My Family Comes to Europe // Berlin, Munich, Salzburg & Prague

Hey friends!

If you know my family, then you know why this is a big, BIG deal. If you don't know my family...this is a big, BIG deal!

My mom has maybe been on an airplane twice? Since I've been alive anyway! We were never a 'vacation' family growing up. We went to Northern Michigan and spent many weekends on the lake, but we didn't travel. If we left the state it was with my Grandma and we only went to New York. If we left the country... mmm well we didn't!

I feel incredibly grateful that we were able to invite my family to come for 2 weeks. Let's dive in shall we!?

My Mom Robin, Brother Julian, Sister Danielle, Brother-in-law Justin and Aunt Tina all made there way to Germany a few days after Christmas.

My goal was to fill them all up with many stories to tell.

After multiple delays and 40 hours of traveling, they FINALLY made it! (Pretty sure my mom will never fly again, but that is a story for another time!) And what do you do when you get to Germany? Well you have a schnitzel and a beer of course!

I even made them ride the bus! This trip was sure to be filled with a lot of firsts. :)

We took a day trip to Berlin on their second day here, and we pretty much suck because we I took no pictures! I blame it on the exhaustion that everyone felt! And the jet lag. (Even though I was quite well rested, whoops.) My sister and aunt both took a lot of pictures in Berlin, so that is all that matters. :) I have blogged Berlin a few times before. :)

We explored Berlin, being sure to see some of the famous sights and we were fortunate enough to be able to check out the Christmas market there.

Brandenburg Gate at night! Such a beauty.

We celebrated the New Year in Braunschweig, and I am pretty sure it was an experience NO one will forget! It was incredible! So. Many. Fireworks.

I made a large turkey breast for dinner, like a traditional holiday meal and we played family games. May not be the most wild New Years you ever heard about, but we enjoyed ourselves. About 30 minutes before midnight we walked to the center of town to see the firework display. The display is done independently by anyone who purchased fireworks within the few days approaching the New Year. Fireworks are only sold for three days before the New Year. And I am pretty sure every last one of them gets bought!

We explored Braunschweig and I showed them some of my favorite parts of town. :)

After a few days at my house, we loaded up two cars and set off for a European road trip! Complete with manual transmissions and snow. :) Due to our large group, we had to take two cars because Europe loves their small cars. Blake drove one car, and MY mom had to drive the second car. Pretty sure she felt like she was back in the 80's. :) She did great and we made it there in one piece!

First Stop: Munich!

We arrived at dinner time because of the snow and traffic. We rented a truly lovely AirBnB a few train stops away from downtown. It was perfect!

For dinner we went to Blake's favorite place in Munich. Augustiner Brau. We ate more delicious German food and of course indulged in a few more German beers!

Marienplatz in a winter wonderland.

We started at Marienplatz for day 2 in Munich. My sweet family.

We explored all around in Munich! It was the day we put the most miles in. The family still had gas in them, so we used it!

We stepped up our game of taking photos of US throughout the rest of the trip, I promise. :)

Second Stop: Salzburg

We also rented an AirBnB here and it was darling as well, plus the location was superb!

The direct translation of Salzburg is "Salt Castle", there are many salt mines in the area that you can visit. Or you can do it like we did and visit the salt store! It was awesome. We got cooking salts, bath salts, salt soap, basically all kinds of salt goodies!

Mozart's Birth House

Sweet cold family!

*Fun Fact* - Behind us is Pferdeschwemme or Horse Wash/Well. This is where the Royals had their horses washed. It is said to have inspired car washes as we know them today. 

Salzburg is magical!

We even got so lucky as to experience their Christmas market as well. I say lucky because we were there well after Christmas, and in Germany most of the markets close before the New Year.

After a long day of exploring, we went to a German restaurant for dinner. I convinced Danielle and Blake that we should each get a liter of beer. As one does :).

Our 2nd day in Salzburg was a little snowy. After this picture we took a funicular to the top of Fortress Hohensalzburg. This was amazing! I highly recommend this.

Views from the top!

Salzburg Cathedral

We made our way to Mirabell Palace where The Sound of Music was filmed, but if you have ever seen that movie you know that the true beauty is because it's summer! While it was still beautiful, it was completely covered in snow and not as magical as I know a summer visit would be. So here's a tip for you - if you are going to Salzburg mainly for The Sound of Music, go in the summer :).

We aren't even a little bit cold. ;)

Third Stop: Prague

This post is getting all sorts of long, so since I have blogged about Prague before I will keep this section merely fun and short. :)

The Family in front of the Prague Castle.

I am adding this in for fun, because I feel like it is real good info. :)

I had to show them the Prague Beer Museum.

Mom and Aunt Tina with Prague behind them. :)

Lastly, the family on the Charles Bridge.

I hope you enjoyed reading about our family trip! If you are contemplating your own family trip to Europe, might I encourage you to go! I have great tips on planning, saving and traveling with a group! :)

Prague: Days 2 & 3...More Photos

I told you it would be worth coming back for more photos! :)

It was very gloomy! But it made for divine photos.

Every street was just lovely.

The Prague Castle.

After you cross the river on the Charles Bridge, there is a little town beneath it. 

Riley at the beer museum. :) 

A huge candy store! We got yelled at for taking this photo.

Potato chips on a stick. MMM delish. 

Like I said, every street was soo beautiful!

This was in the museum at Golden Lane on the grounds of the Prague Castle. 

Golden Lane. 

Each little house used to be individual dwellings for craftsmen, defenders of the castle, and other individuals that helped contribute in some way (one of the houses belonged to a Herbalist!). People lived in these houses until World War II. 

Above the houses now is the museum of armor. Below, some of the houses remain as they were and illustrate the story of who lived there. Others have been transformed into little shops. 

The front of one that has been transformed into a shop. 

Castle Views!

That wraps up our Prague trip! It was a beautiful city and my first BIG European city so it will always hold a special place in my heart! 

To fill you all in on what else has been going on. Not much. We get the keys to our new place tomorrow (FINALLY).. but our washer isn't installed yet! SO we are taking an adventure to the laundry mat this evening... because I am against dry cleaning under garments #sorryNOTsorry. I went and took a language placement test this morning, they told me my German stinks.... (tell me something I don't know)! We found ice cube trays - I was about to ask someone to mail me some. I guess Germans aren't crazy about ice? But I am... and I love a good iced coffee/water, so that was an exciting find. We eat too much haribo... like really too much, we are always buying gummies. 

That's all for today folks'!

Prague: Days 2 & 3

If you missed day 1 you can read all about it here.

We didn't set an alarm, and it was glorious! We ate breakfast at the hotel and set out around 10 am!

*Side Note* I forgot to download the photos from Blake's phone... so tomorrow I will share additional photos that will go along with this post... Cause if we're being honest my photo skills are bad... So come back tomorrow for more!!!

We walked to the Charles Bridge again, and actually went across. There were tons of vendors and performers. 

Just a guy playing some water music.

John Lennon art from the John Lennon Wall. There used to be a wall that looked like the above. It was a tribute to Lennon and a way for people to express themselves. Sadly, the wall was painted over a few years ago. Here is some good info on the wall.

Little fishies biting random people's feet! I told Blake we should do it. He was not interested. (I wasn't really interested either.)

There are two ways to get up to the Castle. 1. Go up a really steep hill. 2. Go up a lot of stairs.

I was pretty sure at one point I was going to pass out right there on those stairs.

View from the top.. It was worth all the pain!

Entrance to the Castle grounds! #somanypeople

Up close.

The pictures do NOT do it justice!

Monday morning we went back to the Castle and bought tickets to actually go inside the Cathedral and a few other buildings on the grounds. That was all we did on Monday before driving home!

Everything was so beautiful! Just breathtaking.

After touring the Castle grounds on Sunday, we went to the Prague Beer Museum. 

 

The people in Czech LOVE beer. So, needless to say, we fit right in! 

Flights of beer! MMM delicious. 

After this we set out for a little snack. We got potato chips on a stick (photo to come tomorrow) and a traditional Czech dessert.

 

Yum. That is all I have to say. YUM!!! If you ever find yourself in Prague. Eat this. Three times. Because it is THAT good. You can fill it with ice cream, chocolate, whip cream, fruit. Or just eat it plain like I did!

We went to a few random bars to enjoy cocktails and people watch. We roamed the streets for 10 hours! Just walking and taking it all in. We experienced rain, hail, and sunshine. It was glorious. For dinner we went to a little corner cafe. I got some crepes, Blake got some chicken. Then we walked around a bit more. It was lovely!

Blake and I want to get a little something from each place we visit. After a lot of back and forth, we settled on Christmas ornaments (thanks to my sister for the idea!) - practical, inexpensive, memorable - they aren't souvenirs you will end up throwing away, they aren't cheap clothing that will end up falling apart, and they are more enjoyable than shot glasses (in my opinion). Plus, how neat will it be to pull out all of our ornaments from all the place we have been each year and enjoy them for a month!

Prague was our first ornament.

Come back tomorrow to see MORE of Day 2 and 3!