Last weekend I had the joy of meeting up with my dad for a long weekend in Germany! The plane ride to Munich from Budapest is only an hour and 15 minutes!
Although I absolutely loved the places we were able to see -- the greater treasure to me was the time spent with my dad. This is something I do not take for granted. My dad never takes himself too seriously and makes me laugh so hard. He's always up for just about anything. Also, when he travels, he always makes himself try a new food or drink every single day (as you might imagine, sometimes this leads to a great new discovery)!
One of my favorite things was at the end of each day -- just sitting on the couch at our Airbnb, chatting while we looked up Munich restaurants online, eating peanut M&Ms and watching/being confused by German television. Eating meals together was such a gift. We also had a lot of train rides with time to talk, read a book or take a nap. It is those little, ordinary, day-to-day things that I savored the most (because living over here, I miss them the most)!
Here we are at the New Town Hall on our first day!
We ate lunch at the famous Hofbrauhaus and enjoyed wandering the area of Marienplatz.
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On our second day, we visited Dachau which was a concentration camp during the years of Hitler's Third Reich. It is hard to find words to describe this space where so many unspeakable horrors occurred for years. I am glad I went even though it made me sad. With every picture I saw in the museum space, I kept looking at the eyes of the people and thinking that God knew every single name. Each life matters to Him. No one is more grieved than God over the sin and brokenness in this world that results in such a tragedy. I think it's so important to bear witness to what happened, to honor the lives of each person who died there, and honor those who lived to tell about it.
These plaques commemorate the American forces that liberated the camp.
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We spent the next day in Salzburg, home of Mozart!
I visited here on my Spring Break in 2017 with my friend Alexis and loved it so much! It was fun to show my dad the city.
We enjoyed lunch and the beautiful views at Stieglkeller!
I also showed my dad many spots related to "The Sound of Music," one of our family's favorite movies!
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Our final day was spent on an excursion to see the famous Neuschwanstein Castle! It was a cold day and our hike up to the castle was truly walking in a winter wonderland! I learned so much about the interesting history of the castle and the king who built it! Such a memorable experience.
First glimpse of the castle!
I will say that seeing the entire area covered with snow was beautiful, but IT. WAS. SO. COLD.
My dad wore jeans, a long sleeved shirt with a windbreaker and a cap. I, on the other hand, had on 3 pairs of pants, 3 tops with a jacket, 2 scarves and 2 pairs of socks with my boots.
It was a wonderful weekend from start to finish and I am so grateful! Even though we were on the go a lot, it was relaxing just to be with my dad and make some new memories!
