The Beginning and the End.

A little bit late, but here's my goodbye to Garmisch!

After coming back from Greece, my last week in GAP flew by. Last days of work, Aran coffee dates, one last Bollywood meal, lots of packing, and spending time with some of my favorite people!

It was hard to say goodbye, and I will definitely miss my little mountain town.... people watching and the BEST coffee @ Aran, hiking in the Alps, and being able to ride my bike anywhere I need to go.  I've enjoyed living in never-never land for the past year and feel blessed to have been able to visit so many new places.  

Here's a look back at a few of my favorite things in GAP! 

My room...though I won't miss the community bathrooms! 

My daily bike ride to work on the Kinder Path!

Endless hours at Aran! 

Zugtown! 

The Partnach Gorge

Postcard-esque Views

The Eibsee

Hikes to the Halfway House

And now it's off to a new adventure in Williamsburg! But I will never forget all the memories, places, and friends from my time in GAP.  Hopefully I'll be back some day.

The End!

Greece!

I just returned from my last trip... Greece! It was so nice to take what actually felt like a vacation, laying on the beach rather than sightseeing.  Haley, Morgan, and I headed to Athens last Monday.  We spent Monday in Athens, and one day there was plenty for us. We got to see the Acropolis, but the rest of Athens was extremely dirty and overly crowded.  So we were ready to head to Santorini.

 The Parthenon at the Acropolis

After a 6 hour ferry ride, we made it to the island and our hotel on Kamari Beach. The hotel was great and right on the beach!

We spent most of our time at the beach or pool finally getting TAN.  There was not a cloud in the sky for the entire trip, such a pleasant change from Garmisch.

We did take a day excursion out to the volcano which is located on a nearby island.  We chose to walk down the 530+ steps to the port rather than ride the smelly donkeys.

We climbed on lots of volcanic ash in our flipflops... maybe not the smartest idea.

We also spent some time in Fira and Oiya, 2 cliff side towns on Santorini.  Beautiful views of the white cliff side buildings, just like you see in all the pictures.

 And beautiful sunsets too!

We were so sad to leave and of course arrived back to Garmisch in the rain. Now time to enjoy a few last days in here before heading home!

Passion Play

This week, Maeg and I finally took our long awaited trip to Oberammergau to see the Passion Play. The Passion Play happens only every 10 years, and we were lucky enough to be here for it! As you can see from the picture above, there were lots and lots of tourists coming to the event.

Just a little history for you... the Passion Play began in 1633, during the time when the plague hit most of Europe.  The people of Oberammergau vowed to portray the passion of Christ every 10 years, and from that moment on, no one in the town was killed by the plague.

Since then, the Passion Play has been performed every 10 years, with over half of the town's residents participating in the play. 

They constructed a building specifically for the Passion Play. 

The play lasted 5 and a half hours, with a 2 hour intermission in the middle. Luckily, the guidebook had the entire script in English for us which helped tremendously. 

 View from inside. The seating area is covered but the stage is open-air. 

It was truly a once in a lifetime experience, and one I'll never forget!

Now gearing up for one last trip to Greece! Hoping that the volcano does not interrupt our plans! 

More Visitors...

Dad and Claudia left on Thursday... and Theresa and Greg arrived! Theresa is one of my best friends from St. Louis, so it was nice to have visitors from home! Unfortunately the rain continued, but we didn't let that stop us.  We hiked the Kramer in the rain.... and by the time we got to the top it was snowing!  We had very cold fingers and toes but it was so much fun! We stopped at the halfway house to warm up on the way down.  After warm showers, we headed into town for coffee at Aran... my favorite place! We had dinner with my girlfriends at La Baita, a local Italian restaurant (Theresa was not such a fan of German food).  Then we went to Jameson for open mic night and had a fun night out! 

Saturday, we opted for an easier hike... the Partnach gorge. Then lunch and a tour of base and Edelweiss. Theresa and Greg already flew back to the States yesterday after their quick European tour.

I think my tour guiding skills have definitely improved over the last 2 weeks! I am ready to relax for a little bit before it's time for my last adventure to Greece!

See ya'll in a month!

Dad and Claudia's Visit

Dad and Claudia are visiting! Unfortunately the first several days in Garmisch were, well, typical Garmisch weather... cloudy and rainy. But we still had fun venturing around town. We walked around Garmisch and Partenkirchen and toured Edelweiss.  We walked through the Partnach Gorge and had lunch with the girls at our favorite restaurant.

Then it was off to Vienna for a few days! After trying for a long long time, we finally got the GPS programmed and made our way through Austria.  Dad learned that it's quite a challenge to park in Europe, but we made it. We went to the ballet, Coppelia, at the famous StaatOpera House.  It was great! Then we headed to the Sacher Cafe for a taste of the famous Sacher torte-- an apricot and chocolate cake that originated in Salzburg.

View from our hotel window

StaatOpera

We also walked around the town center, visited Saint Stephen's Cathedral, finally found the Mozart Statue, and toured the Hofburg Palace. 

Mozart

One day we took the ferry over to Bratislava, Slovakia. It is a lot smaller than Vienna, but still lots of tourists! It is a cute town, and we got to see their famous statues placed around the city... and several street performers mimicking them.

One of the many statues

Then we headed back to Garmisch with a quick lunch stop in Salzburg. We saw the Mirabell Gardens... much prettier with all the flowers compared to last time I was there.

Fruhlingsfest (Spring Festival) came to Garmisch, so Dad and Claudia did get to experience a mini Octoberfest.  Finally we had a nice day in Garmisch so we took the train to the top of the Zugspitze and visited the Eibsee lake.

Top of the Zuggy....still very cold!!

One more day trip to Verona, Italy. Morgan joined us too! We saw their famous Roman Amphitheater, the 3rd oldest in the world.  Also walked under the bridge with a whale's rib suspended from it. According to the legend, if you have never told a lie, the rib will fall on you when you walk under it....so far it had never fallen!

View from the top of the Ampitheater

The famouse whale's rib

One of the many tiny car filling the streets of Italy

On their last day in Garmisch, we hiked to the Halfway house in the rain, and then spent some time in town. We had to go back to Zumwildshutz for more potato soup.... Dad's favorite part of the whole trip! Then it was back to the US for them... and I'll be there shortly too!

Zugtown Camping Trip

This past weekend, the Zuggy's crew took a camping trip to Lake Bled in Slovenia.  Despite the oh so cold temperature, we had a blast!

Unfortunately it was not soo sunny. 

We hiked through the Vintar gorge, and a few of us decided to get in.....

In the evening, we built a campfire and Gabe cooked us some delicious curry chicken... the most gormet campfire meal I've ever had.  We did hear some rustlings in the woods and all got a little bit scared. We still don't know what it was, so that made for a little excitement!

The next day we woke up and made eggs for breakfast.... which took quite a long time to cook on the fire! Then we visited the castle in town and bottled our own wine with the help of a monk! We were hoping to canoe out to the island in the center of the lake but it was so cold and windy that we decided coffee and the campfire would have to do.  

The monk helping Brad bottle wine

Then it was time to pile back into our big blue van and head back to Garmisch in time for work!
Looking forward to the next Zuggy's trip to Cinque Terre!

Our First Taste of Summer

Haley and I just got back from a short weekend trip to Belek, Turkey!  We booked an all-inclusive package with a travel agent in Garmisch. Even though we were staying at a 5 star resort on the beach, we were a little nervous because Eastern European "5 star" standards are a little different than ours. But our hotel, Crystal Resort and Spa, was gorgeous! Everything turned out perfect, and it was so nice to stay at a nice hotel with our own space instead of our usual hostel experience.

Yay we made it and the hotel is nice!

View from the balcony of our hotel room

We spent the first day laying by the pool and at the beach, relaxing. It was warm, but not hot hot, so we didn't think we needed sunscreen... maybe not the best choice as we are both a little red now! We also got massages. We were a bit surprised to walk in and find 2 men in sarongs...??? Turns out part one was actually a Turkish bath.  They use a special scrub and lots and lots of bubbles. Quite an experience, which was followed by a more traditional aroma therapy message.

Our spot by the pool

Day 2 we decided to take a tour and see a little bit of Turkey.  The tour was all in German since we booked our trip through a German travel agent, which made things a bit interesting.

 We thought we would be surrounded by retired Germans, but we weren't the youngest ones on our tour... this is Sofia--precious but very whiny! 

We visited the town of Manavgat. First we stopped at a waterfall and then a "market" which was more like a knock off junk store.

Then we took a little boat cruise and spent some time on the beach.  After we visited a Mosque where we were required to take off our shoes and cover our heads as is the custom in the Islamic religion.  We also heard the Islamic prayer, the Salaat broadcast from the Mosques, which happens 5 times a day.

 The Mosque... notice the 4 towers, or Minarets--each one has a speaker to broadcast the Salaat. 

We finished a tour by visiting a "bazaar," or street market.  We stopped in a bakery to get a little taste of one of our favorite Turkish treats... baklava.  The worker did not know any English, so we ended up with a whole box of baklava which we had no problem finishing!

Our favorite Turkish treat, baclava

 We ended the tour just in time to catch the end of the sunset back at the resort

Then it was already time to go back to the airport. We had a bit of a scary flight home with lots of turbulence. We felt like we were on a roller coaster for most of the ride, but we made it safely to Munich after what felt like an eternity.  Caught the train back to Garmisch just in time for me to head directly to work for a busy night in Zuggy's! 

I think it is finally spring here in Garmisch, and I can ride my bike to work again! We are already planning some fun warm weather activities here, and hopefully soon it will be as warm here as it was in Turkey!

My Birthday in Budapest

Walking Across the Chain Bridge

Chenea and I ventured to Eastern Europe for the week... Budapest, Hungary! We did run into a few obstacles along the way, but we had fun.

We decided it would be a good idea to drive since it was cheaper than flying.... which worked out fine until we got into the city.  "Jill," our handy GPS, kept telling us to cross a bridge that was not cross-able by car. But eventually we figured it out and made it to the hostel, where the hostel attendant helped us park the car in the ever-so-narrow street! But we could not get the parking machine to work so we thought it would be okay if we left the car for a little while until we moved it.... oops. We ended up getting not just 1, but 2 tickets, which we, of course, couldn't read. So we ended up paying a little more for parking than we intended!

Budapest is actually divided by the Danube River into 2 parts, Buda on one side and Pest on the other.  We stayed in Pest where most of the excitement is!  We walked A LOT and saw pretty much everything our favorite tour guide, Rick Steves, recommended.  Churches, Parliament, shopping, and eating of course!

The Holocaust Memorial

For my birthday, we went out to eat at a Mexican restaurant! Quite a treat since Mexican food doesn't really exist in Garmisch. The best part may have been the fresh squeezed lemonade... best I've ever tasted! We liked it soo much that we even went back a second time.

We also went to the Hungarian Baths...what an experience. We took Rick's recommendation and chose the one that is more local, and less touristy. Maybe not the best choice because nothing was in English and no one spoke English.We eventually figured it out and enjoyed some time outside in the large heated pools.  Never would I have thought I'd be swimming outside in March.

We spend the evening at the Opera... Budapest has one of the best opera houses, aside from Vienna. I'm still trying to figure out the story, though, since it was in Italian. But it was very beautiful and my first opera experience. It did have 2 intermissions which was very confusing... we almost left at the second one but then realized it wasn't over yet!

The first 2 days were cold but sunny, but the 3rd day was snowy! We went over to Buda for the day and visited Castle Hill, but by the end we were so wet and cold we headed for the mall. After a little shopping, we also saw Alice in Wonderland, also a treat since the closest movie theater to us is in Munich!

Castle Hill in the Snow

Now it is back to work in Garmisch for a few days until Haley and I take a little getaway to somewhere warm next week!

Adventures Throughout My 23 Years

Mom suggested I blog about all the places I've been so far, so I decided to take her up on the idea.
Hopefully I can remember all of my adventures!

I know I started traveling at quite a young age to one of my favorite places... Grandma and Grandpa's condo in the Lake of the Ozarks.  Favorite memories include stopping in Rolla to get BBQ ribs (although the highlight for me was actually getting the Andy's mints they sold at the counter), getting to unbuckle my seat belt and ride in the front seat once we hit the gravel road, our traditional 4th of July week trips, and of course swimming endless laps in the pool.  I even snuck in one solo trip with just my friend Lauren....although I guess Grandma and Grandpa didn't trust me because they sold the condo shortly after! Mom and Dad used to always ask me where I wanted to go, and I always just wanted to go to the lake... nowhere else... oh how that's changed these days!

And of course there is also the Kremer side tradition, our family reunions in Cherokee Village, Arkansas.... never heard of it? Well, yes, it is kind of in the middle of nowhere, but we always had fun on our annual trips.... canoeing, rafting, boating, and playing lots of cards! Hopefully, I will actually be able to make it this year, since I haven't been to the past few.

Next, I remember getting to miss a week of 2nd grade (I think) to go to Disney World! I didn't really like the rides.... except for It's a Small World... I'm sure Mom and Dad never wanted to hear that song again after the trip was over.  I much preferred to get my autograph book signed by all the characters. The Genie was my favorite because he didn't let the big kids butt in front of me!  I also had a scare when Bear went missing when the cleaning ladies washed the sheets... but luckily they were able to find her!

Then, I won the 8th grade Pro-Life essay contest at school, which meant I got to attend the Pro-Life March in D.C.  Dad agreed to chaperon, which he probably regretted after our 22 hour bus ride to D.C. And once we finally made it, we only actually stayed for about 12 hours!

Then, Mom and I had our traditional trip to Saugatuck, Michigan, where we stayed at LakeShore Resort and got to walk on the beach every morning.  Quite a relaxing getaway! 

Our tradition of writing in the sand at every beach we visit! 

And then our high school long-awaited junior trip to Memphis, where we visited Beal Street.
Next were lots of college visit trips. Boston with Mom. It snowed a foot... not the best for touring college campuses.  Xavier, Dayton, University of Illinois, and Illinois Wesleyan with dad, and then finally I decided on Tulsa.

Then came the fun post-graduation trips.  First I was off to Disney World with my engineering class.  We entered the parks early and learned how the rides actually worked. And I finally rode my first roller coaster, Space Mountain, and loved it! 

Though I still loved pictures with the characters! 

 Shortly after, I was off on my first European adventure, this time with my French class. We took a 2 week tour around France.  I loved Nice, and we just missed Tom Cruise proposing to Katie Holmes at the top of the Eiffel Tower... I remember being really sad about that.  Climbing to the top of the tower and parasailing in the Mediterranean were my favorite memories!

Lauren and I by the Eiffel Tower!

Next, I headed to Tulsa, which led to many college trips to visit friends, the first one being to Colorado to visit Alivia over Christmas break. I had my first skiing experience!

  Over the summer, I was off to to Rio Rancho, New Mexico, to visit my best friends Jeneva, Amanda, and Alison.

 I had my first four-wheeling experience in the mountains of New Mexico! 

And then a trip sophomore year to good ol' Sherman, Texas, to visit the Hubbert triplets and see why they kept telling my Texas was soo great. And I can't forget my first trip to Chicago for spring break with Monica.... who had a herneated disk in her back so she couldn't sit for the entire trip! haha... that made things interesting.

I think the Chicago skyline is a little better than the STL one! 

Next was study abroad in Salamanca, Spain. During my time, I visited lots of places beginning with London.

 Big Ben! 

Then off to Lisbon, Morroco and all over Spain.... Malaga, Barcelona, Madrid, San Sebastian, Santander, Bilbao, Sevilla, Granada, and lots of little towns along the way. 

 

 My travel partner, Abigail and I in Sevilla, Spain.

 The girls in Lisbon!

 Riding a camel in Marrakesh!

During my time in Spain, I made a new best friend.. Ash. I made my first trip to Cali to visit her in LA the following spring break. Let's just say I'm more than a little jealous of the 5 minute bike ride from her house to the beach. We also visited Orange County and Laguna Beach, and I think we got frozen yougurt.. the big fad at the time, at least once a day.... maybe more.

Ash and I on the famous Rodeo Drive

Then it was time for law school visits.... a good father daughter trip to Virginia and D.C.  Lot's of schools and a bit of sightseeing along the way as well.

Good view of the Washington Monument

Next, we headed to New York for my long awaited trip to see the huge Christmas tree.  Ash joined us for the trip. Highlights include see the Rockettes and Matt and Meredith on the Today Show.  We are just not cold weather people though, so we were ready to get back to our warmer states by the end. 

Ash and I

I think that brings us to the present!  And you've already heard about all of my adventures over the last year...Lake Garda, Italy, rafting in Austria, jazz festival in Montreux, Switzerland, Amersterdam with Rach, Copenhagen, Malmo, Krakow, Italy with Mom, Prague, my solo trip to Berlin, and one of my favorites, Dublin.  Still on the list: Croatia, and my last and much-anticipated trip to Greece! And I am heading to Budapest tomorrow to celebrate my birthday with Chenea!

I have been blessed to see so many places and am looking forward to seeing many more in my next 23+ years!  Top on my list...the Northwest to visit Rachel, Australia, New Zealand, and Canada!