Munich, Germany - OKTOBERFEST!

Since Todd won "best lederhosen" at the German-American Volksfest this summer, he got two free tickets on the MWR bus to Munich for Oktoberfest.  He picked 9/24 and the weather was awesome!  Warm and sunny!  So we packed up the kiddos and boarded the bus to Munich.  Because of recent terrorist activities here in Germany, backpacks weren't allowed in, so we had to make do with a purse.  But thankfully MWR allowed us to keep our bags on the bus while we went to Oktoberfest.

I wasn't able to get a Paulaner this year, but apparently it was a 6%er.  Yikes!

I'm not as good as Todd at this picture.  Willkommen zum Oktoberfest!

If the Lord himself came down and said, "You can go to heaven if you ride this ride ONE MORE TIME," I would have to politely decline.  I've never been more terrified on a ride.  Thank GOODNESS Natalie rode with me.  Because she's brave and fearless.  I, on the other hand am terrified of heights.  I also had a skirt on which despite me sitting on it, wanted to fly up in my face.  And for some reason, I had my phone in my hand.  And my small purse on my shoulder which kept wanting to fall down.  Because of all of this, I didn't have any hands to actually hold on, and we were MILES up in the air (for real!  Miles!) and leaning at what seemed like a 45 degree angle.  I was literally cursing and praying the entire ride. 

This was me right before the ride.  (Please note I took this with my phone, which is why it was in my hand, and you can see my purse does not want to stay on my shoulder). NEVER AGAIN!

Get me a beer. NOW.  I love that they brought the kids Sprite in little mugs!  They felt like they were a part of the fun!

Me and my best girl.  Notice I'm wearing her sunglasses because I forgot mine.  Do I forget something EVERYWHERE we go?  I really do. Normally it's pajamas for me or underwear for the kids.  This time it was my shades.

I could eat currywurst every day, all day. 

The inside of the Hacker-Pschorr tent.  Only a few people standing on tables at this point.  We went to the bathroom (it wasn't even noon yet) and two people were throwing up already.  Niiiiice.  It's a long day!  It's a marathon, not a sprint, people!

Bailey family trachten photo!  We are in front of the Bavaria statue and the Ruhmeshalle (Hall of Fame) in Munich. I promise next year they will have proper shoes.

Do you see that crazy super high swing?  Yeah, no.  That's never gonna happen again. I can't believe they convinced me to get on that thing.

I love St. Paul's church in the background. Interestingly, back in 1960, a C131 aircraft operated by the USAF crashed into the steeple, and then eventually onto the ground into a tram, killing 20 people on board the airplane and 32 on the ground.  Sad fact, but history is all around us, folks!

These three clowns really loved this funhouse. I went later with Grant.  It was supposed to be 3D but really made it feel like you had dropped acid.  Not that I've ever done that, of course, but I can imagine that is what it was like! 

You had to run through this giant moving circle.  Natalie ran right through.  Grant, not so much.  But whatever works, right!?!

Mommy and Natalie in the FRONT ROW (the German guys behind us got a big kick out of that saying) on the Olympic roller coaster!

It was sunny and warm, and of course... crazy crowded as a result.  By the end of the day I was totally over it.  We still love getting on the Ferris wheel for amazing views of the entire Oktoberfest grounds!

The beer tents were very crowded as well.  There was a wait for nearly all of them.  If you could find a seat outside, you could eat or drink.

It's a battle for the coolest tower between Paulaner and Lowenbrau. Dancing beer mugs or lions drinking beer?  You decide. #thereal2016election

I love swings. I really do.  I just like them MUCH lower to the ground, like these. It's one of my favorite rides!  Just please... not a half a mile into the sky!

My biggest kid on the toboggan.

Grant is so light, he clearly won this race.  I love their faces here! 

Welcome to Munich.  Where they sometimes pretend they are in Florida.

Splish splash!  Here they go, up the Rio Rapides!  I didn't want to go on this because the sun was starting to go down and I didn't want to be damp and chilly!

Grant goes, "Mommy!  There's some hair for you to take a picture of for your blog!"  Well I never!  What is going on in this world!  Stop losing large chunks of hair, people!

Before we left, we decided to ride ONE MORE RIDE.  Well that's what we (I) get for being greedy.  The kids were dying to ride the bumper cars.  As I was standing with Natalie waiting to get a bumper car, some guy came RUNNING off of the bumper car area while looking backward and PLOWED into me.  Head first, with the crown of his head crashing into the side of my face by my left eye.  And it only hit this area because I was looking down and to my right at Natalie, who I was telling to step back and away from the edge of the bumper car area.  I mean this guy was going full speed. I really got my bell rung.  I don't know how I didn't fall over, as there were a couple of large stairs behind me.  I was so mad and embarrassed, spouting off every obscenity in the book.  It really hurt!  And do you know what Natalie said to me?  "Mommy, do you know what would make that feel better?  A giant beer!"  You're right, kiddo!

Until next time, Oktoberfest!

Rothenburg o.d. Tauber, Germany (Take Two!)

After we did a bit more exploring at Burg Colmberg, we made the quick drive to Rothenburg before the rain started.  In fact, much of the day was surprisingly decent!

Gray and a little cool but not bad at the Rothenburg Rathaus!

Naturally, we had to immediately get a schneeball.  Grant opted for chocolate (as you can see!) and Natalie opted for powdered sugar.  And of course, half of her schneeball is on the ground in front of her!

Our friendly Mayor Nusch is on the right, and his challenger, the evil Count Tilly is on the left.  Good thing he finished three liters of wine in ONE GULP and SAVED the city of Rothenburg from being destroyed in 1631.  Of course, many know this is a fable, but it's such a fun story anyway!

Half timbers of Rothenburg.  This is the famous Meat and Dance house.  It was built on the foundation of the original Town Hall (Rathaus).  They sold meat on the bottom floor, and it was a dance hall on the upper floors.  You can't really see it from this picture, but there are little pulley systems at the top of each building.  The kids thought this was really funny that they would have to haul larger loads up by a pulley, but we told them this is how it's done all the time in the older cities of the northeastern United States!  Todd once had to cut a bed in half to get it up the stairs of a narrow building in Baltimore.  If only he had a pulley!

The St. George fountain, which holds up to 100,000 liters of water!  It was built in the early 1600s, and was previously a very important drinking fountain (although I wouldn't drink from it now!)  Behind it you can see the St. Mary's Pharmacy.  It was built in 1448, although has been a pharmacy since 1812.  As it was built by Mayor Jagstheimer, many famous people stayed here, including the Emperor Maximilian I.  It was also the home to our pal, Mayor Nusch!

Old town hall (left) vs. New town hall (right). The Gothic building on the left was built in 1250, and it extended to the right, but this portion of the town hall burnt down in 1501, so they rebuilt it in Baroque style.

The official measurements of the city of Rothenburg. The one Todd has his arm in is supposed to be a measurement of the arm from the finger tip to the elbow.  (Although... really?  Because Todd is a giant by today's standards!) Next to it is one that is about the size of a foot.  These were used back in the medieval days.

If there's one man who loves Rothenburg ob der Tauber, it's Rick Steves.  And they love him too!  #RickSteveswuzhere

What the.... it might be a bird.  Or a chicken.  Or a mouse?  Or a deer.  Or a rodent of some sort.  Or maybe one of the most disturbing animal statues I've ever seen!

The beautiful St. James' church.

You had me at fancy sun dial clocks.

Finished in 1485 (although started in 1311!), St. James' Church is a Lutheran church that many stop at on their pilgrimage to Santiago de Compostela, Spain (which many believe holds the remains of the apostle James, although this has been debated).  This scene above depicts Jesus in the garden, praying while his apostles have fallen asleep around him.  Not long after, Jesus was arrested.

James is almost always depicted holding a staff and a seashell. 

This troublemaker up at the alter of St. James' Church in Rothenburg.

In the front of the church, the stained glass is almost entirely original, placed in 1350-1400!

The High Alter (or the Twelve Apostles alter) was carved in 1466 by Herlin.  The tabernacle (where the hosts are kept) is to the left. 

Behind the wood carving at the alter is a painting of Jesus.  If you walk back and forth behind the alter, you will find Jesus never takes his eyes off of you.  The kids were baffled by this!

Looking back toward the organ of St. James' church.

Upstairs behind the organ, you will find a very important relic of the church... the Holy Blood Alter.  It contains an alleged sampling (3 drops) of Jesus' blood.  You can "sort of" see this in the glass piece in the center of the cross.  Interestingly, not many reputable places mention this as I'm fairly certain they don't actually believe it's his blood!

Carved between 1499 and 1505 by the famous woodworker Tilman Riemenschneider, the main centerpiece shows a carving of the Last Supper.  Judas, in the center of it all, is removed during the Easter time period for his betrayal. I'm not sure if you can see him, but John is laying in the lap of Jesus.  Interestingly, the table itself is hard to see because the artist couldn't QUITE properly show the depth of the table.  Although the detail in Jesus and the apostles is amazing, the table is actually awful!

St. James' Parish house.... OMG.  Please.  Buy me this. 

Nothing super spectacular here (except the three cuties in this picture!)  but notice the scalloped shells on the right side of the building.  Many buildings in Rothenburg pay homage to St. James by including his emblem, the seashell.

Behind the Reichstadtmuseum (which we didn't go to because... children) is the gardens of the former Dominican monastery.  They weren't looking all that super impressive, but then again it HAS been very dry here in Germany lately.

They still grow plenty of herbs here, including some which are poisonous.  The signs show you just how poisonous they are by how many black crosses they include. 

Cats of Rothenburg!  Look at Natalie's face here!  She wants to take him home!  Too bad Daddy is allergic.

It's just a simple hotel, but it really took my breath away! 

So, so German.

We stopped at the Weinstube zum Pulverer for some lunch, right inside of the Burg Gate.  The wood carved chairs were a big hit!  This restaurant was actually really good.  Good food, great décor and lots of locals.

I LOVE this light fixture portraying the different towers around Rothenburg! 

I know that in a few weeks all of the flowers will be gone. I'm just trying to hold on.

We went through the Alte Burg and into the Burggarten to run around after a late lunch.  Ahhhhh die blume!

Looking down into the valley at the Tauber River.  It's really beautiful!  I would like to check out this bridge - the Tauber Bridge, or Double Bridge - at some point.  It was originally built around 1330, and was renovated a few times since.

The last time we were in Rothenburg, the church that is in the Burggarten was not open.  But this time, it was!  After the massive earthquake in 1356, the only building within the Staufer Castle grounds that was rebuilt was the Chapel of St. Blaise.  Originally, it had been a conference room where the king had received guests.  But it was renovated and turned into a chapel.  I don't know much about this chapel, but I certainly love the solitary face staring down on me from the wall!

Statue in the chapel with a pretty cross stained glass window.

The Burggarten isn't spectacular.  But it is simple and pretty.

The Burg Gate is very well preserved.  There is (if you look closely) the face of a man near the top between the two pointed tower corners in the above photo.  From here, they used to pour hot pitch out of the statues mouth to burn the enemy.  Gross!

You  might not know, if you hadn't listened to Rick Steves audio guide (!!) that this unassuming square hole in the wall was where they would take a large piece of wood and reinforce the gate.  (Grant!  Get your fingers out of your mouth!)

This house has a cool story.  This home has been in the same family for hundreds of years, and the front door is still wide enough to fit a horse and carriage!  In 1540, King Ferdinand stayed here, and in 1546, King Karl V (Charles V) stayed here.  There are front door bells hanging to the left of the archway that random people would walk by and occasionally ring!  The family got a little annoyed and had them disabled.

Looking toward the Marktplatz down Herrngasse.

After our self guided Rick Steves walk and a quick trip to the Kathy Wohlfahrt store where we dropped some Euros on some future family heirlooms, we went back to our hotel.  And this happened. It's exhausting spending money!

We ate dinner at the restaurant at our hotel (the Hotel Sonne) and then went out for the famous Night Watchman's tour.  I'm fairly certain I would have absolutely enjoyed this had it not been very cold and VERY rainy.  Also:  The above picture looked WAY cooler on Todd's phone.

This guy has got it down.  Even on a rainy night in September, he had a crowd of probably 75 people.  And it cost 8 Euros per person.  You do the math! 

After a good night sleep, we tooled around in the morning, doing a little shopping on the Untere Schmiedgasse.  We found this place that sold a lot of medieval knight sort of costumes and gadgets.  In the basement, they had a little set up with a real dungeon!

The famous Plönlein, in the rain, with two cute kids.  And Sara's awesome British flag umbrella that I won at her awesome Christmas party swap.

Siebers Tower with some of the prettiest building signs that I saw.  There's one with grapes (they sell wine!) and one with a pretzel (they were a bakery/café!). The Siebers Tower is from 1385, and was the main entrance to Rothenburg for about 150 years.

Since it started to rain, we knew the best thing to do was just walk the walls of the city. 

Please note my giant does not fit on medieval walls.  In fact, about halfway through our walk, he had to get down off of the wall because his neck started hurting from crouching over too much.

The walls are lined with the names of companies and families who donated money to repair a section of the wall after the war.  This person, from Pforzheim, donated enough money to repair 4 meters of wall.

For now, the greenery still grows along the wall. 

This sign just made me mad, ha ha.  Karl Fischer and wife.  Geez, doesn't she have a name?!

After the giant got down off the wall, he was able to take artsy fartsy pictures like this.  Looks like I'm rubbing off on him.

Me and the kiddos kept walking though, and we walked almost 3/4 of the way around the wall.  Here we are approaching the Klingenturm (Klingen Tower).

Finally, we got down off the wall and began to walk outside of the wall at the Klingentor.  (Tor = gate and turm = tower).  We spotted this little park outside of the wall.  The kids were in heaven, and I was annoyed cause everything was wet! 

We ducked back into the gate and wanted to grab some lunch before we headed home.  I took this picture because you can see the concrete blocks that adorn the corners of each building.  They're here so that when cars take a corner too sharply, they don't destroy the foundation of the building!  So cool!

Swoon!

Natalie found herself a little Natalie sized door in the parking garage where we left our car for the night. 

Even though this is our second time here, we know we'll be back.  Until next time, Rothenburg!