Euro Trip

On Wednesday April 26, Don and I celebrate our third wedding anniversary. May 9th marks our third year living in Germany! To celebrate, we are hitting the road visit our favorite part of Germany. I have attached a few photos of what we will be seeing.















We are traveling to a small ski town in southern Germany called Garmisch- Partenkirchen. This small village sits at the foot of the Zugspitz, or the highest point in Germany.





One of the day trips we are planning is to Neuschwanstein Castle that you see in the picture. This castle may look familiar to you, it was the inspiration for Disney's Fairytale Castle. It has a fascinating story of a mad King who became obsessed with building this castle. He died before it was finished, and no one has ever lived in it.

Although we are not staying at the American Lodge/Resort in Garmisch, you can check out the website to learn more about the area and what we will be seeing. Too bad we weren't stationed here...we would never want to leave!

Happy trails,

robin


http://www.edelweisslodgeandresort.com/home.html

Who could forget the dancing vampire bodybuilders...

Sorry, I was still in shock after learning the truth behind the tampon I forgot to mention the last thing I saw at the festival. After I walked through the different vendors in town I started to make my way back to the main courtyard on my way home. I came upon a large crowd watching this guy in a cape who was slinking through the crowd trying to be scary. My first thought was that fasching is over- why is this guy still dressed up in a costume? He slowly made his way up to the stage as the music faded out. I started snapping pictures because I had a feeling that something was about to happen. Another techno song started up (Germans really dig techno music) and you can see above what followed. My friend Shawna and I were laughing so hard that people around us(who were actually enjoying the show) started giving us dirty looks. We had to leave because we couldn't stop laughing. Hope you enjoy.

robin

P.S. I should mention that when Shawna and I got home and told our husbands about what we had just seen, Don looked at the pictures and said- "Hey they vampire is our mailman!" They're you go...now you have seen a picture of our Bunderpost Man.

Beer, Ghost Busters and TSS???

Today I went to a spring festival in my village. I love going to these type of events, because you just never know what you are going to see. The theme of this festival was spring. The center of the village is a 6 minute walk from my front door, so I grabbed my camera and set off to capture a few of the unique things you will find at a German festival. I hope you enjoy!

(Below)A favorite way to spend a Saturday afternoon- sipping a beer, listening to music, visiting with friends.

Check out the local talent. Here is a local ompa band playing a really hot rendition of Ghost Busters. They had the crowd fired up for this one!

Here is a picture of the center of town...the Fools Fountain is decorated with Cherry blossoms and easter decorations.

I'm saving the best for last. For the last 3 years I have wondered what the heck these long poles with strips of paper are for. Yesterday I learned the story behind them, and I just have to share it with you. The picture you see above is called a tampon. I am really not kidding you...each village has one on display, and the tradition calls for young people of neighboring villages to try to steal another villages tampon. If, at the end of the year the tampon is hanging in place...well, that is quite a source of pride for those who live in the village. For some reason Ramsteins' tampon has a donkey hanging from a noose. I really don't want to know why.
Auf Wiedersen,

robin