We just got back from an amazing two week European vacation with my family. We had been looking forward to it since last Christmas and we were all anxious and excited for the trip to happen.
We all flew in on the same day and we ended up arriving in Munich just 30 minutes earlier than the rest of the family! It was so perfect when the kids saw each other.
Elise was hugging tight to this bear that Lufthansa gave us. They gave us incredible service on this trip and in the lounge!
She's so happy!
Our day started off by checking in to our cute B and B (
Hotel Uhland) and then we headed off to get a beer! What else do you do in Munich when you haven't slept in 24 hours?!?!
Our first stop was the iconic Hofbrauhaus--where Mozart lived around the block and Hitler frequented.
They love this boy!
The kids playing hide and go seek outside...
We were all a little tired from traveling all day/night, so we decided to look around Marienplatz and head back to the hotel.
The next day we woke up to a great spread of breakfast at the hotel. They have great coffee and a large enough assortment to keep you feeling full until lunch. We headed out in time to see the Glockenspiel at Marienplatz. It was worth it to wait with the big crowds to see the show. It only lasted about 10 minutes, the kids loved it!
KK loved playing around with her new selfie stick!
We then headed out to Nymphenburg Palace. We took a tram to get there and it wasn't too far out of the way. It was a gorgeous day and the kids loved watching the ducks in the small pond right in front. We grabbed a snack and sat outside in the gorgeous weather! (Schlosscafe im Palmenhaus)
This is a great place to take young children because you can let them go and wander around.
Inside the palace...
Our next day we took a day trip to Cinderella's castle...that's what we told the kids! It was actually the castle that Sleeping Beauty was inspired from. The Neuschwanstein castle looks so picturesque while driving up!
We first stopped at Ludwig's Linderhof Palace.
We also stopped in the city of Oberammergau and had a great lunch (Zur Tini Weinstube). The salad and french fries were great! I wished that we had longer there because the town is so cute and they had a great selection of cuckoo clocks!
Then we started up the hike to the big castle! It took about 45 minutes to walk up the hill. You can take a horse carriage up, but you would have to wait in a very long line to get one. We stopped a couple of times to take some pictures as the walk was beautiful!
They don't allow strollers or large backpacks inside the castle.
We played a lot of ipads in between stops!
We found a precious Italian restaurant on the way home and I'm going to try to find the name of it to put it on here. Our tour guide called and made us a reservation here last minute and they were able to squeeze us in.
Everywhere we go-Josh either wants to eat pork or have his picture taken with a pig! We miss pork so much living in Saudi Arabia!
The next day we took a train to Nuremberg. This was one of our favorite days! The town was so cute and had a lot for the kids to do.
Only a mother of a potty training toddler will appreciate this.,.but in the Nuremberg train station was the BEST baby bathroom ever. It had a frog potty and was exceptionally clean.
They had a huge area just for kids with rides and even Santa!
The next morning we were sad to leave Munich, but excited for our next destination...Salzburg!! The girls and kids headed to the train station while the guys took cabs with all of our many suitcases!
I snapped some pictures on our way out. This was a Christmas tree area where you could pick up small and large trees.
The store windows were pretty amazing!
Somehow we managed to get our 12 and all of our luggage on the train!
We got to our precious B and B in Salzburg (
Arte Vida) and got ready to go grab a quick bite to eat (L'Osteria) and go to bed!
Claire was sleepy from the day!
Our next day (Christmas Eve) we got up to do the Sound of Music Tour. Elise was thrilled because we had watched the movie earlier that week. She loved knowing where all of the real "humans" live. That is what she calls the actors...
Christmas markets were everywhere!
The church where they were married
We went out for a nice Christmas Eve dinner and then got the kids to bed in time for Santa!
The kids playing Mary and Joseph...
The next day was Christmas and Santa came to Salzburg!
We spent the day going to church and walking around the various Christmas markets.
We took a funicular to a
fortress! The views of Salzburg were incredible and the kids loved the short, funicular ride!
We saw a patch of ice--which the children thought was snow!
We ended Christmas with a fabulous dinner at an Italian restaurant (Ristorante Beccofino). It was just what we needed! They put us in the back and even gave all the kids chocolates and had toys to play with!
The next day was one of Josh's favorite days. We took a cable car (which scared the hell out of me) to the top of Mount Untersberg. It lasted about 9 minutes...which was a little long for me.
Even though, it looks really cold-it wasn't at all. It was very nice and the kids had a blast!
Josh took the three big kids up a small hill to explore.
Claire LOVES it!
We had a great lunch at the top! The food was surprisingly great and you can't beat the view.
We finished off our last night in Salzburg at the same Italian restaurant right by our hotel (L'Osteria). The pizza and wine were great and they always got us a table.
The next day we woke up and took the 6 hour train to Prague.
We stayed at a FABULOUS place in Prague and definitely our favorite. I highly recommend to all. It was called the
House at the Boot.
Our first day we took a great tour by our guide,
Vladimir. He was great and it included a great city tour as well. I'm so glad we did that the first day.
In front of the John Lennon Wall
The next day we took a great tour with Tomas (the son of the owner of the B and B). He took us around to see some more great sites of Prague.
Elise and Claire LOVED the toy museum! We had to bribe Claire to get her to leave.
They have live nativities outside of a lot of churches.
We just happened to be in town the same night as our good friends from Saudi. We were able to meet up for
dinner and had a fabulous time!
What else do you do with children in a nice restaurant? Sit them all together with their own ipads!
Another reason I loved our hotel...this...Claire was being a stinker at breakfast and the owner picked her up and started cooking with her!
The street performers were great everywhere! Claire really fell in love with this baby as did everyone else. I thought this one, in particular was pretty creepy!
One of the kids favorite restaurants was the
train restaurant. Word of advice: make a reservation-we did not and had to wait awhile! They bring all of your drinks on trains! It was fun!
In Prague, marionettes were everywhere!
One night we stumbled upon this cute little
wine bar! The food was great and we ended up booking for New Years Eve!
New Years Eve...the kids last day/night together until JUNE!!
The icing on the cake was on our way home from dinner it started snowing! It snowed all night and was beautiful!
It seemed like these two weeks went by way too fast for all of us. We are so thankful for this amazing trip!!
