Germany & Austria ~ Part 1

we just had the best trip ever! ben was sent to work over in germany for a few weeks, so we decided to make the most of it. i planned to join him for a few days in conjunction with his job, and we did some traveling around germany and austria. i was a little apprehensive to leave the girls for nearly a week, but i knew they were in good hands with gramma & poppa (THANK YOU again for taking care of them mom & dad.... we appreciate it SO much.) ben arrived before i did, and he met me at the munich airport. it was so good to see him after the long flight. we rented a car for the duration of our stay, and even though we were both intimidated to drive on unfamiliar roads (and on the autobahn...) it ended up being fine. we had a GPS navigation system, who we called "olga" that saved us big time. it made driving so simple. most rentals over there are 5-speed, which we both had fun driving. we stayed in garmisch-partenkirchen, germany, and it was just so beautiful and quaint. we spent that first afternoon relaxing and strolling around town checking everything out. we also took a little hike up to lake rissersee. we had a yummy dinner at a place in town, and had the most delicious apple strudel with warm vanilla sauce for dessert. yum! the next day, we headed to fussen, germany to see the castles hohenschwangau and neuschwanstein. when we first arrived, it was drizzling and quite foggy, but after about an hour or so, it cleared out and was lovely. both castles were amazing- as was the scenery in the area. after the tours, we had a little lunch of bratwurst and beer. :) from there we headed back to the hotel where i was treated to a massage (ahhhh) and ben went for a run. it was a great day.