I'm so behind on chronicling our vacations! Last Thanksgiving, we took a family trip to Europe. We flew into Frankfurt, but had multiple other destinations on the agenda. First up we needed to get to Switzerland, so we took a quick detour into France so that our kids could say they've been there. We stopped in Mulhouse at the National Automobile Museum and it was really, really cool. If you're going to be in the area, I definitely recommend a visit. From there, we continued our drive to Zurich, where we stayed at Hotel Sedartis. If you've ever been to Europe, you know the struggle is real to find hotel rooms that comfortably fit 4 people. We found a family room at this hotel that offered two connecting rooms, so that was perfect.
Our first big adventure was to visit Mt. Titlis in Engelberg, Switzerland. The weather was perfect and the views were insane! We all braved the "Cliff Walk", which is the highest suspension bridge in Europe, and checked out the Glacier Cave.
The next day we went into Zurich and visited the FIFA Museum. Even for casual soccer fans, this was a fun museum, especially if there are kids in your party. There were interactive challenges for them, while Meezy and I checked out the history of FIFA and lots of memorabilia and jerseys from over the years.
We also shopped at the Lindt Factory store, climbed up the shipping containers at the
Freitag store to get a good view, and checked out a menacing-looking playground.
The next day we left Switzerland to head to Germany, with a couple detours along the way. First up, we drove to Vaduz, Liechtenstein and mailed off some postcards and got our passports stamped at the Tourism Center. From there, we stopped in Dornbirn, Austria to add another country to our tally. Lastly, we drove by Neuschwanstein Castle to see it from a distance before eventually ending up in Munich.
Our hotel in Munich was
Hotel Gio, another place where I could actually find a suite that could accommodate a family of 4. My only complaint was the parking garage. I know that parking spaces are slim in Europe, but this was a new level of torture. Not only is the parking garage underground with little room to maneuver, but you were expected to park your car on an inclined ramp, which meant scraping the ground was inevitable for any car that wasn't an SUV, and everyone needed to get out of one side of the car. Also, to leave, you were supposed to pull down a chain to open the gate (which no one told us), and essentially floor it up a steep ramp, but then quickly stop in case anyone was walking or driving by. It wasn't for the faint of heart.
The next day we drove to Garmisch-Partenkirchen to check out the Olympic stadium. The town of Garmisch is so charming, and worth a visit. We met up with my sister's family, who were also on holiday in Europe.
That night, we went back to Munich and visited the
Tollwood Winterfestival, which is an eclectic Christmas Market. It had lots of cool shops, food, and performances.
We booked a late night dinner at a restaurant that offered "igloo dining." I figured we had to give it a try! It was a cute holiday experience.
The next day we spent time running around in Englischer Garten and then checked out a Christmas Market in Munich by the famous Glockenspiel. Lots of hot chocolate was consumed!
That day we finally got to meet up with our favorite Germans (my former exchange student turned honorary family member and her husband and baby). My sister and I had already met their baby girl earlier in the year, but no one else in our family had. So, we loved the chance to get everyone together! We visited a Christmas market, ate some yummy treats, and spent time laughing and catching up.
Our final day of the trip was spent driving from Munich to Frankfurt so we could catch our flight home. We took the opportunity to stop at another Christmas market in Nuremberg on the way. I think the kids were over it, and it was pretty chilly, but I'm glad we got to be in Europe during this special time of year.
