Week with my Family

Sorry it's been awhile!  Dad and Zion showed up in Dresden on the 20th, and then Mom came two days later (her passport had expired and she needed a new one.)  It worked out well in the end because Monday and Tuesday are my busy days for classes anyways.

I gave Dad and Zion my Dresden maps, and they found their way up to Neustadt on Monday.  My dad found some old Deutschland Marks from the 1920's and a bottle of real absinthe (although he only wanted the bottle because it had a skull on it.)  On Tuesday we met Mom at the airport.  She wasn't even that jet-lagged (not like me on my first day here), so we were able to go to a really nice German-Czech restaurant that night.  Mom got so excited to see our namesake, Klöße, on the menu!   I was also able to introduce the family to Glühwein, a hot spiced mull wine and one of my new favorite drinks of all time!

On Wednesday we took a day trip to Prague.  Luckily it wasn't that cold, but we only had about 6 hours there.  We got traditional Czech food for lunch (which of course meant a huge plate of food with a shot of strong liquor for dessert and digestion).  We went to a few shops, but since we had to exchange money we didn't have that much to spend.  I bought a miniature Beerstein and a Beerstein magnet/bottle opener.  We went to the Absinthe-Slushie shop, but of course they were only selling hot drinks by this time.  I tried some traditional Czech Grog, which was good but not as tasty as Glühwein!  We did a city bus tour, and since it was rather late in the day we were able to see Prague lit up at night too.  Such a beautiful city!  I need to plan a weeklong trip there next time.  It was also nice to see some of our ancestry because Mom made a Family Tree and it turns out that we have quite a few relatives from then-Bohemia.

We also have family from Chemnitz, which is right next to Dresden, but most of the family is from the Bavaria area, so of course we had to make a trip to Munich.  Thursday was only shopping in Neustadt and then going to the Striezelmarkt (Christmas Market) that had just opened in Altstadt that day.  Oli arrived on the train, so he joined us at the Market.  We drank so much Glühwein and spiked eggnog, but I was just trying to stay warm!  Mom was able to find a lot of traditional Christmas souvenirs to bring back to Wisconsin, so everyone had a good time.

View from the Hotel in München/Munich

On Friday we rented a car and drove to München (Munich), which ended up being a lot cheaper than buying roundtrip train tickets for 5 people.  Zion drove the whole time because the one thing he wanted to do in Germany was drive on the Autobahn.  I don't think it was as exciting as he'd hoped though, especially with a minivan instead of a sports car.  We stayed in a really nice hotel that night with a jacuzzi and sauna, and Zion, Oli, and I went to a nearby club that played Minimal Electro House.  Zion said that he wanted to experience a "true European club," and this was definitely a good example of one.  The bass was so loud that the Coat Check actually sold earplugs for a euro.  I'm guessing that Jägermeister comes from Bavaria, because pretty much every drink sold at the bar was mixed with it.  Oli and I stayed until about 2 am, but Zion said he kept dancing until 5 or so.  He was doing a lot more fist pumping than everyone else there, so I gotta commend him on his energy!  Oli let him wear his scarf so he would look more European, even with his Carhardt (sp?) pants.  Zion said that he thought the scarf helped him with the ladies, even though they were all German and wouldn't let any guys touch them or dance with them.

Augustiner Cellar/Biergarten

On Saturday we went to the Augustiner Biergarten/Restaurant.  My mom's grandpa was named Augustine and had moved from Bavaria to Wisconsin to be a tavernkeeper.  We figured that he'd probably gone to this famous Biergarten a few times, so we counted it as family history. :-)  Then we walked downtown and saw some of the famous churches, like the one with the huge Glockenspiel in front.  Munich had also just opened their Christmas Market, Christkindlmarkt, but everything was pretty much the same as we'd seen in Dresden.  We bought some traditional German cakes and roasted nuts, but we couldn't find any Schwarzwälderkirschetorte (Black Forest Cherry Cake!)  It was Dad's birthday, so we enjoyed five different kinds of cake that night.  The drive back was nice because we still had some light for part of it and were able to see the snow-covered mountains.

Famous Church with Glockenspiel in front

Everyone had the same early flight the next morning, so they stayed in a hotel by the airport and we said goodbye on Saturday night.  Mom got all her cheese and Stollen through customs, and Dad was even able to get his absinthe through too!  They all got home safe and sound, although Zion hit an elk and totaled his truck on his drive from the airport back home.  So besides a few setbacks, it was a fun week and a good place for a family vacation (although next time I would prefer to travel in summer!)