Way back in 2001, my parents had a terrific vacation planned. They were planning on braving the friendly skies and flying to Hawaii for some fun in the sun. Well, September 11 unfolded and their plans were dashed. Flying was already way outside my mother's comfort zone, and after the Twin Towers, my parents decided they wouldn't be flying anytime soon. The airlines told them they understood and that getting travel vouchers wouldn't be an issue. "Wouldn't be an issue" was relative as my parents finally got their vouchers last year, 7 years after the fact.
Well, long story short, my dad offered the family use of the vouchers, and after my older siblings passed, Abby and I stepped up to the plate. We researched a variety of options, and we ultimately decided that we would use them if we could go overseas. The economy being what it is, we decided that if we were going to pay for a trip right now, it would have to be some place far, far away. We crossed our fingers, sent my dad a list of places we would like to visit and waited for him to go to the airport with paperwork in hand. There were numerous restrictions that suggested we'd be lucky to use the vouchers to travel outside the United States, so we were that hopeful...
But, what a surprise! My mom just called, and we're going to Germany for 3 weeks in August! We are SO excited and on our way out now to get the Helping Friendly Book, more widely known as Lonely Planet. If anyone has sojourned in Germany and has recommendations, we are now officially accepting advice.
4 comments:
WOW!! We just went for our honeymoon and loved munich! We were there for Oktoberfest which was pretty amazing. you are going to have so much fun!
ok hubs just said that he recommends the castle tours we did and the Hofbraugh House..I think that's the spelling. It's basically just like going to Oktoberfest except is a restaurant. Very very cool, even for me a non-drinker.
We didn't get to go to Olympic part, but if we go back we'll do that. And I want to say it's maybe the VW plant that's in Munchen and it's very cool to see.
You are super lucky because most people speak english there, so you can get by with basic german and you can get just about any menu in english.
The trains are also really easy to use, so I would recommend that over attempting a taxi, super cheap and after you get on 1 it's basically like riding the El in Chicago.
Are you guys going to venture out of Munich at all or just largely stay in that area?
I can't remember what is right over the border in switzerland, but I swear you won't regret seeing switzerland, it is AMAZING! I wouldn't say Zurich was anything special but any small town you can go to is so worth it. I think Lucerne was about a 2-3 hour train ride and it is incredible. so if you wanted to stay a night there it is really just the cutest town and you can go up into the mountains at Mt Pilatus which is only 15 minutes from Lucerne.
I love what little I've read of your blog. What a coincidence that you have older siblings that have died too. Your blog caught my attention with the scuba photo most of all. I've applied for an internship to Fiji where I'll take part in marine biology research after learning to scuba dive, if accepted.
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