More Garmisch weekend

We did some other things on our birthday trip to Garmisch! Completely on opposite spectrums from each other, but equally as memorable.

First, we stopped at the Dachau Concentration Camp on our way down. We had been there years before and things had changed so much we got a little turned around when we were going there. Instead of parking in the big gravel lot where all the prisoners once gathered, there is a separate parking lot across the street. There is a Visitor's Center now and an audio tour you can take. Because we walked from the lot across the street, we ended up entering the camp through the gate so many innocent people entered when they were off-loaded from the trains 70+ years ago...

I don't have much to say about Dachau. When you are there it steals your words. Incomprehensible.

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One other fun thing we did on the weekend was to explore Schloss Linderhof, another of King Ludwig's castles.  We visited there once before with the big kids but were only able to tour the grounds, as the castle itself was closed for renovations. Also, one of us (ahem) had to stay outside the Grotto with the baby who wasn't quiet enough to enter (cough cough...)

Now the "baby" is big and we all got to enter. And the castle renovations were finished so we got to tour it as well!

The colors were absolutely spectacular the day we were there!

Inside the Grotto. We did feel a little ripped off. We "listened" to a lengthy description and narration of the grotto and its history in German, with the promise of an english translation coming afterwards. The fifteen minute German narration was reduced to a 3-minute brief by the time it made it to us in English... but it was still neat.

We had lunch in the nearby town of Ettal, near the famous monastery. Oh, German food, how we love you... 

We also had some fun recreating pictures we had taken 12 years ago! Things haven't changed too much, but the people sure have!

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On the other end of our trip, we decided to stop off at Legoland one last time. The Soldier had never been there! We had a great time on all the rides, eating yummy food, and exploring the shops and Lego factory. A fun end to a great weekend.

Couldn't resist stopping to capture this beautiful view on our way north...

Not too crowded in October!

We helped assemble a giant pumpkin made out of Lego blocks...

I went, too, but not this ride. :)

And then it was home....