Castles of Germany - Closing out one EPIC Vacation

Day 12 - Hogwarts (Hohenschwangau/Neuschwanstein)

Due to the fact that we were staying at the COOLEST hotel of all time we were able to avoid waiting in hours of lines to get tickets to the castle. We had breakfast around 7:30 and had a 9:25am tour time which meant we needed to be making our way up the hill around 8:25. After much debate we decided to take the bus up rather than hike (my hiking shoes were RETIRED for this trip).  I'm fairly certain we were the only Americans on a bus full of Asian tourists.  Once up the hill we made our way to Marien's bridge - a very narrow suspension bridge that hold the very best pictures of the castle.  We were all getting a little on edge about being up close and personal with other tourists.  So this was a bit of a test on our patience on the narrow bridge.  We made it though, pictures in hand. 

The castle tour was great - it was about 1/3 finished with Ludwig died and was never fully finished like he had planned.  We were surprised at how modern it was for the times.  After the tour we made our way back to the town, got some pretzels to go (bc....of course and you never know when you are going to be stranded on a goat path in Germany) and we headed on our way to our very last stop of the trip - Waldeck. 

The drive to Waldeck was fairly uneventful.  We passed through some heavy traffic early on (traffic into Hohenschwangau was CRAZY) but that was pretty much it.  We stopped at a rest stop for lunch, paid for toillets, did hand signals to order our food and were then back on our way. JD drove pretty much the rest of the way.  We were all looking forward to two relaxing nights at our castle in Waldeck - and our spa day of course :)

Upon arriving at our castle in Waldeck we quickly found a place that we could have  beer, sit on the terrace and take in the view.  This was also the location of dinner - and was quite a fancy dinner at that. There was "free cucumber soup" that Bryce had to hold his nose to drink, a waitress who tried very hard to be a serious tough waitress but we knew she secretly loved us, a delicious 3 course meal of Pistachio Soup, beef, potato dumplings and chocolate mousse.   We had more wine/scotch to close out our night.  Late that night there was a very impressive storm that woke us all up but we all loved the location and had a great relaxing couple of days. 

On our last day we had big plans of massages and exploring the castle.  We had a slow start, late breakfast followed by each of us taking a turn for a massage.  We spent time out on the patio with beers and bratwurst and after everyone had gotten their massage we made our way to the castle museum to learn all about the torture techniques used onsite.  yikes!  To name just a few that we learned about....there was a public shaming cage that you could spin around to make the prisoner sick, whipping tools, some kind of a wheel and an actual beheading sword from the 1700s - yikes!  After our tour of the museum we went to find the cable car that took you down to the beach - because....no stone left unturned on this trip! This cable car was 50 years old and held 2 people per car - I'm fairly certain nothing has changed about this excursion in all of those 50 years!  We walked down to the Erdsee which was the largest manmade lake in Germany.  It was a Resevoir and dam that was made in the early 1900s. 

Upon coming back we (of course) found a place to have a few drinks and dinner.  During our last dinner we made a list of hashtags, or memories of the trip.  Not the things we saw....but the memories that the 4 of us created over the last two weeks.  We laughed so hard and reading over that list again I laughed all over again.  You won't find that list here.....come find our photobook and you can see it there and here all the stories behind those hashtags.  In the end, there are no 4 people better suited to 2 weeks of travel through Europe than the Woolards and Burkes.  YOu might think that you would get tired of being with someone for so long - we can truly and honestly say we had an absolute wonderful time with our dear dear friends.  To spend such a wonderful trip with two people that we don't see often enough was such a blessing.  Thank you Anne and JD for including us - we can't wait for our next adventure!  Love you! 

Gaining Perspective Through History and Bavarian Sausage

Days 10 & 11

Before we went on our trip we spent a lot of time researching the things we wanted to make sure that we saw.  I knew that when we went to Munich the others had not been to the Dachau Concentration Camp, but I had.  I wasn't particularly excited about seeing it again but insisted that we make the trip - it is important for everyone to see, feel and understand such a dark part to our history.  So this was the day, I knew it would be somber and we would need some lighthearted fun for later in the day.  We took off on the train and took the ~30 min trip out to the memorial site.  They have done a nice job of making a memorial at the site as well as historical representation for what life was like at the concentration camp.  You have the opportunity to see the private jail cells/offices for clergy and medical staff, an example of the barracks (original barrack buildings were taken down), and the crematorium.  All are very hard to walk through and read about.  The mood at the site is very somber (except for the approximately 1,589 students walking around...some of which were NOT being very respectful) and quiet.  The images from my first visit to this place were forever etched in my memory and I remember feeling very connected to my grandfather who was in some of the first American troops to liberate the camps in Germany.  While sad, I felt a great sense of pride for what he and his troop were faced with.  Those feelings were no different the second time.  The only difference was that I physically was not able to bring myself to enter the crematorium.  I remember this being particularly hard the first time and just couldn't bare to see it again.  I stayed outside while the others took a look.  We were all very grounded after visiting the site - it really sets perspective for what those people went through and makes you realize that it is up to every one of us to ensure it doesn't happen again.  Never Again. 

From there we headed back to the hotel.  It had started to rain so we decided that would be an EXCELLENT time for naps!  We met back up for cocktails at the happy hour our hotel hosted.  We decided another trip to the English Garden was in order - this time to find the surfers we had heard about and to MAYBE swim.  It was a fair bit cooler after the front moved through so we asked the front desk if the surfers would be doing their thing in the cold - they chuckled and said most definitely, they surf 365 days a year!  Off we went....train then bus and we found the surfing pretty easy.  They said you could see lots of people taking pictures on the bridge and they were right!  Like I said before the current running through this river in the park is very strong - this particular section was a man made part that made it possible to surf some intense stuff!  They were all geared up in wet suits and I'm telling you - you have to be a professional and know what you are doing to get out there!  They had a very organized approach to it and it was very cool to watch - different then anything I've seen!  From there we walked a little ways down and found a stand that sold beers - grabbed some and went to find a place by the river.  Bryce was determined to get in and float down the current (it really was like a strong lazy river!).  We all thought he was crazy (it really was much colder that day) but JD couldn't let Bryce do it alone and then Anne and I decided we couldn't let the boys do something we didn't do.  So we found a place behind a tree/bushes and changed into our swimsuits.  The water was cold, the floor rocky but we were doing it!  After finishing our beers we all took turns floating down the current - again, we couldn't let the boys do something that we passed on.  It was fun and a very unique part of our trip.  We had lots of good laughs particularly because there was a very naked man down the river from us- without a care or concern in the world. He even got a little cold and put a t-shirt on, but that was it :)   He is now forever known as "Bavarian Sausage" .

We ended our day with dinner at Augustine Keller - a big beer hall that was recommended to us by several people.  It had a huge beer garden with some of the best schnitzel we had on our trip.  After a few beers and pretzels (always pretzels!) we made our way back to our hotel - big day tomorrow with a drive to Eagles nest! My love for Munich runs deep - we all decided we must return, for me, I want to drink beer in Munich with my kids one day.  The people, atmosphere, food and drinks were all phenomenal and it just doesn't get much better!! 

Day 11 - Eagles Nest

Seeing the Eagles Nest was one of the things we were all MOST looking forward to.  I had not been on my previous trips and the history we were set to see we were all pumped for.  First we had to drive to the city of Burchtesgaden where we would meet our tour group.  This was the only thing we paid for a private tour and we were really glad we did!  We got lots of good history on the whole area around Eagles Nest and we really were glad to hear that!  We got on our bus and started up the mountain.  Our English speaking tour guide walked us through the WW2 history of the entire region.  Hitler didn't use Eagles Nest all that much once the war started but he did spend a lot of time at his summer home in the region.  Its where he wrote one of his books.  We stopped at the bunker museum and got to tour part of the bunker system.  It really is incredible how complex and vast the bunker system was and how it was built/etc.  Some of the proudest moments of our tour was hearing about and SEEING carvings in the bunker from both French and American troops when they took over the region from the Germans in May of 1945. 

We got to the top of the mountain and had arrived at the Eagles Nest!! The absolute coolest part was riding up in the same elevator that Hitler used at the location!  Up the elevator we saw the full building which is now not much more than a few rooms, dining room and deck area.  Walking outside of the Nest there are amazing views of both Germany and Austria.  Truly beautiful.  Before we left, JD and I did a fair bit of investigating in looking at the carvings on the marble fireplace in the sitting room.  You can see carvings from soldiers and tourists from the 40's to the 90s!  The Eagles Nest took 13- 18 months to build.  French soldiers took the bunkers on May 5, 1945 and American troops took the Eagles nest on the 6th of May.  So proud of our country for what they were able to do!

After we were done at the Eagles Nest it was 5pm and we knew we had a long drive to Hohenschwangau - aka Hogwarts aka Cinderella's castle.  This would end up being the MOST epic drive of the trip.  We hit 3 road closures not recognized by our car's GPS system, had to stop temporarily on the highway for a HAIL STORM (luckily no Mercedes 5 class's were harmed in this trip), enjoyed 4 schnitzels (that was all we could read on the menu in an off the beaten path town's only open restaurant), 3 beers and 1 cappuccino, saw 1 fox, 3-4 cats, cows, drove through many goat paths - it took 4 hours and 30 extra minutes and we even saw angry villagers carrying torches through one village we drove through.....BUT we MADE IT!  We though the night was all but done, ALMOST willing to admit that we shouldn't have made this leg of the trip at all.....but then we stumbled into our rooms at the Hotel Mueller in the town of Hohenschwangau and all was forgotten.  We each had private terraces with AMAZING views of Neuschwanstein (Burke's view) and the Hunting Lodge castle (Woolard Side) in the evening.  We had free wine waiting in our room, a private terrace with views of two of the most beautiful castles in Europe...Well....OK we can make this work then!  To make things even better.....our hotel got us signed up for tickets to see Neuschwanstein the next day - also something we were worried about that we hadn't gotten tickets ahead of time and would have to wait in line.  This hotel was worth every penny!! Amazing. 

Day of JD!

Day of JD! 

What's better than spending your 35th birthday with your wife and two best friends?  NOT MUCH!  This day we would be celebrating JD!  JD chose his Keystone Light shirt to wear on this special vacation - what says European vacation better than a Keystone Light shirt straight out of Macomb, IL.  We started our day of JD with breakfast at the hotel around 8:30.  Our first stop planned was at St. Peters Church which is right in the heart of Munich.  We got there a little after 9 and the Wednesday morning mass was in session.  We were shushed by a church worker and quietly walked around the back of the church during mass.  This was after I got in trouble for walking up the side of the church.  With that we decided to come back after church was out.  During our wait we did a little light shopping.  I found 4 small paintings from a painter that had set up an outdoor shop right outside of the church.  The painter was a nice guy who had spent several years in Key West. 

We made our way to the town center to watch the Glockenspiel chimes and after the show was over we made our way back to the church.  We toured the church and found some very interesting sites including the skeleton of a woman in a glass case from 310 AD - we were all pretty amazed by this. 

From here we would go to the only logical place for lunch and a beer - Hofbrau House!! The last time I had been at this place was when I was 16 years old with my high school German Club.  I loved it even more the second time!  We had our lunch - sausage and spaetzel and a liter of beer! While we waited for our food I even was able to re-create some classic pictures of my friend Tara from the first time we were at the Hofbrau Hause.  From our epic lunch we headed back to our hotel for naps - a MUST on JDs birthday!

After naps we made our way to the English Garden.  This is a big park similar to the size of New York's Central Park.  This happen to be the warmest day of our trip - in the mid 80's.  The English Garden has a really cool river that runs through it.  The water is crystal clear, cool and the current is FAST!  We didn't see it on this particular day but there is even a spot where they can SURF!  Given the warm weather the park was PACKED with people.  Students, families and everything in between.  People were wading and floating in the river - it really was something that we had never seen before!  We found our way to the Chinese Tower Beer garden - a huge beer garden in the heart of the English Garden. This would be by far the largest beer garden we saw and had beers in - people everywhere!  On the way back to the train we stopped to put our feet in the water and enjoy the sunshine - it really was an incredible day!

Once back by our hotel we decided to have a low key dinner at a little Italian restaurant and each had pizza - the boys had a VERY hot chilli sauce that left everyone sweating after trying a little!  After dinner we decided we hadn't had enough Hofbrau House so we headed back for one last beer - and shut the place down!  It closes fairly early - around 11pm.  We ended our night once again at Little London with several scotch drinks to close out JD's birthday celebration.  It was an amazing day - perfect weather, perfect city and perfect company!

Munich Bound

Day 8

It was time to take our travel team south - headed to Munich! Driving on the Autobahn was one of the things Bryce was most looking forward to - that said, it was a long drive to Munich.  We had a minimum of 5 hours ahead of us!  Luckily for Anne and I, we had two VERY comfortable captains chairs awaiting us while the boys drove/navigated from the front. 

Now like I said the boys were really looking forward to this drive - no speed limit?  Fast car?  They were pumped.  They learned pretty quickly that really all it meant was that they could drive as fast as they wanted but that was only possible as traffic allowed.  That said, Bryce hit 126 mph and JD hit 118.  Typical driving speed was probably more like 95 or so. 

We started our day at Dunkin Donuts with some disappointing day old donuts and cold eggs for Anne.  From there we drove and drove and drove.  we stopped for lunch at a Subway which, surprisingly was like it was straight out of the States....it REALLY  hit the spot! As we got closer to Munich we decided that we should definitely try to hit up a brewery before landing in Munich.  After googling "Worlds Oldest Brewery" we ended up at Weihenstephan Abbey in Freising.  After about 45 minutes of circling the city we finally found it and quickly got to drinking to shake off the drive anxieties.  The brewery had a fabulous beer garden that did just the trick.  After we were there for a few minutes I noticed a group of 3 women sitting next to us that seemed to be American - after a few minutes they struck up a conversation with us also noticing that we seemed to be talking just like them :)   Come to find out they were from Wisconsin and Chicago - Midwesterners even!!  Sometimes you meet people on vacation and it just feels like you could have been friends for life - we were so lucky to meet you girls!!

Moving on from our lovey visit we headed towards Munich - it was a short 30 minute drive to the city.  After checking into our accomodations - Hotel Trobrau, we headed a few blocks away into the heart of Munich at the plaza.  The love that I have for this city can not be expressed in words.  All of those feelings I had for this place over 15 years ago came flooding back - I could come back a million times and love it even more each time!  We got a table outside at Schneider Brauhaus and had some more wonderful traditional German food.  After dinner we strolled around the Rathaus and ended our night with a night cap at a place called Little London - lots of whiskey/bourbon options and super close to our hotel - perfect.  It was a simple day filled with little surprises that made the 5 hour drive so much better!

Berlin in a Day!

Day 7 - Today we would work HARD to pack as much of Berlin in as possible!  WW2, Cold War, Berlin Wall, Museums....let's do it ALL!

We started our morning off with an AMAZING breakfast at a place called Einsteins - not like the ones in America.  We had a pretty American breakfast which was a great start to our day.  We took off on our adventure to see as much as possible in the city.  First stop was to find the Fuhrer Bunker.  Now, this isn't actually a thing any more so we were looking for a parking lot with a sign to show you that you found it.  This is the location of Hitler's bunker where he and Ava Brown committed suicide at the end of WW2.  The city of Berlin decided long ago to demolish the bunker and to NOT make it a site to be seen.  We read about the location and what happened there and then moved along to our next stop.  As horrible as the history is it really is amazing to be standing in the places where so much history was made. 

Off we went to Checkpoint Charlie!  This was the US run checkpoint that marked the border between East and West Berlin.  The checkpoint itself is a small building with a few American flags and lots of tourists.  Around the area there is an outdoor museum that walks through the events of the Cold War and through the years of the Berlin Wall.  I really enjoyed reading about the history especially since it really is such recent history that our parents even experienced. 

After we took in Checkpoint Charlie we were wondering around a bit seeing some of the city when I realized I had lost our Berlin Welcome Card tickets.....Yep....those expensive tickets that Bryce didn't think we should buy in the first place?  Those.  #sigh.  I quietly told Anne then went to meet my maker and told Bryce.  She quietly told JD and we continued on our walk, quietly.  JD talked quietly to Bryce and I talked quietly to Anne.  I'm telling you the four of us are the BEST travel partners ever - we can pull each other through even the hardest of times - effortlessly :)

Anyway....of we went to the Berlin Wall Memorial - a must see for our group.  Here we were able to see one of the deadliest areas where so many people tried to pass across and failed.  Big parts of the wall were still up for the memorial and they had the memorial situated so that you could get a perspective for how that area looked when the wall was functional and in place.  There was a memorial for those who tried to cross and failed - it was heartbreaking to see old, young and even children that died trying to cross to the other side.  It really gives you perspective about a lot of the wall conversations happening today in our own country!  After taking in the memorial we had lunch at a small café right outside of the memorial. 

From there we would make our way to Museum Island.  Fun fact....2 of the 4 museums on the island (called an island because it is between two rivers) are closed on Monday...the day we were there.  Now...we found this out AFTER buying those damn Berlin Welcome Cards so we were scared to tell the guys because that was part of our justification for them being worth it.  We hadn't told the guys this just yet :).  When we got there we were super thankful there were still some museums open....we made our way to the line for the Pergamon Museum - lots of amazing artifacts from the middle east especially the reconstructed Pergamon Altar and the Ishtar Gate of Babylon. 

After the Museum we walked down by the Berlin Cathedral and did pass backs on Anne and JD's Welcome Cards (yep....we learned something in college) to go in and look around.  During our wait we enjoyed some sunshine out in the park while a street band played, ate ice cream and relaxed.  It was pretty much perfect! 

After all of these destinations there was only one thing to do....grab a table by the river, have some beers and take in all the people watching reminiscing on our day!  It was an absolutely beautiful evening and the perfect cap to our tourist destinations.  After a couple beers we headed back towards the hotel - on the way we passed a place that had a used book sale.  I had heard about this place so I was glad we stumbled upon it!  Bryce found a book on St. Louis written in English but by a German author!  Cool find! 

Moving towards our hotel we freshened up quickly and headed to the concierge for help with dinner reservations.  We were in the mood for sushi!  He recommended a great local favorite so we hopped in a taxi and made our way there.  The sushi was VERY good and we were really enjoying ourselves.....until I was almost robbed.  Well....that sounds a little dramatic.  We were sitting at a bench style table with someone sitting with their back to mine.  I kept feeling him rustling around and did feel like my purse kept getting bumped.  I went all Midwest nice and gave him the benefit of the doubt - we must just be sitting too close!  Well...a VERY nice waitress saw what he was doing (trying to rummage through my purse) and came to stand in between us - she asked me to quickly make sure I wasn't missing anything while they chased the guy off.  Unfortunately this kind of thing happens a lot in the city - just because we weren't in a touristy destination doesn't mean we shouldn't have been on guard!  Lesson learned!  Luckily he didn't get anything, we had more sushi and another drink and saved the night!  On the way back home we stopped in an honest to god Salsa Bar where they were all dancing the Salsa - it looked straight out of Dirty Dancing!  We didn't stay....but it was a cool find!

Like most nights we closed our night with a few bourbons at the hotel bar.  This particular night JD thought he ordered Johnny Blue....but it wasn't. We all got a good laugh out of that.  Tomorrow we would be heading south for Munich!  Car.  Day!!

Deutschland! East Berlin/West Berlin....wait, what side are we on?

Day 6 - Travel day to Berlin

Our plane was set to leave from Stavenger at 10am.  Everything went great and we saw yet another perfectly clean airport in Norway - I swear this entire country was pristine!!  We had another layover in Amsterdam - we would be in that airport twice on this trip - and finally arrived around 2:30 ish in Berlin.  Our first stop was to pick up our car (this would probably be the first logistical mistake in Germany....stay tuned). 

Now....renting a car - seems like a fairly straight forward part of the planning process right?  Well...this was a VERY important step for the boys that included lots of research and decision making.  One word....Autobahn.  Next words....no speed limit.  Apparently this means that you need to get the MOST badass car possible for 4 people, 4 roller suitcases and 4 book bags.  So after much research the boys landed on a Mercedes S Class...230.  Now.  I know NOTHING about Mercedes but DAMN....S Class?  This was the nicest 4 door car I've been in.  The car basically drove itself but it also spoke German when we were introduced so that was the first order of business.  30 min later and a quick tutorial from the technician and she was speaking English :)  Anne and I had some sweet captains chairs in the back that were pure luxury.  The boys got to work on getting us to our hotel - in the middle of Berlin.  The trip was actually pretty straightforward and we were there before we knew it.  Right next to the same kind of rental car company - bahahaha!  So after we drove it into the city and paid to park for 2 nights we could have picked a car up right by our hotel - O well....you live you learn. 

Moving on, we were staying at the Hotel Adlon which is a historic hotel right next to the Brandenburg Gate!  Check that off the list!  Very cool area with lots of tourists and people watching :)  As we checked into the hotel it was clear this would be the most luxurious of all our hotels.  With the closet, WC, Bathroom, it was like a 4 room suite!  We would do our best to fit in drinking fancy bourbon at the bar. 

We headed out to check out some sights after getting to the hotel around 4pm.  We walked past the Holocaust Memorial which were a bunch of rectangle cement structures that represented all that died during that horrible time. 

From there we caught a cab to the Monkey Bar!  This was a bar on the top floor of a hotel right next to the Berlin Zoo - a very hip place to have a drink!  360 degrees view of the city and you can look down on the monkey cages!  Even at 5pm it was crazy busy.  We had a few great drinks and a snack just to ease everyone's anxiety of being in a new place we had to get the hang of.  From there we ate outside along the street at a restaurant called Brauhaus and had our first German dinner.  We had a great waiter who spoke 4 languages and entertained us while we were there.  On the way back we saw the Wilhelm - a bombed out church that the city left as was after war to show the devastation that the city saw.  You can still see places where buildings were hit with shrapnel all over the city but for the most part everything is built up like you would never know.  This church though represented what it was like just after the war - pretty cool to see. 

On our way home we bought Berlin Welcome Cards at the Subway station that would get us into museums and give us our transportation tickets.  The boys were not bought in but Anne and I were CERTAIN these were the best way to go.  We were bound and determined to make it worth our money....stay tuned for more on that tomorrow. 

Back to the hotel and a few before bed drinks would close out our first night in Berlin! 

Stevanger and the EPIC Pulpit Rock Hike!

There are several days on our trip that are lovingly referred to as travel days....lots of modes of transportation, not a lot of action outside of said modes of transportation.  Lucky for us Norway provides some pretty incredible views to help pass the time on our 5+ hour trip to Stavenger! 

We started our day with breakfast at our hotel in Bergen.  We also had just a little bit of time to walk the wharf and do a little shopping once the shops opened at 9am.  We found a cool Christmas shop where I found some Christmas ornaments and tiny Christmas music boxes for the kids.  We made our way to the bus station and boarded the bus at 10am.  We would be on this bus for quite a while.  About 30 min in I quickly realized that I would either need a Dramamine or Sleep to make it through this bus ride without getting sick.  I chose to do both :)

Despite my haze, we were able to take in some pretty breathtaking views between Bergen and Stevanger.  We even got to be on 2 separate ferrys which really broke up the trip nicely.  There were many underground tunnels as we approached Stevanger - one that even went under the water!  The concept of that pretty much blew our minds - shout out to all you engineers out there that figure that kind of stuff out. 

We arrived in Stevanger and it was POURING - harder rain than we had seen on our trip.  Because we had at least a 10 minute walk to our B&B we decided to catch a cab - the first on our trip.  5 min later and we had arrived at Darby's Inn - a beautiful quaint little B&B in Stevanger that was run by a sweet couple named Paul and Wenche (pronounced VEN-KE.....we discovered this was how she pronounced her name after Anne was talking with Paul and asked how to pronounce her name.  Paul was English so understood the English way to pronounce her name.....he told Anne..."its Ven-ke...not Wench - bahahahaha). 

After getting settled we were ready to see Stevanger.  We made our way down to the Harbor and the action.  We ate dinner at a lovely restaurant recommended by our hosts.  We were all fairly delirious and had trouble deciding where to sit/etc.  I am pretty sure the hostess thought we were crazy stupid Americans.  It got even better when Anne, trying to talk to the local, asked if their salad came with "leaves" - I still laugh about this as I am typing.  It would be a nice little joke for the rest of our trip :)

During our dinner it was raining and pouring outside....lucky for us after we got done eating the SUN CAME OUT!!!  This was a very exciting idea to sit on a patio, by the Harbor enjoying a few cocktails while the sun was out!  Well I think all of Stevanger had the same idea!  There were so many people out, a live band and very lively atmosphere in the Harbor that night!  We had an awesome time at the first bar listening to the live band.  We even saw Anne's brother's doppelganger.  This was the first time we sat outside and didn't need to use bar supplied blankets and heat lamps in Norway!  After we left that bar we were walking back towards our B&B (actually like 2 doors down from the first bar) when we heard Shaggy being played at a bar.....it drew us in and we couldn't say no.  This was a great place that played all American music and we were all feeling good. 

Luckily for Bryce, JD and I we had Anne (ie the voice of reason) to tell us it would be a REALLY good thing to get a good night's sleep because the next day was PULPIT rock!  We needed to be on our best behavior.....so she drug us out of there not quite kicking and screaming.  We would thank her the next day :) Time to rest up for one of the biggest days on our trip!!! 

PULPIT ROCK HIKE DAY!!!!

As we were researched and preparing for this trip, Pulpit Rock was clearly the frontrunner for the highlight of the whole trip and man.....we were right.  This day goes down as one of (if not THE) craziest thing I have ever done.  I have not had an adrenaline rush like this ever in my life.  It was hard (so hard), amazing, terrifying and unbelievable all at the same time. 

We started our day by taking the 9:45am ferry (Anne would have preferred the 8:15 but we convinced her otherwise - see above :)).  After a ~45 min ferry ride we hopped on a bus for another 30 min drive up to the start of the hike.  We were able to start our hike up around 11am.  Preikstolen = Pulpit Rock in the local language.

This would be an 8 mile hike- 4 up and 4 back.  Now.....everything we read said that this hike was good for ALL age types and good for beginners.  SO....we were feeling pretty good about ourselves.  5 min in the boys were starting to worry the whole hike would be up a gravel trail.....HA! 15 min and after our first climb I was dying and beginning to get worried about how far my legs would make it!  These were steep trails we were climbing!  Now...when we were kayaking the girls on our tour had already hiked pulpit - they said it was good but SO CROWDED.  It was definitely crowded - with all kinds of people in all kinds of athletic shape.  I couldn't believe the ages/athletic ability of some people attempting this climb!

Now the whole climb wasn't as bad as that first climb.....but it wasn't far off!!  There is no way we would designate this as beginner OR for all ages!  I'm still amazed at the people carrying toddlers on their backs or baby's in slings up this thing....really impressive!  It took everything I had to carry my own body up there!  OK so the hike up took around 2 hours - we really didn't stop much.  Only a couple quick stops for pictures/light exploring at some of the more expansive parts of the hike - most of the way was pretty narrow climbs with LOTS of people....just not good places to stop! 

Finally, we were there.  And the words that I am going to type will NOT do this justice.  the scenery was unbelievable.  Now, Bryce and I have seen some pretty beautiful scenery in our travels - in fact every year we go to one of the most beautiful places in the world in my opinion - Breckenridge, CO.  BUT what made this that much more impressionable was the fact that we were seeing this while ~1-2 feet away from an open cliff that would carry us to our death....no guard rails, NOTHING.  OH.....and with LOTS of people all around you.  I still get an adrenaline rush just by looking at those pictures.  Finally we were AT the Pulpit.  And there were tons of people out on that thing.  We had joked up until this point that we would be crawling to the edge on our bellies....you know what we did???  Crawled to the edge on our bellies.  To say the edge of that rock was terrifying does not even describe it - the biggest adrenaline rush of my life.  And what was happening around us??  A guy dangling his feet (one of many) over the edge eating a can of corn, people standing at the point of the rock, jumping in the air and taking a picture (sorry Bryce for telling you someone was jumping without clarifying it was for a picture and not a suicide), TODDLERS running around on leashes (just let that sink in), babies hanging out in backpacks and slings, people just having the time of their lives.  Now.....we LOVED every minute of this experience - but to say we were comfortable up there would be an outright lie.  We took some pics after climbing to the edge on our bellies and then GOT.  THE.  HECK. TO.  SAFETY. 

We found a place to climb up a little ways that would be a good place for lunch and view of all the crazies out on this hike with us.  It was awe inspiring to see older folks, kids, parents and all types that took this trek up the mountain to see Pulpit Rock.  After about an hour total on top we started our way back down.  Just because we were going down didn't make it easy....every step was a possibility for a twisted ankle so care had to be taken.  My legs were total jello.  Luckily 1.5 hours later we made it down safely, exhausted and ready for a break.  This trip would give me one of the biggest surprises about my spouse....he DOES NOT care for situations with cliffs that drop off and lots of people around to worry about.  After nearly 15 years with a person you don't get many chances to learn something new about a person - but I learned something on this day :)

That night wee had dinner at a place called Villa 22 along the harbor - had some pizzas and beers.  We moved along to some drinks at a bar called Social Bar. After being there about 30 min two local gals sitting next to us struck up a conversation.  This would be the first time (but not the last) on our trip that we were asked "Did you vote for Trump" which was an interesting conversation.  One gal was Norweigen but grew up in Canada and the other was local but was born in England.  It's always interesting to get a foreigner's perspective on our political situation....needless to say we didn't all align eye to eye but you rarely do even in our country.  It was a nice conversation and we really enjoyed meeting some new people!  It was at this point of the trip we decided that I needed a shirt...."I voted for Trump and I work for Monsanto".....I'm sure people would love me that much more :)

Back to the hotel- we had another travel day ahead of us!  Our trip part 1 to Norway would be complete and it absolutely did not disappoint.  This country is breathtaking and if you love the outdoors you need to experience it first hand - hiking, kayaking, the whole thing.  There are lots of cruises that go in and out and around Norway - we saw those ships everywhere.  If you are adventurous enough though - I would HIGHLY recommend getting into the country and doing all of these activities.  Bucket list worthy FOR SURE and we didn't even see 25% of it.  We talked and really wouldn't have changed hardly anything on our trip so far - except maybe for packing some warmer clothes that were water proof :) This country is gorgeous and impeccably well maintained.  The people take HUGE pride in their country and it is one of the cleanest I've ever seen - everything about it is clean and well maintained - and in the summer there are flowers EVERYWHERE!!  Highly recommend! 

On to Deutschland!!!