We did walk around the lake a bit and take some photos, but we headed back to Munich in the late afternoon since the weather prohibited us from doing much else outside.
Back in Munich on Sunday, we enjoyed croissants at one of our favorite cafes before heading to Dachau, the concentration camp that is located about an hour outside of Munich. Although it is a very somber experience, I think it is a very important one. Due to the sheer volume of information in the museum at the memorial sight, we spent the majority of the day here.
On Monday, I took the girls to see Salzburg in Austria. Although it was another rainy day, we were still able to see most of the main sights in the old city. I hadn’t been there since 2011 and I forgot how beautiful that city is! On our way back to the train station before heading home, we stopped at the Hotel Sacher so that the girls could try the world famous Sacher torte. You can purchase small “cubes” of the torte to take with you. While it is different from American chocolate cake, I think the girls really enjoyed it. For dinner back in Munich, Matt and I made the girls some cheese fondue. It’s one of our favorite dinners to do at home when we have guests.
For the girls’ final full day, we decided to visit one of the most popular art museums in the city, the Lenbachhaus. I’ve wanted to spend some time here since it reopened last spring. It’s a private collection, so it is a bit different than the city’s other art museums. The collection includes many pieces from the 19th century, but also a lot of modern art, too. There were definitely some interesting pieces. I think we all enjoyed the morning there. We spent the afternoon doing some souvenir shopping, and then we went out to eat at one of our favorite restaurants in Munich, Theresagrill. I think it was a good way to cap off an excellent visit. We really enjoyed having these two lovely ladies with us and we hope they enjoyed their time with us, too!
Sunday, August 31, 2014
Friday, August 22, 2014
France Roadtrippin' Part III: Normandy and Giverny
For the last part of our France road trip, we headed up north to the Normandy region of France. We stayed in Bayeux, a small town near many of the D-Day sights. After a very confusing conversation about parking with the woman who ran our B&B, we managed to get settled and headed to the D-Day beaches. Since Matt had recently finished reading a 700-page book all about D-Day, we opted to forego a guided tour and just do our own thing. Matt was able to provide a lot of interesting information throughout our couple of days here.
The first place we stopped was Omaha beach, which was where a large portion of the American casualties occurred on D-Day. Omaha was particularly difficult because of the German fortification and lack of cover. The Allied forces knew this, but they had to land here to link Utah (the 2nd American beach) to the west and Gold (the British beach) to the east. Omaha now has only this large monument (below), so it's hard to imagine how it looked that day with obstacles, mines, vehicles, etc. scattered everywhere. It's a strange feeling standing on the beach and thinking how far the distance from the boats to the nearest point of cover would have been.
Our next stop was the American Cemetery: This place literally took my breath away. I want to describe it, but words don’t do it justice. Seeing all of these graves really puts things into perspective. There are 9,387 soldiers buried here. After D-Day, the families had the choice to bring the bodies back to the States or have them buried here, or else the total would sadly be much higher. It was truly one of the most moving experiences of my entire life and I am so thankful for the sacrifices that were made by these men and women.
All of the markers have the soldier's name, date of death and home state.
The graves are pointed home toward the US (specifically at the coast of Maine, which is the closest point across the Atlantic).
Continuing on with the somber day, we visited the German cemetery next. This was a very stark contrast to the American cemetery (unsurprisingly). The grave markers were much smaller and dark gray, in contrast to the American ones which were bright white. The small visitors’ center focuses on world peace. There are also several hundred maple trees planted along the drive into the cemetery, and these also symbolize peace. I don’t know how to feel about all of this. It's easy to get a bit emotional when you think about WWII history, but it's important to remember that the German soldiers often didn't have a choice. Many of these German soldiers were very young men (arguably children), and they were someone’s son, brother, husband, or father, too. It’s all just terribly sad.
After reflecting on these experiences, we did try to enjoy the remainder of the day in Bayeux. The town is really quaint and we enjoyed checking out some of the small stores. Since the 60th anniversary of D-Day was within a few weeks, there were even more USA decorations than normal. It was fun to see a European town with American flags everywhere. We finished off the day with a nice dinner. The food was good, but nothing spectacular. The menu did focus on many apple-related items, as apple orchards are plentiful in this area. We also got to try some cider from the region, which Normandy is famous for.
The next morning, we started the day off with breakfast at the B&B. We were really surprised by how great the food was. The owner selected various local products for us to try: local cheese, small pastries that are well-known in this region, and even apple juice that is produced locally. It was all very delicious and interesting to learn a bit more about the local products. After breakfast, we drove to see some more D-Day sights.
Our first stop on the second day was Pointe du Hoc. As its name suggest, the coast comes to a point here, and you can see Utah to the west and Omaha to the east. The Germans had very strong fortifications here since it overlooked both beaches, and the U.S. Rangers' mission here was to scale the cliffs (probably the most famous story from D-Day) and take control of these guns. As a visitor to Normandy, this is the impressive landscape everyone envisions. The stiff, rocky cliffs plunge directly into the Atlantic.
An air bombardment took place before dawn on D-Day partly to bomb bunkers and guns, but largely to create craters to provide cover for the Rangers once they reached the top. You can still see these craters all over Pointe du Hoc today.
The view down from the top.
High-level look at one of the German bunkers. Notice how thick the concrete is!
A look at the cliffs the Rangers scaled...
After Pointe du Hoc, we drove up the coast to Sainte-Mere-Eglise. This was the first town liberated by the Allied forces. Two U.S. Airborne divisions landed in this area during the night with the hope of carrying out several missions before dawn. Due to bad weather and heavy flak, the landings were hectic and troops got scrambled (think Band of Brothers - some troops from Easy Company landed here).
I'm not sure why our pictures look more like paintings here, but I promise we actually took these...
One paratrooper got caught on the steeple during the landing in the night, and he survived by faking dead for several hours until he got rescued. There aren't many happy stories from that day, but this happens to be one of them. As a monument, they now leave a fake soldier hanging from the steeple still today, which you can see better here.
The Airborne Museum here was great!
Leaving Sainte-Mere-Eglise, we drove to the German battery at Longues-sur-Mer. There are still several guns that exist there today, and it's really interesting again to see how thick the concrete is and how big the guns are. These guns are a good distance off the coast, but they played a key role in the German defense as they could still easily reach the beaches and ships anchored far off the coast.
Our final stop was Arromanches. This spot is unique, since it's not known as a point of battle during D-Day. Instead, Arromanches is known for having an artificial harbor that allowed Allied troops to unload more than 9,000 tons of supplies per day. Without this artificial harbor, they would have needed to wait until one of the larger ports was controlled by the Allied forces. This allowed them to immediately begin bringing supplies, vehicles, reinforcements, etc. onto continental Europe on a large scale. The harbor still exists there today - this is admittedly a bit underwhelming in pictures, but it was still cool to see.
Particularly pensive...
Since it was mom’s birthday that day, we planned dinner at a very nice restaurant in the evening. The food was outstanding and the service was top-notch! I am still dreaming about the vanilla bean and caramel cheesecake that I had for dessert.
For our last day of the trip, we had some driving to do so that we could make it back towards the airport outside of Paris. On our way, we stopped at Giverny, which is the location of Claude Monet's home and gardens. These are the gardens where he painted many of his masterpieces. It was really cool to see the lily pond with the bridges in person. The gardens themselves were exceptional. So many stunning plants and flowers. The house was also very pretty. Many of the rooms were furnished as they were when Monet lived there. Some of his artwork was on display as well, although most of the famous pieces are on exhibit in museums throughout the world.
After spending the afternoon at Giverny, we made it to our final destination, a small town called Chantilly. We weren't expecting too much, but it was the cutest little French town! Matt had booked the coziest bed and breakfast for our final night, as well. The hosts were so kind and we really loved the character of the house where we stayed. Our final meal in France was typical -- crepes. But we couldn't have been happier.
All in all, we had a really wonderful time in France. We saw so many beautiful things, ate delicious foods, and drank outstanding wines. We were pleasantly surprised by the friendliness of all of the French people we met (even in Paris!). Another amazing trip in the books!
The first place we stopped was Omaha beach, which was where a large portion of the American casualties occurred on D-Day. Omaha was particularly difficult because of the German fortification and lack of cover. The Allied forces knew this, but they had to land here to link Utah (the 2nd American beach) to the west and Gold (the British beach) to the east. Omaha now has only this large monument (below), so it's hard to imagine how it looked that day with obstacles, mines, vehicles, etc. scattered everywhere. It's a strange feeling standing on the beach and thinking how far the distance from the boats to the nearest point of cover would have been.
Our next stop was the American Cemetery: This place literally took my breath away. I want to describe it, but words don’t do it justice. Seeing all of these graves really puts things into perspective. There are 9,387 soldiers buried here. After D-Day, the families had the choice to bring the bodies back to the States or have them buried here, or else the total would sadly be much higher. It was truly one of the most moving experiences of my entire life and I am so thankful for the sacrifices that were made by these men and women.
All of the markers have the soldier's name, date of death and home state.
The graves are pointed home toward the US (specifically at the coast of Maine, which is the closest point across the Atlantic).
Continuing on with the somber day, we visited the German cemetery next. This was a very stark contrast to the American cemetery (unsurprisingly). The grave markers were much smaller and dark gray, in contrast to the American ones which were bright white. The small visitors’ center focuses on world peace. There are also several hundred maple trees planted along the drive into the cemetery, and these also symbolize peace. I don’t know how to feel about all of this. It's easy to get a bit emotional when you think about WWII history, but it's important to remember that the German soldiers often didn't have a choice. Many of these German soldiers were very young men (arguably children), and they were someone’s son, brother, husband, or father, too. It’s all just terribly sad.
After reflecting on these experiences, we did try to enjoy the remainder of the day in Bayeux. The town is really quaint and we enjoyed checking out some of the small stores. Since the 60th anniversary of D-Day was within a few weeks, there were even more USA decorations than normal. It was fun to see a European town with American flags everywhere. We finished off the day with a nice dinner. The food was good, but nothing spectacular. The menu did focus on many apple-related items, as apple orchards are plentiful in this area. We also got to try some cider from the region, which Normandy is famous for.
The next morning, we started the day off with breakfast at the B&B. We were really surprised by how great the food was. The owner selected various local products for us to try: local cheese, small pastries that are well-known in this region, and even apple juice that is produced locally. It was all very delicious and interesting to learn a bit more about the local products. After breakfast, we drove to see some more D-Day sights.
Our first stop on the second day was Pointe du Hoc. As its name suggest, the coast comes to a point here, and you can see Utah to the west and Omaha to the east. The Germans had very strong fortifications here since it overlooked both beaches, and the U.S. Rangers' mission here was to scale the cliffs (probably the most famous story from D-Day) and take control of these guns. As a visitor to Normandy, this is the impressive landscape everyone envisions. The stiff, rocky cliffs plunge directly into the Atlantic.
An air bombardment took place before dawn on D-Day partly to bomb bunkers and guns, but largely to create craters to provide cover for the Rangers once they reached the top. You can still see these craters all over Pointe du Hoc today.
The view down from the top.
High-level look at one of the German bunkers. Notice how thick the concrete is!
A look at the cliffs the Rangers scaled...
After Pointe du Hoc, we drove up the coast to Sainte-Mere-Eglise. This was the first town liberated by the Allied forces. Two U.S. Airborne divisions landed in this area during the night with the hope of carrying out several missions before dawn. Due to bad weather and heavy flak, the landings were hectic and troops got scrambled (think Band of Brothers - some troops from Easy Company landed here).
I'm not sure why our pictures look more like paintings here, but I promise we actually took these...
One paratrooper got caught on the steeple during the landing in the night, and he survived by faking dead for several hours until he got rescued. There aren't many happy stories from that day, but this happens to be one of them. As a monument, they now leave a fake soldier hanging from the steeple still today, which you can see better here.
The Airborne Museum here was great!
Leaving Sainte-Mere-Eglise, we drove to the German battery at Longues-sur-Mer. There are still several guns that exist there today, and it's really interesting again to see how thick the concrete is and how big the guns are. These guns are a good distance off the coast, but they played a key role in the German defense as they could still easily reach the beaches and ships anchored far off the coast.
Our final stop was Arromanches. This spot is unique, since it's not known as a point of battle during D-Day. Instead, Arromanches is known for having an artificial harbor that allowed Allied troops to unload more than 9,000 tons of supplies per day. Without this artificial harbor, they would have needed to wait until one of the larger ports was controlled by the Allied forces. This allowed them to immediately begin bringing supplies, vehicles, reinforcements, etc. onto continental Europe on a large scale. The harbor still exists there today - this is admittedly a bit underwhelming in pictures, but it was still cool to see.
Particularly pensive...
Since it was mom’s birthday that day, we planned dinner at a very nice restaurant in the evening. The food was outstanding and the service was top-notch! I am still dreaming about the vanilla bean and caramel cheesecake that I had for dessert.
For our last day of the trip, we had some driving to do so that we could make it back towards the airport outside of Paris. On our way, we stopped at Giverny, which is the location of Claude Monet's home and gardens. These are the gardens where he painted many of his masterpieces. It was really cool to see the lily pond with the bridges in person. The gardens themselves were exceptional. So many stunning plants and flowers. The house was also very pretty. Many of the rooms were furnished as they were when Monet lived there. Some of his artwork was on display as well, although most of the famous pieces are on exhibit in museums throughout the world.
After spending the afternoon at Giverny, we made it to our final destination, a small town called Chantilly. We weren't expecting too much, but it was the cutest little French town! Matt had booked the coziest bed and breakfast for our final night, as well. The hosts were so kind and we really loved the character of the house where we stayed. Our final meal in France was typical -- crepes. But we couldn't have been happier.
All in all, we had a really wonderful time in France. We saw so many beautiful things, ate delicious foods, and drank outstanding wines. We were pleasantly surprised by the friendliness of all of the French people we met (even in Paris!). Another amazing trip in the books!
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