Southern Germany, February 2007

We just had to slip in a visit to Southern Germany before we left for our big trip. So, as crazy as it seemed to go to Germany at a time when we had so much going on; with winding down our business, packing up our place and preparing for our big trip, we did it anyway. We flew to Frankfurt and spent a few lovely days with Sandy and Philip, checking out the sights around Frankfurt and Heidelburg. After that we drove down to Ottobeuren to visit with Steff's Uncle Ludwig, Tante Elwi and cousins Roswita + Ludi and family. We had a great old Baviarian time! They were excellent hosts and steff really enjoyed catching up and spending time with her family. It was very mild and mostly sunny while we were there which made it great for sightseeing. We had a fantastic trip to Neuschwanstein Castle, located at the base of the Bavaria Alps, which is a real life fairy-tale castle. And the food, well, we were certainly well fed with Elwi's great Schwabian dishs (a local region of Bavaria). Apparently the Bavarians have a saying that 'a man without a belly is like a cripple,' nice to hear while you're feeling guilty pilling back all that food and great beers!