He makes good castles...

Bavaria is the queen capital of castles, so we could not go to Germany without taking our princess to two palaces. The Hohenschwangau Castle and the Neuschwanstein Castle, (which was the inspiration for the Walt Disney Sleeping Beauty Castle and is according to my daughter, where all the princess live).

Neuschwanstein Castle is a 19th-century Gothic Revival Palace on a rugged hill above the village of Hohenschwangau near Fùssen in southwest Bavaria, Germany. The palace was intended as a personal refuge for the reclusive king, Ludwig 11 of Bavaria, and it was opened to the paying public immediately after his death in 1886. Since then, over 60 million people have visited Neuschwanstein Castle. More than 1.3 million people visit annually, with up to 6,000 per day in the summer. The postcards must sell like hot chocolate to an Eskimo!

Hohenschwangau Castle or Schloss Hohenschwangau, is a 19th century palace that was the childhood residence of King Ludwig 11 of Bavaria and was built by his father. This is a stones throw from the Neuschwanstein Castle, (if you have a good throwing arm), I guess he did not want to move too far away from his mummy.

Most historians believe that Ludwig was deeply peculiar and irresponsible, and the question of clinical insanity remains unresolved. His life is an interesting story and his death is treated as suspicious, drowning in shallow waters, suicide or murder? Sounds like a classic case of CSI television show. Others believe he may have suffered from the effects of chloroform used in an effort to control chronic toothache rather than any psychological disorder. I just think he makes good castles. Anyway, he looks sane, don't you think?

The castle was breathtaking to see, even from a distance. A horse and carriage ride to the castle had a queue with over an hour wait, (2 small children, no thank you). The walk to the top was over 40 minutes up a steep hill, with steps included, (2 small children, no thank you). Instead we viewed the 2 castles from a distance.

After a lovely lunch, (with the castle in the background), and a quick play in the snow, we headed for the car and I felt a pang of guilt as my daughter says, "I want to see the castle mummy!" This is followed quickly by, "I can't walk, carry me" as we head up the 10 metre incline to the car, (guilt disappears). We hop into the car and enjoy the gorgeous white scenery from Germany, to Austria, to Liechtenstein, maybe even Switzerland, (we think... we were very confused when we changed countries as there were no apparent borders, just a change in coloured lines on the roads?)

Munich likes me!

Welcome to the land of meat and potato's; where beer replaces water, (I would not be surprised if it was used for bathing), and pretzels are the size of my face, (and I have a big head)! I anticipated that my aquatarian husband would starve for this visit to Germany. But he handled things well as each of the typical Bavarian restaurants that we visited offered a fish dish, (amongst 50 meat dishes).

Munich used to have the motto "Weltstadt mit Herz"; which translates to "Cosmopolitan City with a heart". I like the idea of different parts of the world coming together, especially when this involves food and culture, this would be the perfect place for me. But; there is always a but. This is no longer Munich's motto. They changed it again in 2006. Now it is, "Mùnchen mag dich", which translates to "Munich likes you"! To me this screams 'please be my friend', so to be totally honest, I was not expecting to like Munich.

It rained heavily all day, but this did not dampen our spirits, (just our clothes). Munich was filled with Christmas cheer, beautiful buildings, fantastic shopping, great food and friendly people. It was now reciprocal. I liked Munich back.

Once again we experienced another European kidnapping. (This is where somebody at a restaurant or shop approaches you, smiles, picks up your son, then walks away.) Hubby and I are slowly becoming accustomed to this as it has happened several times in Italy, although I still find it bizarre that strangers presume that this is acceptable behaviour, your average mother would of pulled out the mace spray by now. In this particular instance, my sons flirting got him carried away into the restaurants kitchen by a chesty blond bombshell; (food and breasts, my sons two favourite things), so he was happy. He managed to leave the restaurant with a new toy truck, biscuits and kisses and cuddles, (we checked his nappy for a scribbled mobile phone number when we got home, but he was unsuccessful in his follow through!)

On our way back to the hotel after dinner, Princess says "We are almost home." Soul mate and I smile at each other and realise how lucky we are that our daughter has been so adaptable in our travels, (short term and semi-permanent). "Home is where the hotel is?" Or sweetly she feels that "Home is where the family is"? But most likely she thinks, "Home is where the portable DVD player and buffet breakfast is"?

Similar to Austria, we found Germany effortless to travel, and if we tried to speak the language, the people were not fooled, and would mostly speak to us in English to get us by.

We enjoyed the sights,

We enjoyed the atmosphere,
We enjoyed the people,

We enjoyed jumping in the snow!

(Oh and the beer was realllllly good!)

Santa speaks German?

Our next family adventure was a short holiday, experiencing four countries; Austria, Germany, Liechtenstein and Switzerland.

The reputation of Innsbruck as the 'Florence of the North' is certainly deserved, and it comes not only from the beauty of its Old Town, but also from the wonderful mountain landscape surrounding it. Every year around Christmas time the streets of Innsbruck are transformed into a magical wonderland of markets, crowds, food, drink, snow and sparkling lights. Set amidst the Austrian Alps, snow covered mountains peeped out from spires of churches and slated roofs, no matter which way you turned.

There were 15 over life size puppets hidden in the streets of the pedestrian old town; an entire building is treated as an advent calendar where a new window is left open each day for the countdown, (brrr chilly); and Santa wanders the streets giving small gifts and chocolate to the children. Princess waited very patiently for her chocolate as Santa stood in front of her and threw down a shot of schnapps. "To keep him warm and his nose red" we told her. I think she was more concerned to find out that Santa did not speak English or Italian, but German. She very quickly learnt to say 'Danke' for the remainder of the trip, after all, Santa is always watching.


Innsbruck really was breathtaking, with mountains in its entire surrounds, I am not sure if I was mesmerised by its beauty because of the destination, the snow, or the festive cheer and decorations; like a teenager with a computer game, I am always hypnotised by flashing lights.

We did a scenic bus tour which took 40 minutes to navigate the entire town; a few medieval facts were given but mostly sports related boasting about the two Winter Olympics that have been held here, 1964 and 1976, (Innsbruck's self proclaimed, claim to fame).

We took a cable ride up to Hafelekarspitze, to see views of Zillertal Alps the Stubai Alps and the òztal Alps and north to the Alpine Park Karwendal. 2 269m up, the climb seemed never ending and all I could think is 'what are those crazy people under me walking up this big hill in skis for?' The view was spectacular, as was the amount of fresh snow fall, icicles dangling from the building, and snow flakes whipping my face in the gusty winds.

Time for the kids so we boarded a train, and went downhill to visit Alpine Zoo, the highest zoo in Europe. It had a back drop that you would not believe. I never thought that my husband and I would be casually walking in snow with two children trying to spot animals. Trying being the operative word. Don't most animals hibernate in Winter? 'Lions, and tigers, and bears, oh my!' (Sorry Dorothy, nothing to see here!) The lack of visible animals did not seem to diminish my daughters enthusiasm as she ran from creature to creature yelling, "Let's find more aminals!"

Austria was beautiful, the food and drinks were reasonably priced, although we found the shopping in Innsbruck was quite expensive. The Austrians were friendly and communication did not seem to be a problem, we tried German, but mostly got by with English or Italian.

Jingle Bells on a Farmers Day...

It snowed a few days ago, (and that is when I told my daughter Santa would come), therefor Christmas came early this year. Using this as our excuse, my husband and I purchased our Christmas present for each other on the weekend. A new camera; it came from England; the buttons on the camera are in English; but the manuals provided are written in Italian, French, Dutch and German. All languages which I am not familiar. My loved one obviously had high hopes of me recalling my grade 10 education of German; "But we are going to Munich in a week, I was relying on you!" Smile faded very quickly when I told him I may of embellished the truth a little; but I can count to 10 and sing a verse of a song in German, that is also substituted with various, "na na na na Deautch" type sounds, (always thought if I did a little jig; dancing with imaginary stein in my hand then I could get away with anything. Apparently this will not help us to check into a hotel or ask for directions, although it will make for an interesting sight.) So now we have a new toy, one that I have been secretly wanting for such a long time. Unfortunately the cameras functions are as bewildering to me as a vegetarian with a love of osso bucco. I want to learn how to use it but the manual pictures are not enough to get me by; so I will once again turn to the Internet for support and some English assistance.

Succumbed to the spirit of all things festive, prince and princess have decorated the Christmas tree all by themselves. And everyday since its arrival, the tree has been undecorated and decorated again and again by busy little hands. Daughter is truly in the spirit of the season and enjoys sharing her rendition of Jingle Bells with us; "Oh what fun it is to ride.....on a farmers day/dancing all the way/ on fathers day/ down at Warners Bay". Her version is much more exciting than ours!

'They' said it would snow...

It was a recent trip to the local park that made me think about how I was experiencing such different weather to those back home in Australia. I was touching the slide to make sure that it was not too cold for the children instead of worrying it would burn their bottom. When I Skype my family on the Internet, I often say, "It's cold, go and put a jumper on", or "Why do you have a glass of wine in your hand at 8 o'clock in the morning?" I am still obviously getting used to the differences in time and season from the other side of the world.



I was very excited this morning to wake up, look out the window and see snow! I know that is what 'they' said to expect, but 'they' say a lot of things; and how often does the weather man get it right, (especially when it comes to an outdoor party, picnic planned in the park, or washing your car). So here I am running from window to window like an excited puppy in the back seat of the car. Prince just points out the window, speaks a bit of gibberish and continues playing. Princess says "The snow is sweet, is Santa going to come and leave 3 presents under the tree?" (My fault here as I may of mentioned that the fat man in red will drop by when it snows, now I have a month of explaining his GPS is out of batteries and he may be a little lost?) Hubby commented "Yeh I saw it" when I attacked him to come and see. (Think he is preoccupied with thoughts about his walk to and from train station with icicle mucus under his nose.)












People who have never been to Italy in winter, harbour the belief that Italy is the place where the sun shines all the time. I know I did. Well, we were obviously wrong. I may have my white Christmas!!!

So thinking about snow angels and snow men I am reveling in this excitement before it turns into slush and mud and I am complaining that "I need to get out of the house, I wish this snow would go away!"





What I did not know about snow:

• Every snowflake has its own unique shape and is different than all other snowflakes. (Unique just like a zebras stripes or a tomato bruschetta in restaurants.)


• All snowflakes have six sides.


• Snowflakes aren’t always white.


• Wind blown snow and black dirt is called snirt, (could of guessed).


• The average snowflake falls at a speed of 5km per hour.


• Snowflakes are made up of ice crystals, (not real crystals).


• It is supposed to be a nice experience to catch them on your tongue.


• They hurt when rolled into a big ball and thrown at a body part.

By afternoon, all trace of snow has disappeared and now my toddler wants to see it!! We spend the afternoon cutting out our own snowflakes; we avoid blood shed with the scissors; and hang one with the stars and fairies in her room, ("fairies will now need a jacket so they don't get cold").

Finally I share the joy!

'They' say it is supposed to snow all day Sunday..."Let it snow, let it snow, let it snow!"

"Dance monkey dance"

"G! How to Play 2010" is a Fair - an event in Milan dedicated to the world of children, of adolescents and families whose second edition, held in November of 2009, was attended by over 40,000 visitors in three days of exhibition."

Who could resist a packed convention centre filled with sugar high excited children all carrying an average of 3 balloons each...

The event was well organised; all of the children were 'tagged' on entry so not to get lost, and there was ample entertainment. The toys were offered for play with parents and children and there was plenty of opportunity for art, craft, and hands on learning experiences (involving cooking, milking cows and riding scooters and cars around a road with signs and obstacles).

Princesses favourite activity was Barbie, (bizarrely this was also a babysitting service; just sign your child in and off you go; free)! Javier and I stood behind the roped off area with the majority of other over protective parents, watching on like a day at the zoo. "Dance monkey dance!" Daughter was a little overwhelmed by the amount of children, (or perhaps the amount of pink and parents staring)? It took a while before she stopped looking for us and eventually picked up a barbie. But when it was time to leave, she conveniently refused to hear our calls and kept busy reorganising the pens at the drawing table and ensuring she had touched every pink glittery toy on offer.

Prince enjoyed deconstructing others constructions in the lego area, and he tried his hardest to steal balloons from those oblivious, (after we disposed of his because he kept whacking strangers).

As the volume of children, squeals and tears increased, we decided it might be best to call it a day. We should have known that the children had reached their stimulation limit when princess started screaming because she got a love heart balloon instead of a sword. A great day. It is always nice to find something that is centered around the children, that is close to home, and that is free!