As the year winds down, Noah and I finally took time off with NO travelling! After a whirlwind year of sightseeing, it’s been really wonderful having almost two weeks off work with no real plans. So how did we pass the time between Christmas and now? A good 4 solid days went into this:
Yep, that is a 5,000 piece puzzle (technically 5,040… we did the math). Sadie now uses this as a nice spot to relax.
Besides puzzling with either Home Alone or Kevin Allein zu Haus (the German version that plays on TV) on the television, we also made it to Tollwood with Ellen and Rüdiger to see a Finnish-inspired Czech circus, Slapstick Sonata. It was definitely interesting, as you can probably imagine. After the show, we dragged them out in the rain over to the Bavaria statue to try to get some photos of the Tollwood festival, but instead we only ended up with a good one of Bavaria.
On Christmas day, after spending the morning trying to recreate our Danish Ebelskivers without American buttermilk, we went over to Ellen and Rüdiger’s for a lovely Christmas dinner. She made a venison stew, which was a real treat neither of us had tasted before. It really is great having family in town for the holidays – especially when the town is thousands of miles from where you grew up.
Friday we were met with some unexpected visitors – a friend of ours we met in Arizona but who is also from Texas and went to UT. Jennifer and her family are touring Europe, and decided to make a quick visit (really quick – I’m talking 5 hours total) to Munich. And since we had no plans for the week, we were gladly available to be their tour guides for the afternoon.
Yesterday the pups got a late Christmas present when Ellen and Rüdiger drove us out to Bernried at Starnberger See. First we stopped at Wilhelmina Busch’s Castle Höhenried. She was the co-heiress of the American Anheuser-Busch beer company. She clearly lived well, and her estate is absolutely gorgeous. Now it is home to a heart clinic, but her beautiful house remains separate - probably used for events.
Next stop – Bernrieder Park! This was also owned by Wilhelmina Busch’s, and left to the public after her death. All I can say to that is danke!
And with that we will ring in the New Year tonight with the family – nothing too big, but then again that is how we wanted it for our vacation at home. Happy New Year Y'all!
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