Thanksgiving . . . of sorts

Although it wasn't on the traditional 4th Thursday of November, we did cook and have a Thanksgiving dinner. And a nice weekend too.

We started off at the kringwinkel - our new favorite bargain store where they had tons of Christmas decor.

This was in the window. Kinda creepy, huh?

This is a picture of what is called a pyramid. I know the picture is small, but the whole thing is only about 4 inches tall. It's all wood and has three little candles. When you light the candles, the little fan at the top spins and the carved figurines go round and round.

I bought this when we were in Rothenburg, Germany at an amazing Christmas store and paid about €15 for it. Everything was going so well . . .

Well, someone should have mentioned that you aren't supposed to actually light the candles so the fan and the figurines will spin because a few minutes into our enjoyment, the whole thing caught on fire! You can see how the little circle burned away and the fan is black now. Not to mention the candles burned and melted all onto the table so it's stuck permanently to this spot.

I'm just glad I didn't spend more than €15 on it as there were some elaborate ones for €399!

Thanks to Randi we had a good start on the essentials and the next morning we shopped for the remainder. After consulting with our native Belgian neighbor, found almost everything we needed, with the exception of sweet potatoes. They even had whole turkeys. We opted for the turkey breast. The whole turkeys were about $100!

Here's the result - pork, turkey, dressing, chicken & dumplings, green bean casserole, cranberry jelly, even sweet tea . . .

and pumpkin AND pecan pie.

Ross and Jim did most of the cooking - as usual. I just try to stay out of the way. Ha!

Hellbrun

I must say we had no intention of even going to Salzburg when we planned our anniversary trip. So, I want to thank a blogger I follow, Erin, for her blog post on the musical Sound of Music. After reading that post, I listened to all the music on YouTube and thanks to my mother I know every word to every song. It brought back good memories and I'm so glad we made the stop in Salzburg. Thanks again, Erin.

This is Hellbrun Castle, built in 1613.

You may remember it from the musical.

As you can see, preparations are being made for the annual Christmas market.

The grounds were beautiful and almost completely deserted.

We saw only a couple of people walking around.

Very strange.

Jim noticed two sturgeon in one of the ponds on the property.

The water was very clear. I hope you can see the fish. He was swimming fast!

As you know, sturgeon are harvested for caviar, but I will assume these are not.

The famous gazebo from the Sound of Music where Liesl and Franz meet.

It was locked so we couldn't run around the benches singing. Ha. Apparently that's why it's locked because some people who were not "sixteen going on seventeen" injured themselves. I guess you don't have to be sixteen to be stupid.

This is Jim's 8th attempt at taking our picture. Where is that nice tourist to help?

Anyway, I thought it wasn't so bad and he didn't give up so I figured I should post it :)

Castles in the Air

As we headed out on this morning, there was lots of snow.

It was really beautiful and it snowed this much overnight!

I had been so disappointed in the fog and was so happy when I saw the snow that Jim noted the snow was almost as good as sunshine :-|

There are two famous and beautiful castles in this area.

This one, pictured above, is Hohenschwangau Castle. It was the childhood home of King Ludwig II of Bavaria. Amazingly it suffered no damage during WWI or WWII.

Options for reaching the next castle - up much higher on the mountain - was a 45 minute walk or a 30 minute carriage ride. We opted for the carriage ride and I drove. Well, not literally, but . . .

When we got on the carriage there were already four Asians and two Germans waiting to depart. The carriage holds 11 people plus the driver and this driver wasn't going anywhere until he had a full carriage . . . so we waited. Along comes an American family of four. They quickly assess the situation and decide they all want to sit together (spoiled!) and as we are currently arranged, they can't do that. So they decide they'll wait for the next carriage. Me, quick on the draw, are not about to let this family of four spoiled Americans make this spoiled American wait one more minute in zero temperature. I offer to move up front with the other Asians and Jim (and Winslow) to take my seat. THERE, you can all sit together!

So, now there are three Asians and me in the front, four spoiled Americans in the middle, one Asian, two Germans, and Jim/Winslow in the back seat. Now, if you are doing the math, that's 12 in a carriage that holds 11 and a driver. Not being so quick with my math, I look ahead and notice there's no perch for our driver and suddenly realize I'm in the driver's seat!

Well, no worries, he wasn't so big and me and the other Asians weren't so big, therefore we all got very close for that half hour ride.

And speaking of Asians, I shudder to think what will happen to tourism and digital cameras if they all decide to stay at home.

Jim, looking out over a lookout point. A little scary, really.

This is Neuschwanstein Castle.

Built in the late 1800's, it isn't that old by "castle" standards. This palace was commissioned by Ludwig II as a retreat and as an homage to the composer Richard Wagner, whose operas made a lasting impression on him.

It is spectacular and you can see why it was the inspiration for Disney's Sleeping Beauty Castle.

View of the countryside from atop the castle site.

As we were leaving the Fussen/Schwangau area, we could see the castle in the distance.

Thankfully the fog had lifted above it :-)

Füssen

Blue skies! This was actually a rarity on most of this trip.

It is November, though.

As we were driving to Füssen, Germany, we decided to make a stop here.

Feldkirch, Austria

We also decided to go to the microstate of Liechtenstein (population 35,000).

It is 61 sq. miles (smaller than Washington D.C.) and supposedly has the highest gross domestic product per person in the world.

Liechtenstein

Füssen (population 14,000) is in Bavaria (Germany) only 3 miles from the Austrian border.

When we arrived it was dark . . .

since at this time of year there are only about 8 or 9 hours of daylight.

This made me laugh.

This restaurant has all these tables and chairs set up for dinner guests. I can't imagine they had any takers. It was zero degrees Celsius.

We woke up the next morning to snow!

Füssen, Germany

And completely unrelated to Füssen, Germany . . . but on my mind - today, November 27 would have been my mother's 80th birthday. When my Daddy turned 80 years old we had a wonderful family celebration and I am very grateful for that.

Luzern

When we left Interlaken, Switzerland, we decided to take a slight detour to the city of Luzern, Switzerland (population 70,000) and we were very glad we did.

This wooden, covered bridge (Chapel Bridge) stretches across the Ruess River.

The water in this river is really green and crystal clear.

I have no idea what this building is.

Marroni (aka chestnuts) are sold in every Swiss and German town we visited.

We ate our share of these.

And if you're in the market for a Swiss watch, almost every block of every town we visited in Switzerland has at least one store. After all, they are known as the original and best watchmakers in the world.

Swans are quite common apparently because we saw them on most every lake.

I liked the fact that it was freezing cold on a Sunday morning and this family was out enjoying a walk.

It's hard to capture in a photo, but these trees were very old and beautiful.

We aren't sure what kind of tree, but this park must be spectacular in the Spring and Fall.

Famous carving of a dying lion by Bertel Thorvaldsen.

It commemorates the hundreds of Swiss Guards who were massacred in 1792 during the

French Revolution.

Church of St. Leodegar, originally built in 735, the present structure was erected in 1633.

On the road again. A very curvy mountainous road.

Dramamine was definitely in order.

It also got quite foggy on this curvy, mountainous road.

I think Jim was glad to get to our destination. I know I was!

Luzern, Switzerland

Interlaken

Interlaken, Switzerland (population 5,000) is one of the oldest tourist resorts in Switzerland and still one of the most popular not only for snow skiing, but also for backpacking and hiking.

Located between Lake Brienz and Lake Thun, this river connects the two lakes and runs through Interlaken.

This whole house has words carved into it. Beautiful and intricate.

The Swiss flag. Probably one of the most recognized.

One of my favorite parts about driving in this area.

The view of the mountains in the distance is indescribable.

The water really is that blue. It is stunning.

The lakes are this same color.

The main street in Interlaken.

Lake Thun

Winslow enjoying the hotel bedding.

One of the most popular tourist attractions is the Jungfrau Mountain of the Alps.

Seen here on the left with all the snow on it.

Interlaken, Switzerland

And Happy Thanksgiving to all!