We finally got to take our first, real, big family vacation since moving over to the Middle East and it was an awesome and amazing trip. I'm so glad that we decided to go to Germany, Austria, and Switzerland for this trip! We originally planned on going to Singapore or Thailand, but decided to hold off on those trips for another time. Let me preface this blog by saying how amazing our kids were the entire time!! Don't get me wrong, they had a few moments, but for as much walking, moving, traveling, driving, sight seeing as they did, and for as many restaurants they went inside that had very few kid friendly foods they were exceptional!!! I may have to save a separate post for traveling with kids and what all we went through to help make traveling with these guys a success!
Our journey began leaving Saudi during the middle of the night. We flew into Doha then into Munich, Germany(during Oktoberfest none the less). We arrived in the afternoon, found our rental car and immediately almost got into a wreck when Brooks turned the car on while standing outside the vehicle with the kids and I buckled inside. He jumped in and slammed on the brakes just inches away from the parking garage wall. After that little episode we drove off to find our hotel. After unpacking our luggage and relaxing for a bit we headed off to the famous Hofbrauhaus. That place was wild and it was a zoo in there. We learned our lesson that night of what Beer Gardens are and where NOT to take kids.
The Old Town Hall and the Neo-Gothic New Town Hall were beautiful. There were tons of people in the plaza area, beautiful fountains, and amazing sights to take in.
As we continued on our walking tour we saw St. Peter's Church (the oldest church in town), St. Michael's Church, Frauenkirche, which is the symbol of the city (twin onion domes, one of which was being renovated while we were there). Along our walk Gavin kept finding statues of various types of animals and had strong desires to ride them. So, we let him and of course, if one does it, the other wants to do it. You'd be amazed at how many animal statues are around this city!
We toured the inside of many of the Cathedrals we walked by and they were breathtaking.
Eventually, everyone was hungry so we went for another experience at a Beer Garden (this time during the day) and ate outside for lunch. The kids were greeted with huge pretzels out on the table-- something they were extremely intrigued with and enjoyed! We also found a neat Beer Garden filled with outdoor shops and kiosk type eating spots. You could browse through the market admiring local trinkets, do some souvenir shopping, and taste Bavarian foods. Check out the maypole we saw.
If you ask Gavin what one of his favorite parts about his trip was, somewhere in his long list he will tell you about "the rocks". On our walking tour we found this cute area that was surrounded with staircase rocks and a fountain. He jumped and climbed and ran around and thought this was the best thing ever. Throughout the day he kept asking to go back to the rocks and for days later he kept looking for the rocks!
We toured the Residenz, the palace of the Wittelsbach royal family. I took almost 100 pictures in this palace since it was simply unreal. There were paintings, and statues, and ornate window treatments, insanely unique furniture and decor. This was also our first palace to tour so I took it all in. I learned over the trip as you tour multiple palaces, Cathedrals, to look for what makes that place the most unique and take that in. You really see a lot!!
After our tour we wanted to let the kids run around and play so we went to the Hofgarten. Here, we're in front of The "Renaissancce" temple, which is the centerpiece of the court garden. The kids played in the rocks while Brooks and I did some people watching.
Our next day consisted of touring the Deutches Museum in the morning and then some more sightseeing throughout the city. The Deutches Museum was fun for all of us. Brooks and I were able to enjoy learning about all the various displays in the museum that were also interesting to the kids- there were boats and planes and
The best part of the Deutches Museum was the museum they had downstairs for the kids. Think Childrens Museum but bigger! The kids ran around from one exhibit to another loving it! They played and explored and touched every single toy and gadget they found. It was a lot of fun and extremely enjoyable for them.
We finished our day driving through the city looking at all the huge, amazing buildings-- Brooks LOVED the architectural structures everywhere. We also drove by Olympic Park where the 1972 Olympic games were.
Our journey began leaving Saudi during the middle of the night. We flew into Doha then into Munich, Germany(during Oktoberfest none the less). We arrived in the afternoon, found our rental car and immediately almost got into a wreck when Brooks turned the car on while standing outside the vehicle with the kids and I buckled inside. He jumped in and slammed on the brakes just inches away from the parking garage wall. After that little episode we drove off to find our hotel. After unpacking our luggage and relaxing for a bit we headed off to the famous Hofbrauhaus. That place was wild and it was a zoo in there. We learned our lesson that night of what Beer Gardens are and where NOT to take kids.
Our next day we spent a majority of the day checking out all the sights. We went along with Ric Steve's suggestions of sights to see while in Munich. After breakfast and a stop at Starbucks, we parked at The National Theater (first pic below) and walked to the heart of Munich's main square "Marienplatz" just in time to see, hear, and watch the "glockenspiel" clock towers going off! Gavin and Miles loved watching the jousting scene and the dancers! We literally walked up 2 minutes before it started and it only runs twice a day. Perfect!!
The Old Town Hall and the Neo-Gothic New Town Hall were beautiful. There were tons of people in the plaza area, beautiful fountains, and amazing sights to take in.
As we continued on our walking tour we saw St. Peter's Church (the oldest church in town), St. Michael's Church, Frauenkirche, which is the symbol of the city (twin onion domes, one of which was being renovated while we were there). Along our walk Gavin kept finding statues of various types of animals and had strong desires to ride them. So, we let him and of course, if one does it, the other wants to do it. You'd be amazed at how many animal statues are around this city!
We toured the inside of many of the Cathedrals we walked by and they were breathtaking.
If you ask Gavin what one of his favorite parts about his trip was, somewhere in his long list he will tell you about "the rocks". On our walking tour we found this cute area that was surrounded with staircase rocks and a fountain. He jumped and climbed and ran around and thought this was the best thing ever. Throughout the day he kept asking to go back to the rocks and for days later he kept looking for the rocks! 
We walked A LOT that first day and eventually everyone needed a little break. Miles was asleep in the stroller so we took advantage of the down time and stopped on the stairs outside a museum and relaxed.
We toured the Residenz, the palace of the Wittelsbach royal family. I took almost 100 pictures in this palace since it was simply unreal. There were paintings, and statues, and ornate window treatments, insanely unique furniture and decor. This was also our first palace to tour so I took it all in. I learned over the trip as you tour multiple palaces, Cathedrals, to look for what makes that place the most unique and take that in. You really see a lot!!
After our tour we wanted to let the kids run around and play so we went to the Hofgarten. Here, we're in front of The "Renaissancce" temple, which is the centerpiece of the court garden. The kids played in the rocks while Brooks and I did some people watching.
Our next day consisted of touring the Deutches Museum in the morning and then some more sightseeing throughout the city. The Deutches Museum was fun for all of us. Brooks and I were able to enjoy learning about all the various displays in the museum that were also interesting to the kids- there were boats and planes and
We finished our day driving through the city looking at all the huge, amazing buildings-- Brooks LOVED the architectural structures everywhere. We also drove by Olympic Park where the 1972 Olympic games were.
Our last day in Munich we drove to Dachau Concentration Camp. Initially, we were not going to make this stop since we had the kids with us and knew it wasn't appropriate for them, but once we arrived in the area, we just couldn't handle being so close and missing out. I'm so glad we decided to go and I have to say it was the most humbling experience ever. To think that we were walking the very grounds that many who were murdered and treated so horribly stayed was a somber experience. Upon arriving on the grounds you have the option of picking up audio guides for extra information around the grounds. We picked up 3. Two were in English and one was in German (incase one of the boys wanted to listen then they couldn't understand what was being said). We brought 2 strollers with us and put each of the boys in a stroller. We made sure that Gavin was in our big stroller that had the larger canopy. We opened it up so Gavin couldn't see out of the stroller. We gave him his Leap Pad, headphones, snacks, candy, and toys and told him he wasn't allowed to open the canopy. He obeyed. We wanted to make sure Gavin wouldn't see any horrific images and pictures (there were many in the museum) or hear anything that could put fear in his heart. Miles was oblivious to everything. He snacked the entire time and played with the German audio guide. Brooklyn slept most of the time in the carrier so Brooks and I were able to take in all the information and really get a sense of what The Dachau Concentration Camp was about.
Just a little background information on the DCC: it was the first Nazi cc and was one that many other cc resembled and followed. Originally it was established to house political prisoners and opponents of the Nazi regime and later played a role in WWII. It was a work camp, where inmates were used for slave labor and constructing buildings. After the war broke out, the purpose of Dachau was a special prison for priests, those who went against the regime, Jews (and more), barbaric medical experimentation's were conducted here as well. Those who ran the cc systems were trained at Dachau. Initially, it was designed to hold just under 3,000 prisoners and later expanded to hold 6,000, but by the end of 1945 more then 30,000 people were jammed into Dachau Concentration Camp.
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| "Work Makes You Free" |
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| An example of one of the barracks where the inmates lived. |
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| The Second Crematorium |
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| Gas Chambers |
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| The backside of the entry gates. |
I'm so thankful that we made the decision to visit the camp and learn more of the history and background. It's sad to think that it wasn't that long ago when so many were killed and mistreated.
The next morning we woke up and headed to Salzburg, Austria for our next adventure.
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