Europe Grand Tour: Neuschwanstein Castle, Germany

The fellowship bid farewell to Munich early Tuesday morning and ventured to the dream-like castle of Neuschwanstein. Ideally situated on mountaneous terrain and overlooking a breathtaking landscape of forests and lakes, Neuschwanstein is the result of the fantastical imagination of a rather eccentric Bavarian monarch, Ludwig II. Though left unfinished this castle does not fail to stun. A guided tour of the castle revealed many splendors including a lavish bedroom, a lush throne-like toilet in the master bathroom, a cave room, and an intricate musical hall. We spent the majority of the morning entranced by the beauty of Neuschwanstein and the scandalous story surrounding it. Our curiosity satisfied, we made our way back to Switzerland just in time for Dajo Osman's birthday party.

Neuschwanstein Castle

Ludwig II's Father's Castle

Europe Grand Tour: Munich, Germany

As we mentioned earlier, our stay in Switzerland was interrupted by a two-day trip to Germany. The fellowship ventured to Munich, Germany early on Monday morning to visit our cousin Emin, who studies and works there. After checking into our hotel, we met up with Emin and had lunch together.  After a scrumptous lunch, where Azra and I had the most delicious gemüse (veggie) burgers, we headed to the center to explore the historic city. Some highlights included watching the large clock announce the top of the hour with music and puppets, eating pretzels, and meeting Santa Clause (no joke). While the guys enjoyed some of the famous German sausages, we girls had dinner at a wonderful vegetarian restaurant. Munich's architecture is beautiful and its people are friendly, but my favorite part of the trip was spending time with our cousin Emin.

Munich

Where's Eddie?

Fountain

Main Square

One of Many Clocks in Munich's Main Square

Emin!!

Rudi Getting A Redbull Fix

The Fellowship :)

Brezel- Yum!

A Sky Walk in Munich

Santa Wears Lederhosen!

What a Gangster

Goofing Off

A Balancing Act

The Totem Pole

Cheers!

We Miss You Emin!

Europe Grand Tour: Switzerland

The last time we left you, we had just left Luxembourg and were on our way to our uncles' in Switzerland. We spent about 5 full days in Switzerland, interrupted only by a short trip to Munich, Germany (more on that later). The group was welcomed at Dajo Emin's home, which became our homebase. Ujna Nica worked really hard to make our stay as comfortable as possible. Thank you Ujna!!

The German part of Switzerland is absolutely gorgeous. We were blessed with bright, sunny weather and therefore took full advantage of Switzerland's many beautiful hills and woods. Azra, Budo, Amela, and I walked to the infamous 1000 steps, located on a wooded hill near their home. What a challenge! Dajo Emin also has a trampoline, which we naturally had to exploit to show off various tricks.

Switzerland also means family because the families of all of mom's three brothers live there. We don't get to see each other often, so we cousins made sure to spend as much time together as possible. This resulted in a number of fun family outings including walks in the woods, meals, and even a trip to the Alps. We left Switzerland full of many wonderful memories. Thank you to all our family there!!

Dajo Emin's Home

View from the Front Yard

Rudi and Budo in the Backyard

One of Many Delicious Meals

Ice Cream Break for Eddie

Kenan Doing Tricks

Azra, Flying Machine

The 1000 Steps - More like 1186 Steps

What Vitality!

Half Way There!

We Made It!

The Reward

(from left) Mirela, Lejla, Sejla, Kenan, Amela, Azra, Amra, Salko

Anida, aka Hello Kitty

Faruk

Amina

Is that a Nuclear Plant??

Group Walk

Amra with an Orange (This Could be a Commercial)

Group Outing and Photo Shot

On Our Way to the Alps

Snowball Fight!

Another Group Outing

Amra and Azra on the Mountains

After Much Climbing We Made Reached a Height of Over 1000 meters

Budo Was Exhausted, We Had to Carry Him Back Down

Happy Birthday Dajo Osman!!