Weekend in Germany

Well, as close to Germany as you can get by staying in the Northwest, that is..... Still, we had a great time immersing ourselves in the German spirit during our weekend trip to Leavenworth. Thankfully my mom and dad watched the boys for us so Scott and I could enjoy a weekend sans parenting duties. We love our boys dearly but boy was it nice to not have to juggle their needs with our own. The break from diapers, naptimes, tantrums, tears and picky eating was soooooo nice! I loved being able to spend a few days with Scott alone in just Scott-and-Marissa mode instead of parental mode. Scott really is my best friend and I have so much fun hanging out with him. :) We were there right in the lull in the festivites - after Oktoberfest but before the Thanksgiving/Christmas festivities, so we didn't get to see the famous Christmas lights or carolers, there were no horse-drawn sleigh rides or anything like that, but boy did we enjoy ourselves!

The resort we stayed at is right near town and was a pleasant 1/2 mile walk along the river. It had snowed for a few days before we got there so there was a nice amount of snow on the ground, but it wasn't hard to drive or walk in, and it had warmed up a bit so it wasn't biting cold. It was perfect.

The weekend bascially revolved around food. I totally indulged in whatever I felt like eating and enjoyed every last morsel and didn't even feel guilty about it. Though I think my thighs and waistline are grateful that we don't eat that way on a regular basis.... We ate at a German restaurant the first night called King Ludwig's and I think it was the best German food I've ever eaten. The only other German restaurant I've ever eaten at (and have always enjoyed) was put firmly in a very distant 2nd place after this experience. The next day we had lunch at an outdoor biergarten and enjoyed the best brats we've ever had. It was outdoors but it was sunny and beautiful out so it wasn't bad when bundled up and sitting in the sunshine. We hit up a lot of the shops and saw more than a few things that we would've loved to bring home with us. Next time we'll set aside a bigger budget for a Leavenworth trip though - everything there was very expensive!

So mostly we just browsed, but two extravagances couldn't be denied: A trip to Schocolat (the european hand-made chocolate boutique) and The Cheesemonger's Shop (basically my version of Heaven). The chocolates were pricey but oh-so-divine so I happily shelled out the dough for those little morsels of divinity.... And the cheese shop lets you sample EVERY SINGLE cheese you want. Seriously, I started to feel guilty, but they kept offering different ones and asking questions about what I liked, then made more suggestions. Seriously in heaven there! After trying about 15 different cheeses Scott and I decided on buying a chunk of 10 year aged Wisconsin cheddar that was probably the best cheese I've ever had. We had that and a fresh baguette for dinner. Mmmmm.....cheese and bread......

Here are a few pictures from our trip:

Scott on the main drag

The main street in town

My favorite place EVER:

Our resort:

On the pathway walk to town:

We had an impromptu photo shoot. Me posing by a pretty tree:

It was a beautiful winter wonderland.

Last one...

We had such an amazing weekend!