Auf Wiedersehen

I like to keep a list of all the things we have done in the "area" where ever we move.  One, I can look back and see all the things we have accomplished.  Two, others can browse through and get ideas. And three, I like lists.  I already have a few things to check off in San Antonio!

Black Forest, Triberg waterfall, bought cookoo clock

Prague (bone church)

Berlin

Tropical Paradise

Eagles Nest (want to hike someday)

Salzburg 

Berchtesgaden

Lake Konigssee

Phantom of the Opera Musical in London

Dachau 

Auschwitz-Birkenau

Brussels, Brugge, Ghent

Hiked Zugspitz

Bastei Bridge

Devils Bridge

Polish pottery shopping in Boleslaweic x3

Rhein falls, Lucerne, and Lauterbrunnen

Kuekenhof tulip festival (maybe later in the season)

Hofbrauhaus & Munich

Nuremberg rally grounds and castle

Neuschwanstein, Linderhof, Nymphenburg, Herrenchiemsee castles

Ettal monostary, cheese making 

Ring tour and Rudesheim

Ludwigsburg Pumpkin Festival x2

Straubing Fest x3

Highline 179 and ruins

Innsbruck

Belgian waffles and chocolate

Lake Bled & Vintgar gorge, Slovenia

Ski in Austria x 1

Guteneck Christmas market x2

Dresden Christmas market

Hike Jenner Mountain

Kranjska Gora, Slovenia and snowshoe to waterfall (drive up the road made by WWI POW)

Nurnberg Christmas market x2

Hike Appenzell, Switzerland 

Thurn taxis Christmas market

Buy Holland shoes and see the windmills

Kuhstallcafe Christmas market

Sicily- Catania, Taormina 

Partenkirchen gorge

Kuchlbauer Tower tour and Christmas market

Stonehenge

Parsberg Christmas market

Lupberg Christmas market

Playmobil 

Cologne fasching

Neumarkt Christmas market

Bath, UK

Dietfurt Chinese fasching x2

Liverpool, UK

Munich 10K, glockenspiel, English park surfing

Nurnberg color run 5k

Berglegenfeld Christmas market

Pottenstein, Germany

Waldwipfeldweg

Rothenburg- Christmas market and night watchmen tour

Vienna and Bratislava

Half marathon in Vienna, Austria

Kristall Palm Beach

Rome, Pompeii, Herculeneum, Capri 

Wunseidel Rock Labyrinth 

Parkstein inactive volcano

Lake Garda and Verona

Ronda, Nerja, & Malaga Spain

Hiked Caminito del Rey

Würtzburg 1/2 marathon

Snow White Castle in Lohr 

Gibraltar (tour of the caves)

DB museum, Nurnberg

Heidelberg, Märchen Paradies

Luxembourg City, casemates, American cemetery and memorial

Ljubljana dragon bridge and castle

Postojna castle & cave

Croatia: Plitvice National Park, Split, Dubrovnik, Krka National Park, Zadar sea organ

1/2 marathon Füssen

Ice cave hike in Berchtesgaden

Hallstatt, Austria and bone house

Mittenwald and Krün Almabtrieb

Oktoberfest 

Half marathon France

Mediterranean East Cruise- Venice, Corfu, Mykonos, Santorini, Athens

Athens authentic marathon 2016

Anne Frank house, Corrie ten Boon house 

Budapest, Hungary: parliament, Buda castle, St. Stephen's basilica, market square, Christmas markets, old synagogue, heroes square

Vienna Christmas market, Straubing Christmas market, Stuttgart Christmas market, Strasbourg Christmas market 

Skiing Söll, Austria x 3

Fuerteventura, Canary Island, Spain

Therme Erding 

Velburg fasching parade

Disneyland Paris, Eiffel Tower Carousel

Cesky Krumlov girls weekend

Barcelona and hiked up Montserrat

Scotland: Stirling, the Kelpies, Edinburgh, the Trossachs, Isle of Arran, Hadrian's wall

Ireland: Killarney NP, gap of Dunloe, ring of Kerry, Dingle, Cliffs of Moher, Dublin, Burran NP, Book of Kells

1/2 Marathon Karlovy Vary

Beer bath

We have high hopes of returning back to Europe, whether on vacation or another tour with the military.  I still want to visit northern France, do a Band of Brothers tour, and go to Paris as a family.  Of course, there are plenty of other things I'd love to do, but that was high on our list.  We just didn't have time.  Unti   

Barcelona!

We all were excited to visit Barcelona! Mostly for the weather- sunny and 70s!

 Our first stop was Park Guell.  

 Next: the beach, but we had to pass through the bubbles to get there.

We came upon a fair while we were strolling back from the beach.

 Third: Montserrat

Kate hiked this particular trail mostly by herself.  She is best when climbing is involved.  Jane, well, she slept the whole time.  Haha!

 Lastly, we visited my brother and his beautiful wife at Sagrada Familia.

 Best family picture we could get! Check out Kate's cute bum!

 Kate at Plaza Catalunya.

 Eating all the food at the street market on La Rambla.

 Best street performers we've ever seen on La Rambla.

And we had to go to the aquarium, since we have been reading books about it- kid friendly too! Plus, we needed a little time away from the sun!

January 2017

We started to year off right- Jane got hand, foot, and mouth disease. Yay!

We finally got some snow! Kate and her friends went sledding in our backyard.  Jane wasn't too sure about this stuff.

After some time, we convinced Jane that winter is awesome!

We went with some friends to Soll, Austria and skied our hearts out.

Kate took some ski lessons too.

My happy.

At the end of the month, we spent a whole week on one of the Canary Islands- Fuerteventura- with our cousins.  

 We biked along the rocky coast. 

 We went nude at some of the beaches.

 We jumped off sand dunes.

   

We rode a 4-person bike with the girls.

 We enjoyed much needed sun and sand.

And we rode on camels!

Spain

Getting to Spain was a little painful, but we sure enjoyed our time there.  We took a late night flight and didn't get to our hotel until about 2am.  The next morning, we had a good breakfast, rented a car, and took off to Ronda. 

 Kate on a Spanish horse in front of the bullring in Ronda.

 The bullring. 

 We had the opportunity to watch the horses perform their Spanish riding lessons.

 New Bridge.  Brings old town and new town together.  Stunning. 

Gibraltar was a delight.  We took a private tour up the Rock of Gibraltar to see the caves, view points, castle, and of course the MONKEYS! (also known as Barbary macaques). 

They were everywhere!

 Seriously cool and scary at the same time! 

We met the cutest grandparents on one of the beaches of Gibraltar.  They loved on Jane and built sand castles with Kate and shared the shade of an umbrella with Bryan and I.  So nice to meet good people!

Bryan and I had to do separate trips to Caminito del Rey because they had an age restriction of 8 years or older.  Bryan's group left at 11am and my group left at 5pm.  This was our main reason for traveling to Spain.  Totally worth it. 

 The bottom is the old pathway.  The top is the new pathway that was completed last year.  Quite the adventure!

Some of the old pathway has fallen below and the rebar is sticking out.  Would have been a seriously been scary if the new path wasn't built.   

 Our last day, we spent on the clear beaches of Nerja. 

We can't wait to go back to Spain!