Neumarkt sets up an ice rink for a few months every winter. Available snacks: curry french fries, all sorts of gummi treats, Kinderpunsch and Glühwein. This was Declan's first time on skates and thanks to a certain Pinguin, the day was a success!
The kids and I are doing our best Frankenstein walks... |
Some Ingolstadt street scenes: On January 6, Drei heilige Könige, kids will go house to house and sing for a donation.
Then your doorway will be marked and blessed for the coming year. These gentlemen represent these 3 kings, or wise men, Caspar, Melchior and Balthasar. Who knew they had names! The CMB below in the photo is often thought to refer to their names but it's actually from Latin Christus Mansionem benedicat - Christus möge dieses Haus segnen. May Christ bless this house.
Our door! |
Schloss Neuschwanstein inspired Walt Disney |
A = Austria or I = Italy? On this trip, we stayed in Germany and went to Munich for another museum exhibit, much to our children's dismay. Why oh why must their parents be history geeks?
This time it was on the 30 Years War, 1618-1648, which was a complicated tangle between the Habsburgs, the House of Austria, the Danish, Dutch, Spanish, French, Swedish and various Germanic dukedoms. Most of the battles took place within the modern German borders.
Porous bones |
It was also a religious war to a certain extent among Catholics, Lutherans and Calvinists. The mess was compounded by armies who were expected to be largely self-funding (plunder anyone?) which left huge areas completely devastated for years. The soldiers often joined up to escape famine and poverty and were known to switch sides depending on who was winning -> who had better living conditions. Remember, this lasted 30 years...
A recreation of a typical soldier |
The "train" which followed the soldiers was often twice as long. It consisted mostly of cooks, wives, widows, children, prostitutes, and blacksmiths. So imagine 15, 000 troops plus their entourage heading through your village. If you survived the attack, joining them was often your only hope of survival, especially in winter.
The museum offered a special children's program which included an excavation of its own.
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We were joined by the Lloyds |
The day wasn't completely museum based - we visited Munich's famous English Garden known in summer for its topless sunbathers and in winter for its surfers!
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