A Wedding in New Orleans

Victor's Family

We spent our fall break this year in the United States! We started in New Orleans for our nephew Victor's wedding to his lovely bride Veronica. New Orleans is a great city to visit and October is a wonderful time to be there with family. It isn't too crazy or intense but still lots of fun!

Our first day there Steve and I couldn't sleep (yay, jetlag) so we headed down to the river to see the sunrise. I ran a little and then we met at Cafe du Monde to get beignets. They were of course delicious. Warm fried dough, freshly made, is always a treat. We took some back to the kids too. We are nice like that.

While waiting for the rest of DelRossos to arrive, we took the kids and Steve's mom for a walk down Bourbon Street and past the St Louis Cathedral, the oldest, active Catholic Church in the United States. As you may know from some of my previous posts, the kids are not impressed by yet another church, but they dutifully ooh and aah for a minute or two for my benefit.

St Louis Cathedral

We then headed to the aquarium. We all enjoyed leisurely walking around and feeding the parakeets, even Grandma!

Rachel, AJ, Stefanie & Grandma

Rachel

Stefanie

Missy

AJ

Stefanie

Grandma

Rachel & Stefanie

Friday was wedding day but not until the evening. Steve's sister Rita arranged a Segway Tour for us. That was so much fun! I thought it was going to be hard to balance and to maneuver but it was really quite easy. The hardest part was that it was tough on the feet.  Since you're standing still and using your feet to steer they do start to hurt a little. However, not enough not to do it! We saw a lot of quirky architecture and all the main sites of the city and learned a little too. It was a perfect tour with teens! Afterwards we had lunch at Huck Finn's, yummy, yummy New Orleans food!

Mark, AJ, Rachel, Stefanie, Brian, Greg, Rick & Katie

Stefanie

AJ

Rachel & Missy

Armstrong Park

Rachel

Then it was time for the main event, Victor & Veronica's wedding. What a terrific evening.  The wedding was in a beautiful New Orleans church and the priest did a superb job equating marriage to a marathon, so perfect for the running couple! Steve, as Victor's Godfather was selected to do a reading and did an excellent job!

Rachel, Steve, Stefanie, Missy & AJ

Victor & Veronica!

Afterwards the reception was at a cool refurbished warehouse building. Lots of yummy food, good drinks and of course dancing.

Mike found the baby in the King's Cake

Steve, Veronica & Victor

Victor & Stefanie, AJ & Veronica

Following the reception the party moved to Pat O'Briens.  Steve and I happily joined the group after dropping the kids off at the hotel. After all we weren't in Germany, no bars for them! Since we were there, we of course had a Hurricane. It truly does pack a punch.

Saturday was an easy going day. We made our way to the French Market and explored that area and walked through the street, people watching and of course eating. We visited the World War II museum but realized we were going to run out of time before they closed so we watched the IMAX movie and did the submarine simulator saving the rest for Sunday, luckily you can go a second day for only an additional $5.

AJ, Brian, Stefanie & Rachel

Saturday evening Veronica's Aunt Terrie hosted a dinner in honor of the happy couple. It was another terrific evening, filled with fabulous food, music and fun. The had a Duck Dynasty theme happening, leading to some fun pictures with the kids and their cousins.

Rachel, AJ, Mark, Stefanie & Brian

Sunday was our last day in New Orleans and we spent part of the day finishing our visit to the World War II museum. This is an incredible museum with excellent in depth details of all aspects of WWII. I would highly recommend visiting it if you go. Definitely watch the IMAX movie but skip the submarine simulator!

Stefanie, Rachel, AJ & Brian

Munich Half Marathon

Finished!

To keep myself motivated and running I signed up for the Munich Half Marathon. We had a busy autumn so it was good to have the race because it made sure I ran even when I didn’t feel like it or when I maybe had a little too good of a time the night before a long run!

Steve and I found a way to combine our two passions during my training.  I would do my long run to Andechs, his favorite brewery.  I would run either eight or ten miles and he would meet me there with a change of clothes and a bottle of water. Then we would have lunch and a bier, well radler (a mix of beer and sprite) for me. And he would drive me home!

When my brother and sister-in-law visited they joined us!  Abby and I ran the ten miles to Andechs and Todd and Steve met us there.

Halfway - still feeling good!

The half marathon itself was good.  Munich surprised me and the weather was quite warm, about 70 degrees. I’m not sure it had been that warm since we returned in August. Steve was my support person, waiting with me at the start and cheering me on at the halfway mark!

Steve's halfway spot! (Didn't suck)

I went out a little too fast, it’s been a long time since I “raced” this distance.  It made the last three miles hard work and a mental challenge but I finished.  Not only did I finish but I met my goal of finishing under two hours, 1:57:54.

The Munich Half Marathon is a good course, mostly flat and finishes in the Olympic Stadium.  I like that I have now climbed the roof and run a lap there!

Todd & Abby in Munich!

Todd, Abby, Missy & Steve

My brother Todd and his wife Abby were our next visitors.  What a fabulous visit we had with them! It was so great that they had the opportunity to travel as a couple. Their two sweet boys were well cared for back in Atlanta by my parents and Abby's parents.

We started them off with dinner at one of our favorite local German restaurants. It's cozy and full of Bavarian charm and the food is always delicious!

Abby, Todd, Rachel, AJ, Stefanie, Missy & Steve

Abby & Todd

Any trip to Bavaria in September of course includes Oktoberfest. We first did a guided tour learning about the oldest rides and exhibits. A fun fact, the two old rides were originally powered by men pushing a wheel underneath the rides. They were paid in food and beer. This meant that the rides didn't often run past lunch because the workers were too drunk!  It was a beautiful day to explore Oktoberfest, and through the guided tour we found out only 20 percent of Oktoberfest visitors actually visit more than the tents!  And there is more to see; rides, games, food and the Alte Wiesn. The Alte Wiesn is arranged how Oktoberfest looked many years ago and has historical exhibits. It also has a special beer only served there.

Gorgeous Day to be outside with a bier!

After enjoying the Alte Wiesn we had tickets for a table in the Marstall tent. While you can often find a seat in Oktoberfest tents, you are guaranteed a spot for 3-4 hours if you reserve tickets ahead of time. We had a table for eight so some of our good friends joined us for a fun afternoon of eating, drinking and dancing. Although they did keep making us get off the benches!

Steve, Missy, Wendy, Denise, Lana, Dorothe, Todd & Abby

Bavarian kids!

Abby, Todd, Missy & Steve at Marstall

Afterwards I convince Steve, Todd and Abby to ride the ferris wheel.  I have been wanting to ride it for the last three years. Ferris Wheels scare me (thanks to my cousin Andy) but I love the view! And the view was well worth it, especially on such a beautiful day!

The part of Oktoberfest many visitors never see!

The Oktoberfest Tents

The next day we explored Linderhof, Oberammergau, and Ettal Monastery. Todd also brought some "friends" on the trip. They appear in various pictures. If you know my brother than you aren't surprised that Han Solo and Spiderman were the lego friends that joined him.

Todd & Missy

Han Solo uses the Force (even though that's not his thing)

Todd & Abby at Linderhof Palace

Todd and Abby did some exploring on their own. Of course they didn't miss out on Neuschwanstein. That evening Todd and Steve headed back to Oktorbefest for guys night and Abby and I had girls night with my girlfriends. Of course this was a good night. 

Abby and I ran several times while they were here. I was training for the Munich Half Marathon and she had a big triathlon the same weekend. Our best run was a 10 miler to Andechs Monastery. This is Steve's favorite place in all of Bavaria. Our run was tough after a fun night out but we made it and the reward was excellent. Not only did we enjoy our post run meal and rehydration in the biergarten, it was also the Andechser Dreihostienfest. This is the ONE day of the year that the relic room is open to the public. We were there in time to see the procession from altar to altar around the grounds of the monastery. The three holy hosts were carried throughout the grounds. To learn more about the relics, click on the Andechs Monastery link.

Dreishostien Procession

Relic Room

We went to a concert that night, Aaron Lordson, a Munich street performer who has found great community support.  Han particularly enjoyed it!

Todd and Abby did some Austria exploring on their own. Visiting Salzburg and Berteschgaden. All credit for the following photo captions go to Todd.

Family von Mowinski 

I am 40 going on 41...

We spent their last day in Munich touring churches, seeing the highlights and of course lunching in a brewery. Such a great visit, we are so glad they could visit!

Beautiful temporary exhibit at the Holy Ghost Church

Han enjoyed lunch!

Oktoberfest Visitors

Oktoberfest is a fabulous, fun time in Munich.  There is no doubt about it! We happened to have two groups of friends visiting on the same Friday. They really wanted tickets for a tent but I wasn't having any luck. Then at the last minute eight tickets became available.  PERFECT, just enough tickets to put the two groups together!

Nancy, Missy & Jane

Before we met at the tent Steve and I met Jane and Nancy in Munich. Jane is one of Steve's friends from work.  She recently retired and has been doing an incredible job of seeing and enjoying the world! We gave them a little walking tour of Munich before heading over to Oktoberfest.

Debbie, Missy & Joel

Steve, Jane & Missy

Steve and I joined Joel & Debbie and their sons Stephen and Danny and Jane and Nancy. Debbie is daughter of good friends of my mom's family and my cousin's best friend and as I found out at our lunch also my uncle's God-daughter! Things you don't know about someone you've "known" your whole life! Debbie and Joel had been traveling Europe for about three weeks. I had met them earlier in September for lunch and had also give them a little tour of Munich.

I'm all in, tour guide and bier server!

We had tickets for the Hacker-Pschorr tent. It was great, a little more boisterous than the Marstall tent that we were in earlier in the week. It also has a cool ceiling decorated to look like a beautiful blue sky floating with clouds.

Viehscheid

Here in Bavaria the cows are driven up to the mountain pastures in the spring. They graze there all summer long. Come September the cows are driven back down the mountains. This is called the Viehscheid. (nouns are capitalized in German). Several small towns have mini festivals to celebrate these days throughout September.  There is usually a tent serving chicken and bier and sometimes groups of vendors selling their wares. Another reason to drink bier with friends in Bavaria.

I went to two different ones.  At the beginning of September, Steve and I went to a small Viehscheid in Rettenbach. We were surprised that it was just a parade of cows through the town to a little pasture. It took about 15 minutes. We were also surprised by the cow bells.  They are HUGE. Each cow wears a bell that is almost as big as her head. They are incredibly loud and it is very cool to hear. Strangely melodic. Some of the cows are also decorated with fancy headdresses or wreaths.

A week later I went with some friends to Kranzegg. I think this is the biggest Viehscheid in Bavaria and it always takes place on September 15th. Well unless the 15th is a Sunday, then it takes place on the 14th. Anyway, the center of this little town is intersected by many streets.  Every 15 minutes or so another group of cows is driven down one of the streets and through the town. So there are more opportunities to see the cows and hear the bells.  The town is quant with a lovely biergarten as well as many vendors and a biergarten tent for the day. There is even a bit of hiking to be done there.

SIXTEEN!

Kevin, Lucas, Tasha, Julia, Stefanie, Caroline, Joep, Adam & Eric

Today Stefanie turned 16!  For the first time, one of our kids wasn’t with us on his or her birthday.  She had an overnight canoeing and camping trip with her school. Maybe not Stefanie's first choice on how to spend her birthday, but as usual she found a way to make the best of it and had a great time!

Since she wasn’t home we decided to have a surprise dinner party for her.  We enlisted the help of her two BFFs to decide the guest list and to keep her busy after school. Her friend Julia's mom wins the prize for most unique stalling tactics.

Chocolate Silk Pie Birthday Cake

She was surprised to find her friends at our house and very happy too.  We made a Mexican feast for them.  They seemed to have a great time and then after dinner they headed down to the lake, the favorite teenage hang-out spot.

Unfortunately most of the pictures have disappeared but at least we still have a few!