Vastine adVentures: Edelweiss

One of my favorite things about attending an international school is the schedule. I love the time off because it allows us to do far more traveling than we would living in the states (okay…being on an expat package helps too.) Valentine's Day was our last day of school before winter break, so obviously breakfast consisted of Belgian chocolates. I used to go all out for Valentine's Day…teddy bears, balloons, heart shaped plates, heart shaped breakfast food, pink milk…you name it. Well, I've totally slacked off here because those things just aren't as accessible, so Belgian chocolates for breakfast will have to do (don't worry…there was some yogurt too.)

I'm sad to say they didn't even share! So, I had to steal a piece when no one was looking. ;)

After school, we set out for Stuttgart, Germany. This would be our stopping point for the night with our final destination being Garmisch-Partenkirchen, Germany.

Other than our trip home at Christmas, we have not had a vacation since our trip to Normandy in October. It was good to be on the road again exploring!

The whole fam…sorry for the blurrrrr.

We made it to Stuttgart around 10:30 pm. It was off to bed to prepare for our drive in the morning. The drive from Stuttgart to Garmisch should have only taken three hours, but thanks to the lovely traffic, it was a five hour drive. The beautiful scenery helped pass the time.

This was taken just outside Füssen, Germany. We saw Neuschwanstein Castle from a distance. It was beautiful as ever. Our goal was to see it again in the snow, but as you can see….there was no snow. You can revisit our first trip to Neuschwanstein here.

Around 2:00 pm we arrived at the Edelweiss Lodge and Resort. Because it is affiliated with the US Military, you have to be sponsored by a family with the rights to stay there. We were thrilled the Douglas family asked us to be a part of their trip.

It was so nice to see that American flag out front.

The lodge was beautiful and felt like the Wilderness Lodge at Disney.

Three of the families stayed just across the street in the deluxe cabins. It was a lot of fun having this as our home away from home for a week.

Our view from the cabin.

The kids had the loft to themselves.

Our view of Zugspitze (the highest point in Germany) as we walked back to the lodge.

For dinner on Saturday night, the six ISB families ate at Zuggy's (in the lodge) to celebrate Maddie's 13th birthday.

This is "the tower"…I lost track of how many of these were ordered throughout the week.

Happy 13th Birthday sweet Maddie!

We loved spending the week with this group! They are the BEST!

Two fisted…No problem!

There were fireworks that evening to celebrate President's Day on Monday. Love being on an American resort! Did I mention they had Milky Way and Butterfinger candy bars, Starbucks, nachos, margaritas, and so many other US favorites. I never wanted to leave…..

Enjoying the fireworks.

And there was plenty of karaoke. These kids are not shy. And, you should have seen the boys (I only have video of them.) Hilarious!

Caution signs…..

Sunday was a day of relaxing. We checked out the ski lodge and the restaurants around the resort. There was also plenty of time spent in the hotel pool and outdoor hot tub.

They figured out you could charge to the room. That is no good!

Sunday night, our group of 24 ventured out to a local restaurant recommended by our waitress at brunch. And, it was a great recommendation. The food was terrific and the atmosphere was about as German as you could get!

And, then there were these guys. Apparently, they show up during carnival and on some Sundays. Lucky us! They showed up while we were having dinner. They came in, spread hay all over the place, built some kind of strange hay bonfire which thankfully they never lit, drank, shined shoes, sewed buttons on people's clothes, passed out porn…Hahaha! It was the strangest thing I've seen in quite a long time. But, it was entertaining to say the least. I was so glad they left me alone.