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Family Time: Easter Dinner and Tegernsee

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We visited Germany over Easter, which meant a lot of candy coupled with large family gatherings with tons of champagne and incredible food.  One day we went to a gathering with one of Martina's uncles, where we met a lot of her cousins.  They were lovely people, very festive.  We enjoyed talking with them about the state of the world, what might happen in the next American election, taking a long walk in the snowy weather, and toasting a ridiculous amount of champagne to all the family milestones (a baby on the way and a marriage next year).  Martina's uncle is also an antique camera collector so we got to see his fairly substantial collection.  I even impressed him by being able to open one of the oldest models that he couldn't figure out.  To the right is a picture of Martina and her siblings, Maxi and Suzi, who we got to spend some nice time with.

On Easter Sunday proper, we went to Martina's family home for a celebration with her mother and siblings.  Her mom taught us how to make traditional goulash, the end result of which is pictured to the right.  It's very much like a stroganoff but with more of a tomato base.  We made it with some brown rice pasta I brought, and everyone enjoyed trying the new taste.  After lunch, we had an egg hunt, which really was "find the massive plates of candy with your name on it."  Once we found the bounty, we reenacted the last supper, shown below.  It's not terribly authentic, but it was great fun, and I personally enjoy Maxi and Matt looking off in the opposite directions while Martina's mom breaks the chocolate bunny.
      


The next day we went to Tegernsee, a beautiful mountain town, and hiked up a snowy alp.  We were not prepared for the conditions, and did suffer a bit because of our shoes, especially on the way down, but it was beautiful.  We made it all the way up to a little church on top of a very high peak, and looked out across a gorgeous expanse below.  Back in the village later, we marveled at the architecture and went to a famous monastery brewery called Herzoglich Bayerisches Brauhaus, where I drank apfelchorle, a delicious sparkling apple juice, and everyone else drank beer.  It took the sting of the mountain away.   

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