Lederhosen Anyone?

There's a great song by the White Stripes that goes something like, "Fall is here, hear the yell, back to school, ring the bell..." Just like the arrival of fall is marked by a new school year, fall is also ushered in by the most spectacular colors here in Germany. Nowhere are these colors more dramatic than in the Bavarian Alps. Take a closer look...

While this last weekend was supposed to be our big Oktoberfest trip, it turned out to be a bit more low key. Let's just say that when we got to Munich, the weather sucked and there were drunks falling all over the place. Oh yeah, it was only 1 PM and people were already passed out and things were getting downright insane. Last year when I went without the kids in tow, the thing was a totally different experience. In fact, it was a total blast! This time around, it was a lot tougher to let go and enjoy ourselves.

Despite the rocky start to the weekend, we had a great time last weekend. By the time Sunday rolled around, the clouds moved on and the temperature got well into the sixties. I was able to coax the family into donning lederhosen and dirndl for a few pix (BTW, Jen's going to kill me for posting her pix in this outfit). Everyone looked great! Jen does too, don't you all agree?

We talked to some of the locals and discovered a spectacular lake above the town of Garmisch-Partenkirchen. Turns out this lake served as the ice hockey rink for the 1936 winter olympics. Also, we saw this incredible castle on the German-Austrian border...


In the weeks ahead we are going to be headed down to Italy and setting sail on a cruise. Definitely looking forward to it. The last cruise I went on a few years back departed from Anaheim and went through some jungle. Time to get my sea legs back.