One more picture...  Its 1:14am here but I had to take one more picture. (Many thanks to Matt for teaching me how to use my camera better) This is the view I will have from the balcony in my room the next few nights. So awesome...

So yesterday was a relatively quick drive to Austria and then we stayed a place called the Ernberg Hotel.  It was a small hotel but I was happy because I had my own bathroom.  The town was a picturesque area with very little buildings, a few horses, and giant mountains around it. I think we all liked everything about it except the fact we had to leave at 8am the very next morning for a castle tour and head toward Switzerland.  Too early for sure...

The castle tour was awesome though.  We saw two.  The Schloss Hohenschwangau (yellow) and the Schloss Neuschwanstein (white).  Honestly the yellow one was ok.  The white one was epic!  It was impressive on many levels.  Before we entered the white castle we took a small hike to a suspension bridge that me Aaron and Matt climbed past and up higher to take some better pictures.  It was awesome though Cherie and Vicki stayed on the bridge to be safer.  If you notice the bridge picture, us 3 guys were in the top right compared to where the bridge was.  It was scary and awesome because we were so high...  My hands were sweating standing up there, but I liked it… J

Matt has some better pictures but here (below) are a few off mine for now...

Other than that we have now met up with Chris and Autumn in Switzerland and just got back from having some food and drinks from a very small bar/restaurant on the town of Lauterbrunnen.  The bar reminds us of Bidwell in Coventry... (nothing too fancy but it will fill you up)

Anyways its late here and I will have more pictures and details of how Switzerland is tomorrow.  Maybe I’ll get one of the others to post next...

I think we are still adjusting to the time difference still but we are managing to have a good time. Such a tuff trip! Kidding of course...

Yesterday we visited the Munich Residenz palace.  The building itself was the most impressive to me though it was filled with many old paintings, crowns, and various jewels in a treasury room.  We soon after went to the Viktualienmarkt which was a spread of small market fruits veggies spices.... and a BEER Garden!  We met some guys from Austria who were very loud and keep pushing us to eat radishes.  Smelly burps…

Later we went to the official Oktoberfest and were amazed at all the tents, food, and rides.  It was the Big E X100!

Anyways, we are checking out of hotel right now and just picked up our rental car.  We will be leaving for Austria later tonight after some more sightseeing.  OK everyone is waiting for me, got to run...

So our first jet-lagged, beer and sausage-laden afternoon/night in Munich seemed to be a success. We powered through our lack of sleep and medicated ourselves with giant pretzels and the local beverage. Some of our highlights from out first day included visiting the Marienplatz (Munich's main square) to see the glockenspiel perform, climbing St. Peter's Church tower (306 steps) for an incredible view of the city center, and visiting the touristy, yet fun, Hofbräuhaus. We found ourselves an outside table in the beer garden since the inside tables were packed. Our table was between two convivial groups, one Spanish, and one group from Iceland. They were toasting eachother over our heads and singing. We had a great time too but our jet-lag left us in a more mellow mood. It was our first venture in to wursts, sauerkraut, and various other forms of Bavarian potato, cheese, and sausage fare. All of it was very good...but I'm looking forward to my first pork knuckle tonight! Oh, and since we're here in Munich during the Oktoberfest (the 200th anniversary) everyone, and really mean everyone, is wearing traditional Bavarian dress (Lederhosen for men and Dirndl for women). We'll be sure to get some photos of it today.

We've arrived...  It was a pretty long flight and I don't think any of us got any real good sleep on the plane.  We made our connecting flight in Portugal after a 6 hour flight, bought some energy drinks (at what would have been 2am in CT) and then got on the next plane which was a 3 hour flight.

Despite the lack of sleep I think we are all in pretty spirits but arriving at the hotel is needed right now for a little freshening up (and maybe a nap...).  Its 3:30pm here right now and our walk to the hotel showed that everyone is dressed for Oktoberfest.  It’s awesome!  I’m sure we'll have some better pictures when we go out later...

For now I'm in my tiny room and unlike Aaron, Cherie, Matt, and Vicki’s room I have to share a bathroom.   :(    It’s ok though.  It’s clean, and I’m only sharing with 3 other rooms.  Anyways, here's a quick picture of my tiny room.  We'll have some better pictures later for sure... (Not just hotel photos...)

So its the final countdown to leave tomorrow.  We leave from the international airport in Newark NJ, which is a 3 hour drive and we have to be there 2 hours early.  The flight is at 6pm so we'll be leaving Matt and Vicki's at 11am.

Ive just finished packing and I feel relieved.  It's not like I wouldn't survive without 2 pairs of jeans vs. 3 but the thoughts still go back and forth in my head.  I'm dizzy...

Anyway, here's a picture of Lauterbrunnen, Switzerland.  We will be there in a couple days, but its one if the places I'm looking forward to seeing.  It looks like a post card... but I'm going there! Yesssssssssssss........

Getting excited for the trip!

Yes Ill have the small beer too please!