Liechtenstein and more

So I had extravagant plans for spring break.  These were, however, thwarted by the most unexpected occurrence--chicken pox!

My husband started feeling under the weather in the days leading up to spring break, so on Friday we decided to cancel our planned (but not booked) trip to Prague.  This turned out to be a good thing when Saturday morning arrived and he announced, "I have the chicken pox!"  We spent the next few days thoroughly cleaning the house, relaxing, and going to the doctor (I went so I could translate).

We had tickets to Tuesday's football (soccer) match.  Germany vs. Kazakhstan in a World Cup qualifier.  Now I have wanted to see the German national team live forever, so I was pretty excited.  We were supposed to go with our friends.  They had a last minute emergency and had to cancel the morning of the game.  My husband was still sick, so he cancelled.  I was planning on going alone since we were unable to get rid of the tickets on short notice.  Unfortunately the snow coming down made the driving difficult.  Fifteen kilometers down the road I decided to turn around, but the dogs, hubby, and I enjoyed watching on TV--at least until they all fell asleep.

Wednesday we did a bit of archery.  I'm loving this new hobby!  Thursday morning some relatives came to visit.  That afternoon we went to the school so they could see that we really do teach in a castle, then headed into Freising.  We wandered through the old town and enjoyed ice cream before turning in for an early night.  Friday we headed to Neuschwanstein (I have now been at least four times since we've lived here), which they loved, and we finally took the carriage up on this trip!  Saturday we went into downtown Munich to admire the Frauenkirche, enjoy the Viktualienmarkt, and wander around the Marienplatz.  

Marienplatz 

Easter Sunday saw us heading out on our overnight venture.  We drove to Lindau on Lake Constance (Bodensee in German), where we had lunch--best venison ever!--on the island and walked around the old town.  Then we drove over to Friedrichshafen, where we boarded the ferry to Romanshorn on the Swiss side.  We took back roads through Switzerland and got to see a fair bit, but not the dramatic scenery.  This is because of the weather, which caused us to be unable to see the MASSIVE, LOOMING mountains just beside us.  Fog and snow were the order of the day, and the amount of snow on the ground was the best indicator of our elevation.  It worked out, though, and we ended up in Liechtenstein, the sixth-smallest country in the world.  We had booked a hotel in what some call the mountain village of Triesenberg.  Calling this a mountainside hamlet is like calling the Great Lakes big ol' lakes.  This was cliffside living (well, it felt like it to me)!  The white out made it hard to tell how pretty it was.

So good!

 Lindau

 Entrance to the harbor at Lindau on Lake Constance

Ferry across Lake Constance from Germany to Switzerland, which you can sort of see in the background.

We woke up the next morning to the full glory of Liechtenstein, however.  Yes, shining across the valley was a snow-covered Swiss mountainside, and down below was the Rhein and the valley of the bulk of occupied Liechtenstein (there isn't much).  We drove down back into Switzerland, fueled up, and then headed back (cutting across this pristine nation once more--briefly--into Austria, where we drove towards Innsbruck.  We turned off the highway and headed back past the Zugspitze (highest peak in Germany), through Garmisch-Patenkirchen where we stopped for a late lunch, and then back to Zolling.

 View from our hotel (this doesn't do it justice)

Morning from our balcony

The Rhein River--the near side is Liechtenstein, the far side is Switzerland

The less steep part of Triesenberg

Bridge across the Rhein to Switzerland

Vaduz is the capital of Liechtenstein.  Don't blink--you'll miss it.

 This country is absolutely pristine and gorgeous!  I loved it and could retire here (in the summers)

Crossing into Switzerland

Cutting back across Liechtenstein, my new favorite country (virtually the whole country is in this picture--and some of Switzerland and Austria)

The "border crossing" into Austria--it was unmanned

Even their license plates are pretty--FL stands for Fürstentum Liechtenstein

These are from the rest stop in Austria

Not really sure what these little huts are, but they're everywhere

Tunnels through mountains--this one was only partially under the mountain and thus open on the side

Back in Germany

Because hubby still had some pox we decided it was best if he spent time recovering while I headed up to Glückstadt alone to visit family.  Thursday I boarded a train from Freising to Munich, hopped on the ICE (InterCity Express, the high speed rail) to Hamburg, and then another local train to Glückstadt.  My ICE was delayed by 40 minutes when a passenger was sick and needed medical attention at the next stop.  We made up half the time, but not enough for me to catch my connection, leaving me stranded in Hamburg for an hour.  Oh, well!  Spent a nice evening chatting with my Oma.

The vineyards near the train station in Würzburg where we got delayed

I spent the weekend celebrating my grandmother's 86th birthday.  We had an early lunch on Sunday before I boarded a train back home.  Unfortunately my train from Glückstadt was delayed, and I missed my ICE train back to Munich, resulting in another hour at the Hamburg train station.  Oh, well.

We're back to school now.  That would normally be a bummer for our students, but this week something miraculous happened.  Spring arrived!  Yesterday was sunny (a great day to go downtown, buy some veggies at the Viktualienmarkt, and sit in the bookstore on the Marienplatz) with occasional showers.  Today was not only sunny, but it was warm--T-shirt weather, in fact.  Perfect for taking a bow and arrows out!  Tomorrow we may get into the mid 70s F (23-24C).  Woohoo!  We're not quite sure what that blue stuff is behind the clouds, but it sure is pretty!

 These are pics from 10 days ago--thus the cold weather gear. 

Now to reschedule Prague . . . .