Germany/Austria

For Christmas we went to Germany and Austria. We flew into Munich to do some Christmas markets (seriously, Germans know how to do Christmas) and then gradually made our way over to Salzburg, Austria for a couple days. It was cold and snowy and Christmas-y...and I got to remember how cute my littles look all bundled up in winter gear.

This is the Marienplatz Christmas market- one of 3 that we went to.

Mei in a coat and beanie...so cute.

We went ice skating twice. Mina, due to her mad roller skating skills, was the best one out on the ice. Brian was NOT allowed on the ice.

We went to the aquarium. This turtle kept bumping its head on the glass trying to get to Emi's coat.

Munich is home to BMW. We didn't do a tour but it was fun to walk around a bit and see all of the cars on display.

Oh yeah, we also went to the zoo. Honestly, that's what we do...we always manage to fit in a zoo trip everywhere we go.

Christmas Day we took the kids to Dachau Concentration camp. How's that for celebration? Kids weren't thrilled about it but too bad.

Traditional Christmas dinner at the hotel restaurant in Rothenburg ob der Tauber. Kids were most excited about seeing dogs in the restaurant. Pets are allowed everywhere in Germany!

Exploring Rothenburg, a quaint (well-preserved) medieval town.

Ulm Minster is the tallest church in the world at 530 ft in height. No joke. And a perfect halfway stop on our way to see some famous Bavarian castles. So...I made the family climb it...all 768 steps. It was super cold and windy but we bribed the kids with cookies from Subway. It was awesome. This is a shot at about halfway up the tower.

And this is a photo in front of the church. It is the coolest Gothic church. Even the kids (who hate visiting cathedrals) enjoyed it.

Hohenschwangau Castle- don't ask me how to pronounce it. I don't know.

Neuschwanstein Castle- the famous castle was the inspiration behind the Disney castle. The exterior is under some reconstruction so you'll just have to trust me that it's an impressive looking castle.

Hey, let's take a family selfie while we wait for the castle tour to begin.

Salburg, Mozart's home- by this time they were super annoyed with getting their photo taken.

We did a hop on/hop off bus tour in Salzburg. Brian listened to the traditional audio tour...the rest of us listened to the Sound of Music audio tour (basically sing along to the soundtrack with a few fun facts thrown in at each stop). One stop was at the Salzburg Fortress. In this photo I've got kids drinking kinderpunch and eating brats and we're soaking in the view from the fortress.

This is the "I am 16, going on 17" gazebo. Did we sing the song while there? Yes, yes we did.

One of the last things we did in Salzburg was go do a salt mine tour. We look so attractive in our mandatory salt mine outfits.

Mei, I dare you to lick the rock wall and see if it's salty...(it is).

At one point during the tour, you cross the border into Germany. We've never crossed into another country whilst underground. So yeah, that was kind of cool.

And ok, that was the "just scraping the surface" post on our fun winter break trip. Highly recommend visiting both countries!