B-ball

Julia's playing quite a bit of basketball. The team is getting much better and Julia really seems to be having fun.

I'm not much of a sports photographer but some of these give you a general idea.

Sledding 2

 

In late January we went for another sledding trip.

 This time, we traveled south to a ski mountain. You could either take a ski lift up or hike up. We chose to walk.

At the top, we rewarded ourselves with a refreshment in the glorious sunshine. It was crisp and clear and beautiful.

Brian and Daphne decided to take the lift down rather than sled down the mountain. A recent article in the paper may explain why.

The article began,

A third of toboggan runs deemed dangerous

Many of Germany's public toboggan runs would seem to be death traps, according to a survey which noted one where sled riders zip along next to a large barbed-fence, and another which ends abruptly in a road. 

Julia, David, Joachim and I still went down the trail. It took about a half hour and was icy and scary at times. David loved it.

Sledding 1

The winter in Germany offers many chances to enjoy the outdoors. Two weeks ago we went out to the Hirsch garden (the one hill in the city) to sled ride.

The sleds might look a bit different but they are fast. The kids had a great time.

Even the adults were willing to try...

Bavarian visit

 We had unusually warm weather over the holidays including some days in the mid-50s which is very unusual for Munich. We took advantage of the weather to travel deep into Bavaria to see the mountains.

 One of the underrated aspects of the mountain areas are the fantastic lakes that are formed in the areas. They have crystal clear water and make for spectacular scenery.

 Even George made the trip. Unfortunately, the kids wanted to return to the video games in Munich.

German beer and scenery in an environment where Joe doesn't need his coat - not bad.

Vienna

 We spent our time over the Christmas break visiting Vienna, Austria. The boys were intent on seeing all of the cultural sites in spite of the hotel pool.

We started by taking the train to Schönbrunn Palace. 
The palace is a former imperial 1,441-room Rococo summer residence of the Habsburgs and once the center of the holy roman empire. One of the most important cultural monuments in the country, since the 1960s it has been one of the major tourist attractions in Vienna. The palace and gardens illustrate the tastes, interests, and aspirations of successive Habsburg monarchs.

 Although it was after Christmas, they still had their markets open and a huge tree.

 

The palace was designed to impress and it worked on us.

Another stop was the Hofburg Palace. The palace has housed some of the most powerful people in European and Austrian history, including the Habsburg dynasty, rulers of the Austro-Hungarian empire. It currently serves as the official residence of the President of Austria. It was the Habsburgs' principal winter residence, as the Schönbrunn Palace was their preferred summer residence.
The Hofburg area has been the seat of government since 1279 for various empires and republics. David said his empire might be bigger.

 

While visiting the palace, we saw the stables and the famous Spanish riding school or the Lipizzan horses. The Spanish Riding School (in German- Spanische Hofreitschule, the "Spanish Court Riding-School") is a traditional riding school for Lipizzan horses, which perform in the Winter Riding School in the Hofburg. Not only is it a center for classical dressage, the headquarters is a tourist attraction in Vienna that offers public performances as well as permitting public viewing of some training sessions. David and Brian were not able to sleep the night before we visited. They were hoping for autographs from their favorite horses.

 

Next stop - 

St. Stephen's Cathedral (German: Stephansdom) is the mother church of the Archdiocese of Vienna and the seat of the Archbishop of Vienna. Its current Romanesque and Gothic form seen today, situated in the Stephansplatz, was largely initiated by Rudolf IV and stands on the ruins of two earlier churches, the first being a parish church consecrated in 1147. As the most important religious building in Austria's capital, the cathedral has borne witness to many important events in that nation's history and has, with its multi-colored tile roof, become one of the city's most recognizable symbols.
 

Brian looks impressed.

We hit the biggest museum in the city which was impressive - the natural history museum.

This gave us a chance to show our appreciation for culture and history.

 

 We saw many other sites and generally had a grand time.

 

Believe it or not - they have some great wine shops as well.

Visitors in Munich

It's been a while since the last post - here's some news.

We had some visitors over Christmas. It gave us the chance to visit some sites such as the Christmas markets in the English Gardens.