The flowers and beauty of Herrenchiemsee

Well, I may never be able to pronounce where we visited, but the gardens are so beautiful that it was worth it.

This gorgeous place is on an island in the middle of Chiemsee lake in southern Bavaria. The island originally housed an Augustinian monastery, then in 1873 it was purchased by King Ludwig II who had the buildings converted to a residence. In 1878 he started building "Neues Schloss" (pictured above "New Castle"). He based all the designs on Versailles. Though only a handful of rooms were finished, the King moved in in September of 1885. Unfortunately the King died the following year with the house largely unfinished; at which time all building works stopped. 

The literature we were given was a bit confusing in describing the costs of the project. I also spent some time with Mr. Google and between the two sources, I think King Ludwig II spent nearly 200k oz of gold in the 23 year project equating to a cost of approx $300M in current value. I've heard of cost overruns in construction before, but this one takes the cake!

At the time of his death, there was a North wing build but nothing was completed in it and there were plans for a mirrored south wing. Given the project was so far in debt, the south wing was immediately scrapped and by 1900 a decision was made to demolish the north wing leaving just the main building seen today.

To recover costs, only a few weeks after the King passed, they opened it up as a tourist attraction and it has remained so ever since. 

The gardens are filled with fountains (again, to resemble Versailles) and the statues throughout are replicas of French antiquities which King Ludwig was enamored with.

Resting at the café after running ALL over the grounds

I wish I could tell you more about the interior, but the day we went the building was closed for a private wedding. Though they neglected to tell us this when we parked or rode the ferry over or walked the mile and a half up to the castle. This is our unamused face.

Though bummed we couldn't tour further, we made the most of running out all our energy on the grounds, stopping by the King's private chapel and former hunting grounds (though now a cow grazing zone...odd for an island, right?)

From there, we ferried back to the main land and continued our tour of Bavaria.

 

Wo sind meine Sachen?

So this is bound to be a multi-post update but it's currently early June and there are no signs of our household goods departing for our new home. Therefore we made an "emergency" trip to IKEA to get some essentials to help hold us over until the container gets here.

For the astute observer you may notice that the mini appears to be completely full (it is). And for those of you familiar with my lovely wife you can probably guess that she didn't let me travel to IKEA all on my own to pick out furniture and essentials (and you would be correct).  So how did we get everyone home you ask? Well because our furniture eyes were bigger than our vehicular stomach Amanda was the lucky person who got to stay at IKEA with both girls for the two hour round trip it took me to get the first load of goods back to the apartment and unloaded! Thankfully, IKEA has a restaurant and someone likes 

And then gets sleepy after eating!

But we eventually all got home with enough time to put some of the new stuff together and enjoy a pleasant evening on the patio!

PART II

Well it's finally happened. Our household shipment has made it across the ocean! Mind you it hasn't gotten off the boat yet, but thanks to my role as a Global Process Manager in Logistics and some kind words to our relocation specialist I was able to obtain tracking information for our shipment and utilize our tracking software to follow our container ship the last few weeks. As of this morning it has docked in Bremerhaven!

We now have a 2-3 week wait for it to get offloaded, through customs and then travel 900km to reach us.

PART III

It's here! It's finally here! Our stuff is finally here!

FIN!

Stars & Stripes

As much as we love exploring new cultures and traditions, occasionally it’s nice to remember some things that are uniquely American. The 4th of July is pretty high on the list of holidays that are not celebrated in Liechtenstein (or the UK!). To commemorate, we decided to try “The 1950’s American Diner” which is a restaurant in Liechtenstein that we’ve driven past many times, but yet to commit to. So we donned all our best Red, White & Blue and headed out.

The diner is located in a gas station, which also feels quite fitting for a 50’s American Diner. We through broken English & German spoke to the owners who also operate the diner and they said that in their 20’s/30’s they had traveled through the US, particularly loving Oklahoma, Texas, New Mexico Route 66 area of the country. So when they decided to open a restaurant they specifically looked for a place that would fit an American Diner theme and this is what they found. The gas station, though they admitted made more money than the restaurant, was only a bonus to them as they really wanted a diner.

Adam & I tried two different hamburgers. Charlotte opted for the hot dog. Olivia, mostly fries…well, really mostly ketchup delivered on fries…

As a special bonus, we split a milkshake for dessert. YUM!

ALLLLLLLLL the Playgrounds

When we talked to Charlotte about moving, one of her main concerns was would Liechtenstein have playgrounds. When Adam & I came over to house hunt, we scoped out a few that were near our house to prove there were playgrounds and we could, in fact, move here. She remained a bit dubious, but once we introduced her to the playgrounds, she quickly adapted and began naming all of them (despite the fact that they all already have names).

So, a few pictures below from our favorites: 

• The Hilti Playground (it's across the street from Adam's Hilti office)
• The Birthday Party Playground (the one where she had her birthday party)
• The Bird Playground (it's really a bird sanctuary that has a playground out front)
• The Secret Playground (it is behind a building so you can't see if from the street)
• The Mountain Playground (the parking lot is down the hill from the actual playground so you have to hike up to it)
• The Zipline/Church Playground (odd, I know, but there is a Chapel on the site and a zipline on the playground)
• The Scooter Playground (it has a kids bike trail around the outside of it, but I never want to haul her bike in the car, so I take her scooter)
• The Tall Slide Playground (I bet you can figure this one out)

This is only a fraction of the playgrounds in this country. To say that she is pleased with her options is an understatement.

Amateur Electrician at your service

When we moved into our apartment, I quickly noticed one very odd feature. There were no lights. I understand if you're like 'what do you mean there were no lights?' Yeah, there were just bulbs hanging from the celling with exposed wiring. Is this to fire code? We don't know.

We inquired as to what the situation was on lights with other expat we know. They confirmed that typically light fixtures do not come with an apartment (even those that are rented). So then I expected there to be a large second hand market for light fixtures if you have to swap them out ever time you move. I was told there was not - people don't move that often, even those who rent are typically in the place for 10-15 years so the fixtures would wear out or be out of style when they move and therefore they're discarded usually.

So we went to our favorite Swedish retailer ... Ikea ... I feel like I lived there the first couple of months we were here. Sure enough, there were hundreds of options. After settling on some, I then had the task of figuring out how to install these newly acquired fixtures.

I again inquired of the expat community, all of whom told me that you just hang the fixture on the hook then unclip the bulb and reclip the new bulb.

Um...Sure.

So I figured out how to unclip the old bulb, but despite the Ikea instructions, several German YouTube clips, and multiple discussions with coworkers and friends, the whole "hang it on the hook" part still alluded me. With the help of a coat hanger, two key chains, and some electrical tape, I eventually got there.

Now on to the other 6 lights in our apartment...

Celebrating my favorite 5 year old

I have to admit I was a bit nervous on expectations for Charlotte's birthday this year. Charlotte had high expectations that all her friends would join her for her "Rainbow Unicorn Party" and there would be cake and a piñata. I tried to ground a bit more in reality that we've only been here for about six weeks and maybe her friends already had plans because her birthday was during the summer vacation but we would definitely have a rainbow unicorn cake. So in the last week of school, we sent out invitations.

Having a party in the park (or spielplatz in German) is a great way to have a party with minimal planning. I did snacks and the REQUIRED cake (from a bakery because I still don't have any of my baking pans that are S.L.O.W.L.Y. floating their way across the ocean). Then in a stroke of pure luck, I was wandering through a store the week before her party and came across a rainbow unicorn piñata. Y'all, I nearly jumped in the store itself.

All told we had 9 kids show up from her class + a couple of their siblings to bring us up to 14. It was the perfect amount for her to feel 120% loved.

A side note, many of the Swiss parents brought their children then left and came back a couple hours later. In a public park! International parents are much more relaxed than US parents, I'm learning.