Ettal Monastery

Our last Bavarian trip was to the Ettal Monastery.

It has really amazing details inside, probably one of the most beautiful chapels that we had seen in our whole time in Europe.

The monastery is completely self sustainable, they have their own live stock, farms, and everything they would need. In order to make money, they make and sell beer and cheese. Beer making was actually started by the monks and considered a very sacred thing. For quite some time, they only people allowed to brew beer were monks. At first, water, malt, hops, and yeast were the only ingredients allowed in beer. 

The cheeses were amazing, and the kids really loved watching the process of making it. They showed us a short video then you could go look through windows as the machines and people were busy at work. On the way back we stopped at another traditional wood carving shop. This one was much more impressive because it was only one man who made everything and we got to peak into his workshop. A great way to end a beautiful trip.

Innsbruck, Austria

We took the short drive to Innsbruck Austria one day and found a carriage ride that would take us through town to see all the sites.

We passed by the golden roof was built be the emperor Maxamilian I with 2,657 fire-gilded copper tiles. It is quite a popular tourist site, but it was not what we had imagined.

This is a picture I got online of it close up.

The other cool thing that we saw was where the Trapp family lived.

It was a pretty town with some awesome architecture, especially in Old Town.

Not my picture

Partnach Gorge

My Dad and Aunt went to a local concentration camp so the kids and I decided to hike up Partnach Gorge. 

The Partnach River, a lusty mountain stream, has cut a 262 ft deep crevasse into pure rock, creating one of the most beautiful gorges in the alpine region. Therefore the Partnach Gorge is about 2.305 feet / 800 metres in length and its walls rise to 263 feet / 80 metres. It was declared a natural monument in 1912. 

(taken from a handy tourist site)

It was pouring down rain that day, so we grabbed our jackets and umbrellas and headed up. We decided to take a carriage up to the start of the hike since it was about two miles. Once there we still had another roughly two mile hike till we even got to the official entrance of the gorge. 

The water was this strange icy color and rushing faster than I've ever seen. We were all amazed at the view, walking through tunnels and caverns, seeing waterfalls and beautiful  rock creations.

Not too far in William said he was cold so I pulled the extra socks out of the bag to cover their hands and we headed back down.

Fortunately it stopped raining by the time we got back to the entrance because all of the carriages and gondolas has stopped running so we were hoofing it back to the car. 

William found a slug on the way down and decided to bring it back to Nick as a pet (only after I vetoed the desire to bring a dead squirrel back instead).

By the time we made it even half way he has 3-4 in his hands so being the awesome mom that I am, I found something in my bag for him to carry them in and we took them back to the hotel with us.

Garmish and Neuswanstein

 Our biggest trip of all was down to Austria. We stayed in this cute town called Garmish, they have a military related hotel there with all of the usual American amenities. It was a long drive to get there, because of traffic and a lot of accidents what would usually be a five hour drive turned into nine. The kids were great however, but we were all very happy when we finally arrived.

It was so nice to see mountains again, all of us Utahn's were missing that view.

The hotel was beautiful, they had a pool, restaurants, and even personal stylists!

The kids loved the pool of course, we went swimming at least once a day. I didn't mind it either, I love swimming when I'm pregnant.

The first trip we took was to Neuswanstein castle. This was built by Ludwig II, he bankrupt his family doing and didn't even live to see it completed. He only spent 11 nights in the castle over the many years it was being built. The bedroom alone took 4 years to complete. The decorations and architecture were inspired by Richard Wagner and his opera's and even had a room designed to preview operas as its sole purpose.

No photography was allowed inside, but we only saw about the dozen rooms that were completed. They all had very ornate paintings, woodwork, and textile work. Swans were everywhere (Neuswanstein means "new swan stone"), and are a symbol of luck and fortune. I am so glad that we got to see it, it is on every top travel list of the world but admittedly, a little disappointing over all.

On the way to the castle we stopped at a work working shop, there were so many amazing things from extremely talented people. Like most things, woodworking became so popular in order for people to make money. Farmers would create things during the winter for their families and eventually started selling in their towns. Once everyone owned their fill, they started spending the winters traveling to surrounding towns in order to sell their creations and earn some extra money.

The second stop we made was to a church that holds a statue that was carved in order to bring the people closer to God, to celebrate his life and sacrifice. It was moved a number of times, finally ending up in this church built next to the carpenters house in order for him to be close to it. Once day, the wood started releasing water, right by Jesus's eyes creating the appearance that he was crying. There was a mass going on when we were there so no pictures were allowed. I didn't go in because I didn't want the kids interrupting so we went and got these really yummy donuts and looked at the cows and horses instead. 

It was a great trip, and we were all so glad that we were able to go even though it was quite a hike to get there and back down. Another wonderful memory.