Zugspitze.

The last day we were in Germany we took a ride up the Zugspitze, which is the tallest peak in the Alps in Germany.  It was truly beautiful, and cold.

They let JJ sit in the drivers chair on the gondola ride up the mountain.

We even walked over into Austria.

And of course JJ threw more snowballs.

We also stopped for a cafe and pretzel at the top.

On the way back down the mountain, Owen completely passed out on the train ride.  It was a very fun day.

More Germany.

Ok, ok, I know I'm really, really behind again, so I'll try my best to catch up within the week : )  JJ finally went back to school today and Brian's gone for a few days, so I might actually be able to do some posting.

Here's some more Germany. . .

This is the lodge that we stayed at.  

JJ loved being able to go out in the morning and throw snowballs.

One day we were there, we took a day trip over to the little town of Mittenwald.  There was a nice little Christmas market and was a relaxing day in the cold.

Munich!

We went up to Germany this last weekend and had a great time.  We went to the Christmas markets and walked around some other small towns.  Here's our trip to Munich.

First off, it was COLD!!

And beautiful.

And the boys were cold.

And a few other people were there that weekend.

And we got a present for Grandma and Grandpa ; )

At the end of the day, we had fun!

Orvieto.

The other "town on a hill" that we visited was Orvieto.  It is still a major city that you can drive into, so unfortunately I don't have any pictures of it being on a hill.  You'll just have to trust me that it is : )   It was pretty cold and rainy while we were there, but we still had a great weekend.

One of the days we were there we took a tour of the underground, which was amazing.  There are hundreds of tunnels and caves, but only a few of them are open to the public.  Most are privately owned and used for wine cellars.

We learned that Orvieto was spared during WW2 due to an agreement between a German commander and English major.  They agreed not to fight in, or bomb the beautiful town.  There was a large hospital built for soldiers who could make it up the hill and into the caves to safety.  

This is one of the old farming caves.  Can you guess what animal lived here. . . . pigeons!  Our guide said it was the cheapest and easiest animal to farm here because they would fly out and feed themselves.  Apparently pigeon is still a delicacy in the city.

The view from the pigeon hole.

This is an entrance up into the city that has collapsed.  Luckily nothing collapsed while we were down there!  

Tomorrow we're off to Germany to see the Christmas markets.  I'm sooooooo excited!!!  It'll be cold, but there will be mulled wine to keep us warm : )  

Civita di Bagnoregio.

A few weeks ago we headed up north to visit some "towns on the hills."  Our first stop was Civita di Bagnoregio.  It was founded over 25 hundred years ago and is now called "the dying city" because it's falling off the hill!  There are only about 15 residents now and more cats than people.  It was one of our favorite places that we've been to in the last 2 years, as you will see by the amount of pictures.  Krista told me once that an "appropriate" blog post has about 5 pictures and 10 at the absolute most.  Sorry Krista, this has way more than that!  

You have to walk across a very long and steep bridge to get up to the city.  I did have a small anxiety attack about half way there, but we made it.

We stopped to have lunch at an amazing little restaurant before starting over the bridge and it was one of our favorite meals in Italy.

And we're off . . .

Yes, it was a little steep . . .

But we made it!

The view looking back down the bridge . . .

We went into a local shop to buy some local olive oil and the shop owner invited us to go downstairs!

Every once in awhile we're reminded of just how blessed we are to be living here, and this day was one of those times.