Day 21 Photo Challenge

I know, I know... I've really not been good at this photo challenge, but I'm promis I am trying!  Doesn't help that work has been particularly busy these days...

Here's one of my favorite pictures from our Germany trip this January.  I love all of the hand painted work in this church!

Hope everyone is has a wonderful Easter Triduum!

Day 4 in Germany: Skiing in the Alps!

On the Friday of our trip, we went skiing in the German Alps in the city of Garmisch-Partenkirchen (a.ka. Garmisch-P).  We went with my little brother and his friend from school.  It was an overcast day, depending on where you were on the mountain!  By the end of the day, we were scarily skiing in a cloud.  A little bit of stats about the ski area:  altitude ranging from 2,297 to 6,725 feet and 25 miles of runs.  It is also home of the World Alpine Skiing Championships this month (going on until February 20th).  Here are some of the picture from our trip!

My brother, me, and Matt on the gondola.

Matt and I on the gondola... just to get to the bottom of the ski lifts!

Matt in the gondola after skiing!  You can see how foggy it got!

Me on the mountain!

Matt on the mountain!

The ski lifts... I actually took this while riding which freaked me out!

Matt on the ski lift... pardon the foggy glasses, its a hazard of being a glasses wearer and skiing!

View from above the clouds... BEAUTIFUL!

The base of the mountain where the train dropped us off, you can see where we rented our skis and some of the runs over to the right.

The gondolas on the way down... it was SUPER foggy when we left.  Couldn't see 20 feet in front of us or to either side... not exactly prime skiing conditions!

Germany Day 3:Part 3

Thursday of our trip, we went to a very touristy place for dinner, the [original] Hofbrauhaus.  Here are some pictures from our night out at the beer hall!

German folk music being played near our table!  Of course the men were wearing the traditional lederhosen (the women were wearing their dirndls).

Matt enjoying his mas bier (1 liter of beer).

Me working on my mas bier and brezel (soft pretzel) after finishing dinner.  I seriously could have survived the entire trip on brezel!

Group shot!

The keg & all of the glasses.  Servers had to have a key in the entire time they were filling glasses and they essentially locked the taps out after filling what they needed.  I wouldn't be surprised if people had tried to get free refills before!

The shelf of glasses before our meal (plus some random dude).

The shelf of glasses towards the end of our meal... they had already started refilling it with clean ones.  We weren't there longer than 2 hours or so.

Next up: Skiing in the Alps!

Germany, Day 3: Part 2

The afternoon after going to see some churches in Munich, Matt and I went to the Olympic park.  The 1972 Olympics were held there and perhaps more known for the tragedy of the hostage situation and murder of the Israeli Olympic team.  The day we visited was very rainy and cold, they were also setting up for another event so the pictures probably aren't the best.

The Olympic tower.

Main event indoor stadium... from what we can tell they use it for concerts and other events these days.

The swim hall, we peeked in and it was HUGE!

A really cool view of some awnings over a main walk I believe between the main building and the stadium.

A view of the stadium, every building seemed to be partially in the ground.  Nothing looked that big as you were walking up to it, but it was because over half of the structure was underground!

A close-up of the HUGE awnings... I couldn't tell if they were made of glass or some type of plastic, but they were very cool up close!

The soccer arena.

They were setting up for the downhill speed ice-skating race sponsored by Red Bull.  It looked CRAZY!

Me and the hubby waiting for the U-bahn to head back into town to meet Patch for dinner!

Germany Day 3: Part 1

The third day in Germany, we spent it around Munich.  My little brother had classes through most of the day, so we were on our own for the most part.  We spent the first part of the day near Marienplatz, which is the main town square that has town hall and the Glockenspiel.  We actually didn't get to see the Glockenspiel "go" on that day, but it's such a cool building!  Here are the pictures from the first part of the day:

One view of Frauenkirche (Cathedral of Our Lady), one of the steeples was being refurbished, but it is beautiful inside!

The doors at Frauenkirche, there were about 3 entrances on either side, all just as detailed!

This is the "Black Footprint", said to be the mark of where the devil came in & stomped on the flood because he was happy when he saw no windows.  When he took one more step he was disappointed to see all of the beautiful stained glass windows.  When you stand at this spot, you can not see any of the windows in the Church.

The Holy Family on display at Frauenkirche.

Matt going up the stairs to the top of St. Peter (Peterskirche), from the top of approximately 300 stairs you can view all across Munich.  On a clear day (not when we went) you supposedly can see the Alps.

My chicken butt going down.  No, I did not make it to the top because it was WINDY and rainy that day.  I am afraid of heights and simply could not handle it; I only went about 2/3 of the way up.  My wonderful husband went all the way to the top and got the pictures you'll see next.

The Glockenspiel (and "new" town hall)!

A view of Frauenkirche from Peterskirche.

Another portion of Munich.  It is amazing that in such a big city, they are still doing construction (or restoration).

More Munich!

Inside Peterskirche, not quite halfway towards the front of the church.

The ceiling at Peterskirche... Beautiful!

The Holy Family on display at Peterskirche.

The pulpit at Peterskirche, its actually in the middle of the church away from the alter.  Very different and neat!

Blessed Virgin Mary in Peterskirche.

Day 2 of Vacation: Part 2

The second part of our day, included a trip to a Gothic-style Catholic church called St. Johann or Asamkirche.  The church is the epitome of Gothic architecture!

The front of the church, it is not a free standing church, but shares walls with the adjoining buildings. 

The intricate wrought iron gate leading out of the narthex of the Church into the main part of the Church.

One of the many confessionals in this small church.

The second day in Germany was also our 3rd wedding anniversary!

My beer at dinner... we braved a German restaurant by ourselves since my brother had class!

Matt's beer at dinner for our anniversary (its Dark King Ludwig beer)

Hirschgarten, where we went to dinner for our anniversary.  Its the largest beer garden in Bavaria!

The champagne that the hotel surprised us with because my mom emailed them to tell them it was our anniversary.

Matt and I toasting to our anniversary and many more together!  (And yes, we look tired in most of our pictures.)