Friedrichshafen isn't a huge town- but it is on Lake Constance (or Bodensee if you're speaking German). Switzerland is just across the Lake. Anyway, it was really snowing when we arrived. Consequently- our rental car wasn't available because of a little accident that very morning. They ordered another one for us, but we needed to wait for it. So we spent the day in Friedrichshafen. We all squeezed into a lovely Volvo station wagon (a car that I have always appreciated- and it really was quite nice) and drove into town. We did all the wrong things. Even with the Sat Nav- we had a few adventures. My favorites were when we momentarily drove down a one way street- the wrong way- and when we drove down a pedestrian walkway. (I had to giggle as all of these people looked at us like we were complete idiots! They weren't too far off the mark.) I am just glad that it was Danny driving. We had a nice lunch at a little restaurant (K42) with a nice view of the lake. Sadly, it was very overcast and we couldn't see much. Then we took a little walk around the shopping area and bought all the kids boots. (They were on sale...) Then we went to the Zeppelin Museum. Friedrichshafen is famous (?) for creating the German Zeppelin and was almost completely destroyed in WWII because of this. So we saw the Museum and it was fun. The car still wasn't ready so we had a little snack at McDonald's and then went to pick up the car. And what a car it is!!! Danny rented a 9 seater. We got a Fiat Ducato. It is a 9 seater that makes other 9 seaters look like bugs. It is more like a bus. It's huge! But, it has snow tires and we didn't even have to pay extra for them.
So we headed to Munich and our hotel- the Holiday Inn. We arrived at the hotel and Danny put our 6 suitcases on a trolley to take up to the rooms and then he went to park the car. After going up on the wrong elevator and finding the correct one- we found that the elevator was too small to fit all of the luggage. So, Kailey took the girls up to our connecting rooms (hurray!) while Jake and I tried to get all of the luggage up. Jake took up two suitcases and came back to help. I rearranged the rest and got them all on the elevator. Got off the elevator and discussed with Jake that it really isn't a good idea to leave luggage right next to the elevator in the middle of the hall- unattended. Our evening was good. The rooms were nice. Kailey, Em and Madi slept in with Danny and I. The early risers/ bed jumpers/ slobs slept in the other room.
Friday the 13th. We had a lovely breakfast buffet at the hotel. Then we headed into Munchen. We took the subway instead of the big car and Jake complained about it the whole way into the city! We went to the City Center (Marienplatz) first to see the Glockenspiel- think of the coolest german cuckoo clock ever! At 11:00, 12:00, and 5 p.m. the bells play and these lifesize figurines move. There is a king and queen who are looking down over a festival (this is my interpretation anyway). You see the revelers dancing and playing and the knights even joust on horseback! I thought it was amazing!
The Rathouse- or City Hall is huge and very old. Then we headed to the Bavarian Film Works to take a tour. Of course- Carrell luck- we had to wait over an hour for the tour so we had lunch at McDonalds. (I can not believe how many McDonalds' I have seen here! Crazy...) The tour was very fun. Kailey, Jake, and Shelby were actors in a very short film that our tour group helped make (and Danny provided the voice to part of it as well) and we got to see it at the end of the tour. We have a copy if you ever want to see it. Then we went back to the Marienplatz because of the shopping possibilities. After we were done at the one store we went to (and all 5 bigger kids had what they wanted) we were ready to eat dinner. Danny had gone somewhere and I was standing in the middle of the Marienplatz with all 6 kids- probably looking like it had been a long day- and this very kind German woman (a grandmotherly type) came up to me and said something in German. I looked at her and said, "I am sorry, but I don't speak German." She said, "Well, could I be of some help to you?" I told her we were looking for a good restaurant. She told us of a lovely little Italian place (which is what the kids wanted) and gave perfect directions on how to get there. What a lovely lady! The restaurant was great. The food was good, the atmosphere was warm and cozy, we were all happy to be there!
After dinner we went to Circus Krone. The Krone Circus (as we would say it) is the largest in Europe and has been around for 90 years! It was wonderful! We saw amazing acrobats, a 14 year old juggler, 4 elephants that were really close to us (we were on the front row and I kept thinking of the tv show of when performing animals go mad... luckily they didn't... but those are really large animals!), 4 tigers (that were thankfully behind tall fences), horses, donkeys, camels and some very cute llamas who had serious teeth issues. We all loved it.
Saturday- Valentine's Day. We went to Dachau, the former Concentration Camp. Now doesn't that say love to you? I don't know what I wanted our family to learn from this. Kailey did say, "I don't know if I want to be here. I feel sad inside and I don't like it." Hopefully this experience will mean something to my children at some point. Dachau doesn't have nearly the horrors of some of the other concentration camps. It was mostly a work camp. On the entrance door are the words, "Arbeit Macht Frei" or "Work Makes You Free." It was the first concentration camp and the model for all of the others to follow. Political prisoners were sent there in 1933 and it housed people there for 12 years until it was liberated by U.S. Soldiers in 1945. Over 200,000 people were prisoners here and more than 43,000 died. It was amazing to stand in the roll call area and feel cold with warm clothing- coat, hat, scarf, gloves, boots- and think about the prisoners who had to stand in the same area with only their prison uniforms on. Sometimes they stood there for several hours a day. We are blessed with way too much and we still complain.
After Dachau we headed to our next destination- Fussen. Fussen is a beautiful little village that is very close to the castles of Hohenschwangau and Neuschwanstein. We are staying at this cute little hotel (there are maybe 40 rooms) called Hotel Kurcafe. There is also a bakery/ candy shop and restaurant downstairs. This blog will have to be continued later- I am just too tired to finish tonight! Auf weidersehen.
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