From what Michael told me, there was much hugging and even a few tears at the airport. Michael was so happy to have his mum, dad and sister here finally as it was almost exactly a year since we had physically been with them. When I finally finished work, I practically skipped into the city where I found them sitting inside Frauenkirchen - the famously depicted skyline church (double spire) of Munich. From there we took the family to see the centre of town - Marienplatz - and then around the corner to Viktualienmarkt where we bought a few supplies for afternoon tea.
Back at the flat, we all settled down on the balcony for a wine, some cheese and salami and some fresh fruit. It was a beautiful sunny afternoon too. But before long, we got ready and headed out for dinner and a spot of sight seeing.
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| my classroom - soccer player on the window |
We finished the night with a nice stroll along from Universität through to Münchener Freiheit (stopping for ice cream along the way).
The next day we woke up, ready to show off some more of Munich.... but it was raining. A lot. So unfortunately we stayed tucked up inside until almost midday when the rain stopped. Then we made our way into town, starting with the high end area - Maximillianstrasse. This was a mix of beautiful old buildings, some lovely ornate signs, expensive looking window displays, and a few already boozy hens/bucks parties!
Michael then took everyone up Old St. Peters. I stayed downstairs because I've already done it once at the stairway was a nightmare. But I took my hat off to Sharon, Denis and Tess for making the trek. The views are quite good from the top. When we met again, we travelled back towards Frauenkirche and tucked into hearty German food at the Augustiner am Dom - one of Michael and my personal favourites. We finished by introducing the family to the deliciousness that is Apfel Kuechel. Apple rings fried in donut pastry with cinnamon sugar and served with seasonally flavoured ice cream. Oh my... it didn't disappoint. Sharon, Denis and Tess all enjoyed this dish and Michael and I had to admit it was the best that even we've tasted!
After lunch, we all decided to do a bit of our own thing. For me, this meant Tessy time! So off we ran to do some girly shopping and such. H&M, Olymp und Hades, Vero Moda and Zara just to name a few. I bought a couple of little things for Tess including the cutest Mickey Mouse shirt, while I found the coolest pair of sneakers - GIRAFFE print and on sale for 7 euros! Score!
When we eventually met up again with everyone, Sharon had spent the majority of her time in her favourite shop, WMF. Denis and Michael had been for a long wander out by Isar river. Sharon wanted to do a little more shopping so Tess and I jumped on a train to come home as we were both a little exhausted. It wasn't long before we were joined at home for more wine, cheese and such.That night I cooked a simple dinner before we all got a good nights sleep before....
Sunday marked the day that we would commence our roadtrip to Italy. Michael, Denis and Sharon went to collect the car and before we knew it, we were underway. This day was mostly travel but we made a few stops along the way.
First stop was for a small bite of lunch in Innsbruck (Austria).
Second stop was in Italy, in the town of Bolzano for ice cream and a wander.
At last, 8 hours after leaving Munich, we arrived in Mezzana. Our home for the next two nights.
Once settled into our accommodation, we went for a wander (in the rain) along the rapidly flowing stream behind our hotel. Then we made our way to a local pizza restaurant. It just so happened to be the night of the football world cup grand final. Sorry, I should be more excited about this. And I was, but to say it in English just isn't cool for me. Let me try again.. It was the night of the FUßBALL WELTMEISTERSCHAFT FINALE!!!! Seriously, this was big news for Michael and I. And we all know why. Seeing as we now refer to ourselves as honorary Germans, Germany playing in the final (and winning) was massive!
So I digress. Michael, Tess and I were all pretty desperate to see the game, so when we got to the restaurant, we were glad to see a tv screen. But I felt terribly rude at times, as Sharon really didn't care for the football and we all kept turning our attention to that as we ate. However, the pizza was yummy and at halftime, we paid and made a quick dash back to the hotel so we could sit on the lounge and watch the second half. Albeit on a tiny tiny tv screen. It was an amazing victory to witness and we only wish that we could have been in Munich with friends to watch the game. But being on holiday in Italy wasn't so bad either...
So the next morning, Michael and I got up and ready quite early as we were booked in for a really awesome bike tour. Mezzana is a town surrounded by alpine region - the Dolomites. So Michael's parents dropped us off at the bike shop location where we met our guide Sergio. We paid and got kitted out in full protective gear and then realised that we were the only two people booked into that morning's tour! It was perfect, group tour price, but ended up with a private guide! Perks of a Monday morning I guess!
So Sergio put us into a cable car with our bikes and up the mountain we went. I will admit now that I was growing a little worried the further up we travelled. This was not the smallest mountain. Just when I thought we were finally coming to a stop, we got out of our cable car only to be put into another one and taken up the next incline! Yes, I was freaking out by this stage.
At the top, Sergio suggested I have a little practice and get used to my bike. This turned out to be a great suggestion. It was a suspension bike, something I have never ridden before. Every little bump I hit, the whole bike moved with my body. Sergio had told me to keep my butt up off my seat, but of course, as the whole bike moved, I moved, and when a car was reversing nearby, I got a little worried, hit the brakes and went over the handle bars! Clutz moment #467 or something like that - my pelvis made perfect contact with the handlebars of my bike. I can honestly say that the bruising that followed for the next week was not so fun. Thank goodness that was all the damage I did.
But following my near disaster, I slowly got the hang of the bike and before I knew it, we were off down the mountain, but I kept my butt firmly on my seat for the first hour. I did eventually start to gather a little more confidence and by the end I was riding down rocky paths with my butt up and having a ball! It ended up being wicked fun and I really want to go again!
But I do feel for Michael. This is his number 1 passion and I think I must spoil it by tagging along as I slow him down and he can't do the difficult courses. But Sergio was good. Twice during our ride, he told Michael to take a different path to us and to meet us at the end of his track. This allowed Michael to go plundering off down a fast rocky track at what ever speed he wanted. Meanwhile, I was lead through a field of about 100 cows! It was hilarious! All had their big bells banging and they all looked at me as if to say "What are you doing here!?"
At the end of the morning, I felt a lot more confident and I had had an awesome time. Michael was very proud of me too! We then walked back to our hotel and had much needed showers to get rid of the mud and sweat. It wasn't long before the others got back then we went out in search of some lunch. We found a cute little pizzeria where a man was making fresh pizzas, flinging the dough in the air. We all really loved this meal.
Jumping back in the car, we went for a drive up to a lake where we had a lovely walk - and a play on the children's play equipment. Tess and I were having a ball!!! We also took this as an opportunity for some nice photos. The funny thing was that we did all this in the sunshine. We even drove back down the hill in the sunshine, but by the time we started to drive up the mountain on the other side of the ravine, it was bucketing down. Sharon and Denis braved the weather to go and see some beautiful old churches and such, but Tess, Michael and I stayed in the car to stay dry and warm. Ok, we were wusses!
We continued driving all the way into Madonna di Campigliano where we stopped for a wander and some dinner. We all enjoyed a pasta dish at a nice (but very empty) seafood restaurant. It did mean that we got fairly fast and attentive service. And the food was freshly cooked. The seafood was yummy too!
The next day was one of travel again. We started in the morning by jumping into the car and driving to Gröste, a mountain that was part of the Dolomite range. We travelled up to 2500m above sea level with the cable car, where we went for a big wander on the snow/ice covered rocky mountain top.
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| Cheeky Michael throwing a snowball at is parents! |
We were having a good, albeing cold time atop the mountain, when Sharon took on my clutz persona. As we were all walking across some snow between some rocks, Sharon's foot suddenly disappeared and down she fell, her leg sinking hip deep into the snow. Unfortunately this meant she was stuck with one leg above the ground, the other sandwiched between the snow and the rocks. She scratched her leg and damaged her knee quite badly. But she didn't let it stop her. She continued to then walk up to another rocky plateau to get another view of the valley on the other side.
We made a quick pit stop for a coffee and cake at the mountain top cafe before catching the cable car back down. Then it was back into the car. This marked the end of our time in Mezzana and the beginning of our next adventure - Bellagio. I will therefore leave this blog here. In the coming days I will hopefully get to write another blog all about this second part of our family vacation.
