We drove to Munich after we visited Dachau. We didn't really have a plan (except our mandatory meal at Hard Rock Cafe), but aimed for the middle of town. Luckily, we found a parking garage that was near Hard Rock and we just walked around until it was time to eat.
We saw some church spires and decided to go check that out. We sat in that plaza for a while and listened to a quartet playing classical music.
Then we went to a couple of parks before making our way back to Hard Rock.
Hofbrauhaus, the biggest and most famous beer joint in the world was right next door. We declined to partake in a beverage there, but we did walk in and snap a picture. With the beer flowing, and an oom-pah band playing away it created an atmosphere one would expect from such an infamous, German beirgarten.
After we ate at Hard Rock, we drove back to the hotel in Garmisch. It's at this point, that I would like to tell about our autobahn experience. Mike was driving and I could feel the testosterone oozing from him as he pushed the pedal of our shiny, red, Fiat Panda (rental) to hit 170 kph. That's as fast as our tiny little car would go, and we were frequently passed. However, when the speed limit went back down to 120 kph, you could literally see cars hit their brakes. Apparently Germans obey every speed limit. If we missed a speed limit sign, we would suddenly see the other cars take off and find ourselves alone on the autobahn. We had to quickly increase our speed to avoid getting run over. It was fun.
The next day we rode a cable car (the Wankbahn) to the top of a mountain in Garmisch. When we reached the top, we were pleasantly surprised to find a meadow complete with grazing horses and cows. They wore bells on their necks which added to our alpine experience.

On a more somber note, we visited Dachau. It is the first concentration camp set up by the Nazi regime. The first picture on the right is where the prisoners arrived. Then, they made their way through this gate under the words "Arbeit macht frei", which means "Work will make you free". The next picture is of a guard tower. Here, everything is as it was when the concentration camp was active. There is a barbed wire fence, trip wire, and a trench. Next on the left was a reconstructed barracks in which inmates stayed. Between the trees is the main camp road and on either side of that were the rows of barracks. The infirmary took up the first 3 rows. The sick did not go here to get better, but to die. This is also where horrific medical experiments were carried out on prisoners.

These are pictures of the toilet room inside the barracks. And the 3-tier bunk beds.

We also walked over to the crematorium. This is the bigger of the two. The number of people they were killing quickly exceeded the capacity of the old crematorium. We had the gut wrenching experiencing of walking through the rooms where they stored the bodies waiting to be cremated. There was also a "shower" room. The showers were built with gassing capabilities, but for some reason at this particular camp they were never utilized.

I wouldn't exactly call this experience fun, but I was glad we could honor the people who were murdered here, by not forgetting the horrors they experienced.

We went on a short trip to Germany this week. We got a little lost in the mountains of northern Italy on the return trip and spent MUCH too long in the car. But Ezra helped with the driving. :)
Just kidding. We stayed at a lodge in Garmisch, Germany that is exclusively for military members and their families. It was really nice. The first picture on the right is the view from our room. From the lodge, we took day trips to Neuschwanstein Castle, Dachau concentration camp, and Munich. The castle on the left is Hohenschwangau. We actully didn't tour it, but it was right next to Neuschwanstein that we did tour. The next picture was taken from the courtyard of the castle where we waited for our tour to start. The in Italy, Austria, and Germany wound through many mountain towns. Almost all of the houses and hotels had flower boxes filled with beautiful flowers. Whatever flower this is must be in season, because they were everywhere and gorgeous.
Last, we passed this castle in Germany. The name of it was Ehrenberg. Naturally, I had to take a picture.

Back in Italy and getting back into a routine. The jet lag took its toll on poor Ezra, but his sleep patterns have finally straightened out. We had three nights in row of being up for several hours in the wee hours of the morning. However, it was so much easier shared by two parents instead of one. Mike is home and we are enjoying being a family again. It didn't take long for Ezra to warm up to Daddy. They seem to have picked up right were they left off 3 months ago. The picture on the left is a rainbow behind our house after a particularly nasty thunderstorm. And on the top right--a picture of Ezra helping with the laundry.
Under those are pictures of the grapevines in the backyard. There's a vine of purple and of green grapes. And then there are dew berries along the back fence. They're about halfway done ripening and they were so good right off the vine.
The last few pictures are of Mike and Ezra. We were sitting in the backyard enjoying the cool of the evening. It was probably around 75 degrees. We could also hear the music from a nearby bar. The month of August is vacation month for pretty much the whole country. Hard to believe I know. But even businesses (including the Italian movie theaters) close down for at least part of the month.
Great pics huh? We have so many things to be thankful for!!

Well, our time in Houston is quickly drawing to a close. We are cramming in last visits with family and friends before we leave on Sunday. It's sad to say goodbye (especially since everyone is so attached to Ezra), but our last year in Italy will fly by.

The first picture is of Uncle Garrett and Ezra. We enjoyed lots of Tex-Mex this summer. Mmm... Next is a picture of Ezra passed out in his swing. He doesn't use it too much anymore, but clearly it's still good for a nap.

Ezra has hit some major milestones in the last couple of weeks. He is sitting unsupported for a few minutes at a time. He is also well on his way to crawling. He gets on all fours and rocks. He's even starting to move his knees a little bit. I can tell he already enjoys the freedom of scooting around on his own. Look how happy he looks. :) The last big milestone was the addition of a tooth. Fortunately, it was uneventful in the way of crying or running a fever. I wouldn't have even know it was there, had I not felt it. I know you can't see the tooth in the picture, but I did want to show my ridiculous attempt to photograph a squirming baby with one hand.