Munich and Innsbruck

Ack.  I am so so so so behind.  I'm not sure what has happened to the last 2 months OR to my faithful blogging, except that maybe it's now summer and I have senioritis. Or it could be that we have had a steady stream of visitors and some travels and birthdays and oh yeah we have been trying to figure out our life. More on all of those things later, but before I get even more behind, I present to you . . . Munich.

We knew we had to take a trip to our old stomping grounds at some point during our stay in Germany, and we also knew that it should be during beer garden season.  As you can see from this picture, Munich provided us with the perfect weather to enjoy a scene not easily found in the rest of Germany.

Big beer! Big pretzels! Big beer gardens! While every part of Germany has it's charms, this thing that Munich has going on with the beer gardens is pretty awesome, and unrivaled by any other city. But of course, it's not just beer gardens. Munich is just a beautiful city to see with gorgeous parks, gardens, palaces, theaters . . .



Okay, next stop: Innsbruck! After way too little time in Munich, we took a train to Innsbruck, Austria . . . breathtakingly situated in the Alps. Erik has lived in Innsbruck twice, so it was another nostalgia tour to a former home. Clara got to see mountains for the first time, and Elsa was initiated into the love of Austria.

Everyone is happy on vacation!

Erik has, on occasion, expressed concern that being the father of two girls will mean all ruffles and bows all the time.  I hope that introducing them to a hike in the Alps at a young age will calm his fears.

Especially when followed by a giant schnitzel at his favorite mountain hütte, which Elsa happily helped him with.



So, while we saw a lot of familiar sites,

traveling with kids leads you to some places you never knew existed, like the Alpenzoo.



And then, at the end of the day, this wasn't such a bad view to have from our balcony.