New Year's Trip

At some point on every sleep-away trip, usually the first night, I think to myself, "What on earth possessed us to leave the house?"

We planned this trip a while back to go to southern Germany during the school break to hopefully see some snow and go sledding. Our German neighbors sang the praises of the Youth Hostel as a cheaper, more fun place for families to stay on vacation. If you've ever been to Europe, your idea of a youth hostel, like mine, is probably a less-than-sparkly, rundown, frat house in the middle of the city where you have to share a room with fifteen other strangers and take showers together. Germany has perfected this concept and turned into more of a Youth/Family Hostel, but I don't even like to call it a hostel. It sounds so...hostile. Let's call it an auberge.

Anyway, there are tons of the them around Germany and some cater to families more than others. Some have adventure themes if its in the right kind of area. Our room had three bunk beds, a table and several closets. The men's bathroom and (private) showers were on the first floor where our room was and women's were on the second floor. Jonah and Doren were completely free, so we only had to pay about $26/person/night for the three of us for lodging and breakfast. We added on the option of lunch and dinner, too, which were only about $6/person/day.

We arrived in time for dinner...

You get a tray, your plates, utensils and cups and find a table. Then go to the window, say your last name and the chef gives you whatever amount for your family size. There is also a nice all-you-can-eat salad bar.

After eating you clear your table and bring everything to the dish washing window. Grab a sanitizing bucket and wipe your own table. No cooking! No dishes! No resentful glaring!

That night we made our beds and unpacked some stuff. Doren always sleeps with us at home and as much as I would like him to sleep on his own now I'm not willing to put up with the living hell it would take to get him to do it. But here we tried to make it exciting. "Doren gets his own bed! Look! We're all here together! Doren can sleep in his very own bed across from Mommy!" Well, that didn't work. I wouldn't even call it a twin bed. It was like sleeping bag-width but with a wood frame. It would have been just fine for me but instead I got to share that space with Doren who soothes himself to sleep by scratching and pinching my neck skin.

We usually sleep with a fan at home. The silence is too silent and the noises are too loud, but we forgot it! Planning fail #1. In that very silent silence we got to enjoy the noise of a group of youths (it's a Youth Hostel, after all) having a singalong with a guitar in the basement under us. They sang every song, all in English mind you, from Lean On Me to Mister Jones to Chasing Cars. Hours later they got into Let It Go. I'm the kind of person who knows all the lyrics and when I hear a song I can't not say them in my head until the song is done. So it was like I was there singing with those teens, only I was in a wooden sleeping bag having my throat scratched and listening to Marc mouth-breathe. A fan would have been helpful! Fun times.

The next morning at breakfast:

Cereal, muesli, hard boiled eggs and fruit.

Bread rolls, cucumber, tomato, meat, cheese and spreads.

I love waking up to coffee and not cooking!

The dining room

Breakfast was just the cold buffet with the bread and all the fixings. Since they assume everyone is going out during the day, lunch is to-go. The chef gave me a bag with five bread rolls, five pieces of fruit (it changed each day) and five fun-size candy bars. Then you use the fixings from the breakfast buffet to make your own sandwiches. So breakfast and lunch were basically the same thing. It was great because we didn't have to worry about stopping and finding a place to eat in the middle of the day and way cheaper than anything we could get at a restaurant.

For our first day we decided to get to check out Zugspitze, the highest peak in Germany and border of the Alps. It's one of those places you have to see if you live here and the whole reason for the trip was to do some sledding. Sighhh. If I were to write a book about our experience, I would title it Misery on a Mountaintop or That Time I Threw Myself Off the Zugspitze. Doren was in rare form, Well, normal form, but it felt worse because we were on a cold, crowded mountain.

When we got there the line out the door was at least two hours. We contemplated just forgetting it but decided it was a once-in-a-lifetime experience and we were right here. If we had only known what the rest of it would be like we might have decided otherwise! The boys were already complaining about being cold and we weren't even in the building to buy the tickets yet.

Finally we get to the front and wait to get on the cable car.

Here comes the little box that's going to carry forty people vertically to the highest peak on a string. I tried not to think about it too much.

Doren with his attitude, shades and teddy bear hat. Whatever, man! 

My guys at the top. After all the whining they were like, "This is really cool!"

Obviously, the view was amazing. The mountains went on forever. And since we were right on the border of Germany and Austria you could have one foot in each country. I could have just looked at the view for a long time, really taken my time to make the most of the effort to get up there, but it was kind of hard with having to keep an eye on three kids in the crowds and ice all over the place. But it was really beautiful and I am glad we did it.

The tippy top

In order to get to the skiiing and sledding area you have to take another cable car to a lower area. I know its a popular place, but geez we sure picked the wrong day to see it. There were so many people and most of them were schlepping the skis, the boots, and the big fat snow suits. We finally figured out how to get to the cable car and then waited in another huge line. I understand the beauty of skiiing, but you really have to love it to put up with what it takes just to get to the slopes. SO MUCH SCHLEPPING!

"You can wipe that smile of your face, Daddy-Man. Ima take it up a notch."

Teddy bear, don't care. 

We get down to the skiing area and it really is a paradise. There were so many different options for slopes so people were everywhere. It felt like being inside a miniature winter scene with little people the size of ants. We rented a couple of sleds for the boys and they went down the sledding hill a few times. That's when Doren lost his mind. He wanted to sled too so Marc took him down but then he didn't want to be pulled back up the hill on the sled, so Marc had to carry him. I thought it would be nice to just drag him around on the flat part but he didn't like that either. He didn't want to sit, he didn't want to stand. He just wanted to have a tantrum.

Then Toby comes back up the hill crying because he slammed right into a little girl. There were all these people just standing around in the middle of the hill taking pictures, completely oblivious to the fact that it was a designated sledding hill. So T is coming down and can't really control the sled and completely wipes out this girl, flipping her feet-over-head and landing on her head. She's crying, he's crying and Marc yells at her older brothers for standing right in the path. She could have been seriously hurt. This happened twice. I'm trying to manage Doren and Marc is trying to "enjoy" the sledding with the boys, but its so crowded and all these idiots are just standing around on the narrow hillside making it stressful for the sledders. I finally see another sledding hill that looks a lot more peaceful, but by this time Doren is so miserable and out of his mind that it just isn't fun for anyone. Here we were in this absolutely idyllic scene: mountains, views, sunshine, ant-sized skiers, the most perfect, cozy Alpine lodge to have a nice hot drink - and we can't enjoy or do any of it because Doren is screaming and flopping all over the ground. It was just too much to do with a two-year old. The crowds and long lines definitely didn't help either.

A little church.

We still managed to look like we were enjoying ourselves.

For the final descent down the mountain we waited in another very long line and were then herded onto the train platform for another thirty minutes. Doren chose the final minute before the train came to blow out his pants. So while everyone else was boarding the train we were wiping, stripping, bagging and redressing, which meant now all the seats were taken. Fortunately, one of the train guys helped us out and the boys and I squished onto one seat while Marc had to stand. It was at least another thirty minutes packed in between people with Doren screeching and trying to get off my lap. So, yeah, great mountain, fun stuff, but not with a two year old and not during the Christmas holiday. Planning fail #2.


The next day we wanted to go to Neuschwanstein castle. It's been years since I was there and really wanted the boys to see it. I knew it was wise to buy tickets online to by-pass the long lines but I didn't know it had to be done two days in advance. Planning fail #3. It was less than ten minutes from the auberge so I got in the long line while Marc drove the boys around to keep warm. Long story short: it was too cold, too long, and I knew the boys would complain about the forty minute hike up a freezing hill. Canceled.

Here's the castle. They saw it from the road.

We decided the smart thing to do was whatever would be the most relaxing for us, which means whatever would be the most fun for the kids, which means indoor fun zone. We felt kind of lame about it though. Here we are in this amazing location and we're going to spend the time inside at a glorified McDonalds Play Place? But it was really cold out!

It was very nice, though. Probably the cleanest and with the most fun stuff of all the fun zones we've been to. Unplanned win #1!

We may have been at a fun zone for kids but I still managed to get in some me-time. They compassionately placed massage chairs around the huge room. For $2 I had a ten minute massage! Then I might have put in two more dollars, then two more. For the low price of $6 I had a very relaxing thirty minute massage complete with the sound of ocean waves in the headphones to drown out the screaming and sound of vibrating pleather.

There were two kids playing air hockey four feet in front of my face, but nothing was going to harsh my zen.
Unplanned win #2!

Girl doing the free-fall. Tobin wanted to but turned back at the top. Good boy.

Jonah being eaten by a giant alligator.

Oh now he's happy!

On the way back from the fun-zone we stopped in the town of Füssen. I had no idea it was so cute. I mean, it's Germany, so obviously, but I thought it was just some little town with one road going through it. But there were many little walking streets, cute shops, cafes and a path along a river. I never get tired of this stuff!

The best idea was bringing the new scooters Santa brought them. So much better than plain old walking. And swans!

When Doren fell asleep we took advantage of getting some dessert that he can't have anyway. Two apple strudels and chocolate cake!

The sweetest little cream pot you've ever seen.

Back at the auberge...

After a long day of skiing, sledding or fun-zoning the kids can relax in the play room.

Doing his part at the trash and recycling bins.

On the third day, New Year's Eve, I was feeling a little blah so instead of forcing myself out to tour around we just hung out. We thought about leaving that day instead of staying one more night like planned but the boys were having too much fun, so we just decided to relax like you're supposed to do on vacation.

Having another coffee and reading about more Family/Youth hostels while the big boys are romping around somewhere in the building.

I am totally sold on this Youth Hostel thing. It's like something between a nice hotel and camping. Do we have these in the US? I honestly don't know. Not only is it way cheaper than a hotel, it's much less stuffy. I don't cringe if the boys run down the hall. Noise is expected. There are kids everywhere! And it's very casual and comfy with people lounging around in house shoes, reading books in the lobby, and drinking tea wherever they want. Breakfast, lunch and dinner are inexpensive and ready for us. There's no trying to find a restaurant, waiting to order, paying the bill, etc. One night we had sauerkraut and sausage, another night was dumplings, and another was spaghetti (and they can even change it for dietary restrictions). Down in the basement is a ping pong table, Fussball table, laundry room, and a cozy, little pillow room. You can borrow movies and games and get hot drinks whenever you want. Since most people are there to go out and do things, they like everyone to be gone by 9am so they can clean the entire place. Ten minutes after the breakfast chaos its all cleaned up and shiny like we were never there. They bleach the sandstone floors in the hall and the bathrooms were impeccable. My four words for Germany and what I've come to expect from everywhere we go is Quality, Clean, Cute and Clever. The fact that they even manage to check off this list at a youth hostel is pretty impressive. If only quality started with a C!

After everyone comes back from their outings and after dinner, most people find a table in the dining room to play games, chat, drink wine (you have to bring your own) and let the kids play with the other kids. There were some groups of families there together and some couples without kids.

Marc took them for a walk while I rested. It was glorious.

Goofing around in the little pillow room

My once-removed Encinitas trio

Playing in the kid room

Later that night, I was finishing up a puzzle with Jonah and another little girl when I saw a bunch of people in coats gathering at the door to go outside. #clueless But then I realized that I saw the front desk guy arranging some torches and this must be what they were for. I told Jonah to go down to the basement to see if Dad and Tobin wanted to go but he came back and said they were busy playing ping pong. So I put on my coat and shoes, ran outside, grabbed a torch and joined the end of the group. I had no idea where we were going but it looked interesting like a traditional, Pagany, silent walk through the streets to signal the new year.

It was such a peaceful, special walk with all those torches and I haven't seen that many stars in YEARS.

The group returned at about 9:30 which is already way later than bed time, but it was New Year's, the boys were having fun and we read about a Buffet at 10:00. Twist my arm! But then everyone who came into the dining room was carrying chips. Again, #clueless. Is this a chips buffet? The kitchen was closed so were we supposed to bring our own food and they're just calling it a buffet? We didn't get the memo! A minute later, the kitchen doors open and the chef starts bringing out platter after gorgeous platter of tons of food. I'm telling you, this stuff rivaled any $50/person Bellagio buffet. We couldn't believe how nice everything was and it was just included in our stay!

I'm so glad we stayed for the last night even though we didn't stay up til midnight. It was nice to have a "party" to attend for the holiday. But I was feeling yucky and woke up feeling even worse. I was on the way to being sick and as I lay here typing this blog I'm aching all over, drinking Emergen-C, and barely able to do anything but type. The good news is that I made it all the way through the holidays with so many plans and never got sick until the very first day of the new year. (weak party horn blow)

We packed the car excited to get back home to our own beds, but our four hour drive turned into eight, thanks to the holiday traffic. Planning fail #4.

It was actually a really great trip except for the first day on the mountain with Doren, sleeping with Doren, and the drive back home. There were many more unplanned wins than planning fails. I think we've finally learned that any trips for the foreseeable future need to be really, really low-key and kid-friendly until Doren is like ten years old. We've already booked a few nights at another hostel, ahem, auberge, for spring break.

Holiday road!