Fun in Fussen

After our castle extravaganza, we spent some more time exploring downtown Fussen.

Look what we found outside a toy store!  I think Camden would have loved to take this guy home.

 We discovered Schneeballen at the Christmas markets and Fussen had its own Schneeballen shop. 

Emma and Camden snacked on these yummy cookie balls.

 After a little down time at the hotel, we went to the Gasthof Krone for our last German dinner. The kids loved their medieval theme. :)

 Anyone dining at the Gasthof Krone must wear a bib :)

 Now that is a plate of food!

 On the way back to the car we went past this beautiful church with a mural of St. Christopher.  

 We came back the next morning for a picture of St. Christopher and Christopher. :)

Mad King Ludwig's Castles

There were 2 famous castles we wanted to visit in Bavaria. Wednesday morning we drove a few miles down the road from Fussen and found King Ludwig's incredible castles.

 His childhood summer home: Hohenschwangau

  and his super summer home: Neuschwanstein

(darn scaffolding! I was forewarned that this might happen )

One huge plus of visiting in the winter time is the non-stop entertainment for the kids that came in the form of SNOW!  Here they are along the trail to Hohenschwangau.

Emma made a snow castle while we waited for our tour to begin.

Emma is becoming quite the photographer!  She snapped this great picture of us.

More fun in the snow on the way back down the trail.

Instead of a 30 minute hike up hill to Neuschwanstein, we opted for the horse drawn carriage ride.  On the way up, Emma exclaimed, "We're just like Cinderella going to the castle in a carriage!" 

Outside magnificent Neuschwanstein Castle.

Cuckoo Clocks and SNOW!

Tuesday morning we packed up and said, "Auf wiedersehen" to Bad Wildbad.  

The snow was falling when we woke up (and it continued all day!)

 We decided we couldn't leave the Black Forest of Germany without seeing some of their famous cuckoo clocks.  We drove a few hours south to the town of Triberg.  We had a great time wandering in and out of clock shops.

Black Forest Cake!

 After lunch we set out for our drive across southern Germany to our next destination in Bavaria.  The winter driving skills we learned in Iowa came back very quickly. I was so happy when we made it to Fussen!

We checked into our room and then walked around town looking for some grub.  I think this bench is a great snapshot off the amount of snow :)

 

The beautiful tree in the center of Fussen.

Stuttgart and Ludwigsburg

On Monday we visited 2 wonderful Christmas Markets.  Our first stop was Stuttgart.  

I swear Camden had a good time on this trip, he just wasn't into pictures all the time!

 Watching the ice skaters (and enjoying some gluhwein)

 An Operation Purple Camp Triple Threat!

(and cute baby Van)

 Entrance to the Christmas market

 Camden and Emma tried some warm Kinderpunch and loved it! :)

 My pretzel for the day!

 Emma, Olive, and Camden taking a pretzel break.

 Look what we found! It was like the mother ship calling us home.  Chris savored his first Frappuccino in 8 months and I was disappointed in my first Carmel Macchiato in 5 months. 

 We drove about 30 minutes north of Stuttgart to the small town of Ludwigsburg.  The market was magical at night time!

We found a delightful restaurant near the market.  Beer and schnitzel-need I say more? 

 After dinner we listened to a brass band play some festive tunes.

 The kids were mesmerized! :)

The end to a fantastic day! 

Bad Wildbad and Baden Baden

Saturday morning we were up bright and early to hit the road.  We had a full day of driving ahead of us through Northern Italy, Switzerland, and then Germany.  

Here is Frosty, our trusty co-captain.  The kids had an "Elf on the Shelf" visit them on Thanksgiving and named him Frosty. He goes to the North Pole every night to report to Santa on their behavior.  The kids were thrilled that he found out where we were each day on our trip. :)

 Driving through beautiful Switzerland.  

We made it over the snowy pass in the Alps without any problems. As we got close to Zurich, our GPS (Olga) sent us on a "shortcut" through downtown.  You can imagine what traffic was like on the Saturday afternoon before Christmas. 

We clocked 11 hours in the car and finally made it to Bad Wildbad.

When Chris was a part of Operation Purple Camp in Washington, he worked with 2 great guys, Josh and Gabe.  Josh and his family now live in England (they visited us in October), while Gabe and his family live in Germany.  We were so lucky to have the opportunity to join the Boisvert and Laramie families at this amazing house: Charlotte's Forsthaus

Sunday morning the kids headed right outside to play in the snow.

 We drove to nearby, Baden Baden.  

Olive and Emma are ready for some fun (Camden not so much).

 Our first steamy cup of Gluhwein - Just the thing to keep you warm and your spirits up!

 A friendly nutcracker...

 The whole gang!

 Buying some sweets...

 A ride on the carousel 

 My goal was to eat on pretzel a day while we were in Germany (my love for soft pretzels goes way back). We found a delicious one in a little bakery downtown.

 Chris and Emma hanging out at the house 

and playing with our new obsession (iPad)

 Guys, scotch, and kids.

 Olive, Emma, Layla, and Camden chowing down on some chicken noodle soup.