Vacation with the Family

So for the mid-semester break, my parents and older brother Bryan flew into Zurich, where I met them, for a week-long visit. We had all been looking forward to this for a long time, and the trip definitely lived up to my expectations. To begin the trip, we rented a car and drove to Lauterbrunnen, Switzerland. Lauterbrunnen is a gorgeous little village located in a mountain ravine. There were dozens of waterfalls surrounding us that we walked up to and into, and the whole scenery of the area was incredible. It's definitely one of the most picturesque and beautiful landscapes I've been to. Sheer cliff walls on either side of you and the snow-covered peaks of the Alps at the far end made for a perfect view. Thankfully, we spent two nights there and got to see a good amount.

After Lauterbrunnen, we drove to Schwangau, Germany, where the castle Neuschwanstein is located. We spent a night there and saw the castle, which was built by King Ludwig II of Bavaria as a retreat. It is quite the fairy-tale castle, even though only sixteen of the rooms were completed before the king's death. It's definitely worth a visit. It's especially nice to see from the village, as you can just look up and see the towering walls and spires of the castle on top of a mountain. It's really quite impressive.

After Schwangau, we drove north to Rothenburg ob der Tauber. Rothenburg is a medieval village that still has it's original wall and gates surrounding it. We actually stayed in a hotel inside of the walls, where you can just walk around the city and see all the sights. It's quite peaceful there. We even saw a medieval torture museum and an outdoor concert at a biergarten, although the band was playing folksy kids songs. It was a very nice little village, worth the trip to.

After Rothenburg, we drove to Heidelberg, which is more of a city than anywhere we'd been to so far. Heidelberg definitely tops my list of places I've been, if not just for the castle there. It's huge, impressive, and rather difficult to figure out. My brother and I spent hours just trying to determine how it was built, planning-wise. We went up to the castle twice in the course of our day and a half there, but we did walk up and down the main street there, and got dinner at a nice outdoor restaurant. We even saw a wedding taking place at the castle. I'm hoping to get back there if I can.

After Heidelberg, we traveled to France, where we spent a night in Rosheim and a night in Gueberschwihr, both in Alsace. The first night, we drove into Strasbourg and saw the cathedral there and got dinner in an Irish pub. The meal was alright, but the menu was in English and it wasn't French food, so we were all happy enough. The second day, we drove along the wine route, traveling through many picturesque little villages and stopping to see several castles. All were quite impressive. That night, we drove into Colmar for dinner and got to see a little bit of the Little Venice district. A reoccurring theme in France, though, was the inability to communicate, as me and my brother both speak a little German, but none of us speak French very well. I was dragging the depths of my brain for what I learned in high school, but it wasn't working very well.

After France, we spent two nights in Freiburg, before my family left on the third day. In Freiburg we saw all the sights, ate a good Irish meal at O'Kelly's, had drinks at many different places, visited Titisee in the Black Forest, and had a delicious last meal together at Feierlings. I love this city, and it was nice to be able to show my family where I've been living for the past three months. They seemed to enjoy Freiburg, and the trip as a whole. I'm very glad they visited, and I wish they could have stayed longer.