Oberammergau, Germany

Robbie had some trainings in Oberammergau, Germany during February and March, so Michael and I decided to tag along and try out his new snowsuit from Grandma Schut since out Italian winter was more mild than we had anticipated.  Oberammergau is in southern Germany in the Bavaria region.  The town is known for its wood carving artisans and the Passion Play held every 10 years since the plague in Europe when the town was left relatively unscathed from the disease and promised to honor God for sparing them by doing this play.  It's a tiny little town, but the play is a BIG deal. We missed it by a few years though--the last play was in 2010.  One of the more iconic sights is a cross on the top of this mountain near the town, which was really neat looking under all the snow.

We had heard lots of things about this class, like how the schedule was pretty relaxed and they give you a day off on Wednesday to go touring around with your family.  Robbie got all checked in and had a completely booked schedule, from 8 am-5pm every day. That left Michael and I with lots of time to play in the snow and try to keep ourselves entertained in a cold, even more foreign country than we're used to.  Every morning we went out and walked around in the snow:

Michael would wipe snow off of things and make little snowballs to throw over the fence into the neighboring yard.

We watched the cars and people walk by from our balcony.

We played on the swing in the front yard of the hotel.

We had to leave the hotel and walk into town to find lunch every day, so we'd stop by the river and pay on the bridge and watch the ducks swim and quack in the little river. Michael worked on perfecting his duck impression.

Towards the end of the week we found the Reptile Haus and went and looked at the snakes, turtles, frogs, and lizards. Michael was especially taken with the ceiling fan.

We also snuggled up on the balcony in the down comforters from our bed and read books in the cold.

When Robbie got home in the evenings we would go out for dinner for Bavarian food.  One night we made it to a Mexican restaurant, which wasn't great as far as Mexican food goes but tasted so good since we haven't had it much in the last 8 months.  One of my favorite parts of the day was breakfast in the hotel with the owner Otto who wanted to talk to me all about the United States.  He had a brother who moved to Albuquerque and became a priest.  He had a big part in writing and acting in the 2010 Passion Play and knew a lot about Oberammergau.  He was also very disappointed that I've never been in love with a cowboy.  One morning he introduced us to his childhood friend Julie (who was actually a male physician named Christopher, but apparently when they were young played a female role in a play and the name stuck) who was out mushing with this sled dogs and he took Michael and I outside to see his dogs.

Despite the cold and trying to keep a toddler with a 30 second attention span occupied all day in a small hotel room, we had a nice stay.  Robbie didn't get to see any of the town except for the restaurants because everything was closed by the time he got back from his class.

We were excited to go back the next month for another class where the weather would be warmer and maybe we could check out the swimming pools we missed the first time around.  The evening we got there Oberramergau had the heaviest snow they had gotten all winter long.  It snowed nearly a foot overnight.  We stayed in a different hotel that was a little more central to town:

This hotel had a small fountain right by the door that Michael loved. Even though it was freezing outside, he still had to touch the water every time we went in or out of the hotel.  (These two pictures are from a couple days in after some of the snow melted).

Robbie's schedule was much more conducive to family play time this time around, so we tried to get out and do some stuff. We failed miserably at sledding.  I'm not a sledding expert, but I think it was too powdery so we just sunk.  Michael was pretty unimpressed with the whole thing.

The first couple of days we did more snow-walking, but it was much deeper this time and he got tired of it pretty fast since he kept falling over.

We did more of the same during our days as we did the last time. We found a restaurant with a little play area for kids which was perfect for entertaining Michael while we were waiting for our food. Michael has gotten really good at dipping things and loves ketchup, so he enjoyed eating sausages and french fries.

We also found a really neat little park and once the snow melted we spent lots of time here.  There were all his favorite things--spinning things, swings, bridges to cross, little houses to hide in, and a few things he wasn't too keen on like a little zip line. It was nice to have something outside of the apartment we could do.

This second course Robbie was taking was the one where you get a day off to go sightseeing, so we took off in our car behind the bus of Robbie's classmates and visited this church. It was a really quick, 20 minute stop.  It was painted and so ornate and decorated it was hard to focus on anything and figure out what you were looking at!

After the church (and a quick hello to a horse we saw nearby), we headed over two castles, Hohenschwangau:

And Neuschwanstein:

Neuschwanstein castle is the castle that Sleeping Beauty's castle at Disney World is modeled after.  It was built in the late 1800s by Ludwig II after some political  defeats meant that he was no longer the sovereign ruler. He decided to try to build up his own kingdom and rule from these huge castles and palaces.  He grew up in Hohenschwangau castle which is right next door, but wanted to make this big, beautiful castle to demonstrate his royalness in the medieval style but with all the modern amenities.  This included a giant gold-mosaic throne room, seen here but missing the throne.

And several big halls full of gold and art and jewels and general over-the-top opulence.

We had heard a lot about this castle and were excited to see it, but ended up leaving a little disappointed.  It was beautiful, but maybe we've been spoiled by touring too many actual medieval castles and treasuries in Italy.  To me, this seemed a lot like going to see the Excalibur in Las Vegas or something like that. It was big and impressive, but everything looked new and fake. It's also a huge tourist destination, and we were all herded though the castle in large guided-tour groups that were spaced out every 15 minutes.  Everything was very orchestrated and rushed and you didn't get a whole lot of time to actually look at details or wander around the huge rooms.

I'm glad we went, but it probably won't make my list of top European destinations.

The second trip was more fun for all of us, and it was nice to be able to spend some time together seeing a new place and trying new food. Oberammeregau was a beautiful town, and definitely not somewhere you'd think to go while traveling Germany.  We were glad to be able to have a little break from normal life to relax, explore, and play in the snow! 

Zagreb, Croatia

When I was asking Mom and Ryan what they wanted to do while in Italy, Ryan mentioned he wanted to visit a former Soviet Bloc country and said someone told him Zagreb, Croatia was a beautiful place.  So, we figured, why not?  I asked one of our Croatian friends here for some ideas of what to do. She didn't seem too impressed with Zagreb and said she hoped we didn't come back depressed from our trip there.  It's about a 5 hour drive away, so a few days after Venice we headed east.

We made a quick stop in Postojna, Slovenia for lunch and to do a little sightseeing. I had planned for us to do a tour of a huge cave they have there--it's so large that a big portion of the tour is by train.  But we got there a little late and missed the train to the cave by minutes so that didn't work out.  There was a little river and park there though, so we spent a little time stretching our legs and letting Michael walk around a little bit.

Then we drove a short distance and found a restaurant for lunch.  I don't think we got any pictures of it, but it looked like something out of a James Bond movie from the '70s. It was a nice restaurant, but the tables were separated by long, white fringe curtains.  None of us really knew what Slovenian food was, but we ordered a cheese and fruit plate, and some meat and pasta dishes.  It was good, though I'm still not clear on exactly what Slovenia is known for food-wise. After lunch we walked around a little more before getting on the road again.

Driving into Zagreb I think we were all a little nervous.  There were tons of old Soviet-style housing buildings clearly built to hold people, not look pretty. It all looked pretty bleak, and like our friend said, kind of depressing.



















But then we got into downtown Zagreb and found our hotel near the center of town. The view out or window was this gallery:

We checked into our little apartment and went out to walk around town and find some dinner.  We all really loved the downtown area.  It was so busy and full of neat old buildings and sculptures.  The streets were still decorated for Christmas, and there was a big ice skating rink set up in the middle of a big square.  The public transportation bus/train thing zipped by every few minutes and even though the city itself isn't huge, it had that big-city, hustle and bustle kind of feel to it.

We walked around for awhile and found a little Croatian restaurant for dinner.  I ordered a "hamburger" which was just a giant patty of meat (no bun) and a bean dish.  I think Ryan and Robbie both got some kind of spicy stew.  It was all very good, but so much food. I felt like I kept eating and eating (and sharing with the baby) and still didn't make a dent in it. Our bill was 358 kuna, which we calculated to be roughly $70.  Not too bad for four people leaving completely stuffed!

We walked around a little more and found this replica of the city that we thought was neat.  A little light was shining on it to show where we were.  It was getting late and Michael was tired, so we stopped quick to pick up some breakfast food for the next morning and headed back to the hotel to get some rest.

The next morning we woke up and started exploring Zagreb.  Churches are always high on my list of things to see and we had seen this gorgeous cathedral all lit up at night and I was excited to go inside.

It was very beautiful. It looked much newer than some of the cathedrals and churches we've seen in Italy, but construction on it started in 1083.  It was destroyed in 1242, then built back up in the 15th-17th centuries. It was badly damaged in an earthquake in 1880, and the two big spires were built as part of that restoration.  One of my favorite parts of the inside was this life-size depiction of the crucifixion:

The Zagreb cathedral houses the tomb of St. Stepinac, the archbishop of Zagreb from 1937-1960. Many people were waiting in a line to file past the tomb and see his remains.

Of course, Michael's favorite part of the church (and maybe the whole trip) was all the pigeons in the courtyard he could look at!

We continued walking around, got some hot dogs for lunch, and strolled through the Christmas markets that were still set up all over the downtown area.  We found the "Grounded Sun" which I had read about before our trip.  This is a to-scale model of the sun and all of the planets are located around Zagreb in their actual (to scale) distance from the sun.  We didn't find any planets, but the sun was pretty obvious!

It was about this part of the day where Michael was getting tired, so I took him back to the hotel for a nap while everyone else continued exploring.  They found some other cool churches and some points with really good views of the city.

They met me back at the hotel for a bit to relax and regroup, then we hit the road again for dinner.  We found this performance artist out in the big public square. He looked a lot like a painting! Robbie gave him a few coins and he posed for us:

Walking up the steep street to all the restaurants and bars in downtown Zagreb, we passed a little waffle house.  I have a hard time turning down waffles, so we went inside and each got a waffle.  They were so good!  He had lots of different fruit toppings with a delicious chocolate sauce on top.  Mom and I each picked our own kind of loose leaf chai tea as well. We talked to the owner a little bit (we were the only ones in there) and he was telling us how he had just opened a couple of weeks prior and business had been really slow.  He said lots of people stop and look inside but then don't come in, and that most of the people who had come inside were tourists like us.  He was really sweet, the food and tea were great, the decorations were lovely, and you could tell he and his wife had put so much thought and effort into designing both the menu and the restaurant space.  We left wishing we could go back every day, and I hope things have picked up for them since!

We did a little more walking--they showed me a few of the cool places they found that I had missed for nap time. We walked back to the square and to see the cathedral lit up at night, took a few pictures, then Mom and I took Michael back to the hotel for bed while Robbie and Ryan took a couple of extra hours to experience the Zagreb night life.

The next morning, we got up early to check out an antique market we had read about that is open in a little square about 2 km away from where we were staying.  Besides churches and waffles, European antique markets are another of my weaknesses.  This was a big one, and had lots of interesting stuff.  Unfortunately for me, Michael wasn't really into it so I decided to take him back to the hotel. Robbie picked up some cool old books (in Croatian) for me to add to my new cool-old-books-from-European-antique-markets collection!

With that, we checked out of our hotel, hopped in the car, and made it back home without incident and with another country checked off on our mental "places we've been" tally.  It was a great trip, and I can't wait to go back to Croatia to see more of what there is to see in that beautiful country!

Venezia, part III

I'm falling way behind on blog posts here, and we have a bunch of trips coming up so I'm going to attempt to catch up all at once! And I'm stealing all the pictures from this post from by brother Ryan since he was the only one with a camera.

The day after Christmas we decided to hop on the train and take a day trip up to Venice.  Robbie volunteered to stay home with Michael so we didn't have to wrestle him on the train and try to keep him happy as we walked around the city.  Mom also really wanted to visit the island of Murano, famous for the glass-blowing, and a showroom with hundreds of pieces of glass priced in the thousands of dollars didn't seem like a great place to take a one year old.

We arrived in Venice on a cloudy day without much incident. We bought our tickets for the water bus and decided to see Murano first, since I knew how to get there from the train station and figured St. Marks Square would be easy to find from anywhere.  We waited and waited for the boat and it didn't come so I finally went and checked the schedule and the boat to Murano was suspended because of the high tide.  So we set off on foot to walk through Venice and go straight to the square instead.

It's so fun to walk through Venice. It's like a maze and you end up going a different way and seeing new things every time you pass through. We were joking that it would be difficult to live there though because you would have a really hard time giving anyone directions to your house!

About halfway through our walk we got hungry and stopped at a little restaurant that had a reasonably priced lunch--15 euro for a drink, a pasta dish, a meat dish, and a coffee.  I had a lasagna and baked chicken, Mom and Ryan both got a spaghetti with meat sauce and a steak.  The menu was in Italian and there was one special Venice dish that Ryan was going to try without asking what it was as he was trying to get the full Italian experience.  I asked out of curiosity before we ordered and it turned out to be liver. He decided against it and opted for the steak.

I'd heard of Venice flooding, and apparently it's really common in the winter. The tide comes in and all the sidewalks and everything are under inches of water.  Here's a view of one of the walkways near where we ate lunch:

This was the first time I'd seen the flooding. It was bone-dry in the summer! We finally got to St. Mark's Square and it was also under water. They had kind of mini-scaffolding set up above the water like sidewalks to walk around the square without getting wet.  You could also buy big plastic waders for about 10 euros at some of the shops nearby. I kind of wished I had worn my rain boots.

This was the first chance I'd gotten to actually go inside the basilica. The whole front entry way of the church was under water. The salt water can't be good for the marble floors!  We walked on the wooden planks over the water and into the church. It was stunning.  I've seen the mosaic ceilings in Ravenna and the marble mosaic floors in the duomo in Siena, but this was an amazing combination of the two.  The entire ceiling and about 1/3 of the way down the walls was completely covered in glittering, gold tile mosaic.  It was almost too much to look at.  They had the chairs blocked off, but I would have loved to sit in there for a while and take the time to really see all the designs and stories the mosaics were telling.  While the floors in Siena's duomo were depicting certain stories from the Bible, the floors in the basilica in Venice are small geometric patterns.  They were really interesting. I can't imagine the time and skill it would take to lay the floors and ceiling.  You weren't allowed to take pictures inside, but if you're even in Venice make checking out the basilica a top priority!

Once we left the basilica we were walking around the square and were stopped by a guy with a tourist badge who asked if we were interested in going to Murano to see the glass blowers and the galleries.  We told him we had meant to go, but the boats weren't running.  He handed us each a pass for a free water-taxi ride from St. Mark's Square to Murano where we could visit a gallery and see the glass blowers at work.  He said we could take the public water bus (which we already had tickets for) back to the main Island when we were finished.  Before we knew it we were weaving through the crowds on our way to the boat. I was trying to clarify with the guy that the boats were indeed running now (so we could get back), that we weren't obligated to buy anything, and generally make sure we weren't getting totally ripped off somehow. I read the fine print on our ticket, and it all seemed okay. It all happened so quickly and soon we were in a private water taxi headed out to the open water to drive around the main island to get to Murano.

Sitting alone in that boat we all started thinking maybe it wasn't the best idea to just get in a random speedboat while visiting a foreign country.  The special "promotion" made sense to me though, because it was an Italian holiday, the day after Christmas, in the off-season, and the boats hadn't been running to Murano earlier.  So they were probably trying to get people out to the island any way they could.  Ryan (though he'll comment and say he wasn't really that nervous) was sitting across from me, clenching his jaw, saying how stupid it was that we got on the boat, and half-joking that we were on the way to Tunisia to be sold into slavery or something.

Fifteen minutes later we pulled up at a dock in Murano. We were helped off the boat by a man in a suit who whisked us away into the gallery. We spent a few minutes watching the glass-blower who was clearly only there to entertain the tourists and didn't look too thrilled about it.  They showed us the powder they start with and we watched him heat the glass to be red-hot and pliable.

He went to his bench and took some plier-looking things and pinched a few sections of the glass up.  He did it so quickly I didn't think he was actually making anything, just showing us how he could manipulate the glass.  Then he came back over and sat this down in front of us:

It literally took him seconds. We watched him make another little vase, which he smashed as soon as we were done looking at it.  It was really neat to watch.  Then the museum manager took us up to the gallery to show us the amazing chandeliers, and glass art pieces.  Every time we mentioned we liked something he'd say "oh, that one is 10,000 euros.  But we can wrap it up and ship it for free back to America for you."  Some of the pieces were well over $100,000.  They were incredible, but clearly we weren't quite the right audience for those particular pieces. We went back downstairs to the less-expensive, souvenir pieces and picked out a couple of things.  I think all together we spent about 85 euro.  Definitely not the high-roller Americans he hoped we'd be, but I guess it was still 85 euro they wouldn't have gotten otherwise since we didn't think we could get to the island!

We wanted to walk around Murano a little, but were a little anxious about getting back to the train station. It was getting late by this point and we were going to run out of sunlight soon.  We still weren't sure if the water buses were actually running and were worried the "catch" of the whole excursion was that we'd have to pay an arm and a leg to get a water taxi back to the main island. We walked around a little:

Then I saw one of the water-buses coming around and so we hurried to the dock to make sure we didn't miss our chance.  We took the boat to the main island and were relieved that everything with the little Murano excursion ended up being on the up-and-up.  It was a fun little adventure, and we got to see Murano as we had hoped!  We got off the boat on the main island in a weird place we thought was near the square but wasn't.  Then we got a little lost trying to find our way back to something familiar (the train station, the square, a water-bus stop... anything) and walked in circles for awhile, dead-ending into canals on several occasions.  We finally found our way back to the square and got on the water bus back to the train station.

We passed some cool churches and buildings, and were dropped off right in front of the train station where we started the day just as the sun was setting.  A train was heading to Ferrara just in time, and we all enjoyed sitting for a while on the ride back home.  Another successful trip to Venice, seeing things I'd never seen before!