Sunday, May 10, 2009

Back from the Alps

Friday we drove south to the Alps to the town of Garmisch and stayed at the lovely Edelweiss Resort and Lodge. The view from our windows and deck are gorgeous snow-covered mountains - including Zugspitze, the tallest mountain in Germany. Last year, around this same time, I was privileged to go here and we took the tram to the top of Zugspitze and ate in the restaurant there - which is partly in Germany and partly in Austria.

It so happened the town of Garmisch was celebrating the start of spring, so a festival was taking place. We took in part of it Friday night - listening to a polka band for a little bit and watching Josiah and Annika on a carousel. We also went to a wonderful store in which I bought a very pretty German sweater. This store has ready-made and custom made dirndls, plus other Bavarian style clothing. They're all just beautiful - and expensive. We concluded the evening with Italian ice cones. Yum!

Saturday morning Josiah and I went back to town and browsed and shopped for a little while. This is the first time I've gotten to do this. He was so good. We went to a toy store and he picked out a metal car. We wandered from shop to shop, and even sat through most of a puppet show - totally in German. This was so fun because it was interactive with the puppets and the German children in the audience. When the children laughed, so did Josiah. It was so cute.

Rachel and Annika picked us up and we went for a gorgeous drive in the area. Rachel doesn't worry about getting lost because "Dora" - her GPS - can fight her way out of a gunny sack - well, most of the time. After driving through a few small, picturesque villages, we found a spot for a picnic. While setting up the food, Josiah turned over a rock and to his surprise, there was a snail attached to it. It became quite the conversation topic. He named him Cotorockto (sp). It took some convincing that he couldn't come along with us, and that he probably wouldn't eat greens. After we returned to the lodge, we swam in the pool. I also spent some time in the hot tub - outdoors - where the view is the Alps. This just doesn't happen in Minnesota.

Poor Josiah woke up with the stomach flu this morning, so our trip back to Stuttgart was interesting. We've been home a little while now and he seems to be lots better.

To all you mothers out there - Happy Mother's Day!

6 comments:

Heidi said...

Happy Mothers Day Mom. I am glad you are having fun!!

Jan said...

Happy Mother's Day, Donna! You'll never forget this one! Sounds like you are having a wonderful time...again, I'm so glad you're there with Rach and the kids. Take care!

Lynn said...

Happy Mother's Day, Aunt Donna! Sounds like you're having a great time already! Except for poor Josiah not feeling well with the stomach flu. I'm glad it was short-lived!

Pat said...

Wow!! What could be better than all that you have written about. I mean--really--your grandchildren, the alps, picturesque German villages, shopping, hot tub, picnic, the snail. It all sounds wunderbar!!!!

Jan said...

Thank-you, Pat. That was the term I was trying to remember..."wunderbar"!

MamaD4 said...

The snail's name kills me and it just came right out of his mouth...Catarockto. No hesitation, no thinking. That's quite a mouthful!