Voyage Junkie

Before our Iceland trip last year, we also took some time to kick around Germany again. Of course we had to visit Martina and Christian in Munich again! The city is still amazing, still historical, and still beautiful. I still want to move there, right now . If anyone in Munich wants to hire me, or my husband, or both of us, the answer is yes. Let's go. All joking aside, after meeting a delightful high school exchange student on the plane who saved us spaces in line for our connecting flight in Iceland, we landed in Munich and made our way out to the burbs. Martina and Christian purchased a sweet not-so-little house a few years ago, and had one 2 year old and a baby on the way. Meanwhile Matt and I were just barely pregnant with our first (who, spoiler alert, died about 8 months later, but that's another story for not-here not-now maybe-not-ever-don't-worry-we're-ok), and renting a very overpriced DC one-bedroom pad. We're still in that overpriced pad but now I...

I've been remiss in posting the rest of our Germany trip, and for that I apologize.  Matt and I got thrown into family gatherings and looking for jobs the minute we set foot on American soil.  Although we've only been back for about 2.5 months, it feels like a lot longer!  Partly this is due to just how much we miss traveling around Japan and Germany, and how much we want to go back, coupled with how hard it is to find a job in America these days.  But enough of our whining.  On to a magnificent castle! We were lucky enough to be able to visit Schloss Nymphenburg , pictured above in cloudy glory.  It was the summer home of Bavaria's rulers back in the day, and very Baroque in style.  Construction began in 1664 and wasn't finished for some time.  The view above is the front of the palace, seen over the second of two massive ponds filled with swans.  Where we are standing is close to the center point of the front entrance, which is ent...

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 sibli...

Munich is peppered with churches, as can be expected of a country that is historically very Catholic.  There were two that stuck out to us, on opposite sides of the spectrum.  One was all white, clean lines and open space.  The other was dark, violent, and looked like a potential Tim Burton movie set. As you can see, it is a lot easier to get a clean shot in a bright white church! There's just something fascinating about this  church. I think it's all the skeletons.

We stopped in Munich to visit my good friend Martina who studied abroad in America during high school.  Munich is an unbelievably beautiful and clean city, full of spectacular architecture and interesting places to visit.  The surrounding area is made up of rolling hills dappled with stupendous castles.  Martina and her man Christian were the best hosts ever, taking us all over and dealing with us in their space for almost three weeks! The first main tourist site we visited was Hohenschwangau, home of two castles.  The first we saw was Schloss Neuschwanstein, built by Ludwig II.  It was never really completed, especially inside, as the King went bankrupt during the process.  He was removed from the throne and thrown in prison, where he managed to talk his way out for a solitary walk where he drowned himself.  It's a tale befitting such a sight and such a life.  The castle itself, shown below from an onlooking bridge, is an impressive white ...