Sledding 2 - 17 Mar (Tue)

I finally got up before 7:00. I wanted to see the morning routine a little bit even though Burkhard wasn't going to work today (he had comp time saved up so he didn't have to work Monday and Tuesday). I saw the boys getting up and getting ready for school. My boys were thinking about going to the school again today and I was thrilled that they were so excited about it. We decided to wait a little bit. Penny slept late. The neighborhood kids came by to pick up Dominik and Jakob. They all walked to school together.

Marget, Finn, Keane and I walked together to the bakery and to the grocery store. Finn wanted to buy something, so I gave him some money and I think he bought a bag of Gummi Bears to bring back as a gift - which I think we "lost" (ate) along the way. At the bakery, we met a group of boys from the school. They all recognized Finn and wanted to say hello. One of them came to the front and said something, but got his pronouns mixed up and was so embarrassed by it that he wouldn't say anything else in English again. Finn was glad to see them and told them he'd see them later.

When we got back, Penny was up and we ate a good breakfast. We all decided to make a second sledding trip instead of going to school. They could go to school again tomorrow. Burkhard was going to stay home and do some work at home. They had been waiting on a clear day to install some solar panels on the roof. The local handyman (Zimmermann = carpenter and his name was actually Klaus Zimmermann) showed up in the morning to get started. So, we loaded up the car.

Finn, Keane, Marget, Penny and I rode back to Buchberg. We expected the ski lift to be running this morning, but it didn't open until 11:00 and it was only 10:15 (or 10:30). Marget suggested that we ride down the road a few km to Füssen. Füssen is a very famous town - probably better known than Schwangau for being near Neuschwanstein. It is a larger town - 16,000 people, with a very nice shopping district, a castle and it sits beautifully on the Forrgen See (Lake Forrgen), which the Lech River flows into. Strangely enough they drain the lake in the wintertime.




Here are the boys walking down into the area that will be the Forrgen See in the Summertime.



So, we killed some time and then went back to the Ski Lift at Buchberg. Penny and Marget decided to walk to the top (tough!). The boys and I rode the ski lift. They put the sleds on chairs in front of us. The three of us squeezed into one seat. It was very cool - probably an 8-10 minute ride to the top. Finn and I don't like heights. Keane thought it was very cool.



We got to the top and got to look around while we waited for Marget and Penny. The boys posed and we watched someone trying to launch a parachute - she was still waiting for the wind to be right when the girls arrived so we never saw her sail away.






The girls expected to get up in an hour, but it took them 45 minutes! At the top of the mountain there was a restaurant (Gasthaus) so we went inside to warm up and have some lunch. It was another fantastic food day. We tried new things again....Apple Strudel, Kaisershmarrn (something between pancakes and crepes - which Marget had made for the boys on Sat or Sun) and Currywurst with Fries. Of course a nice big beer hit the spot too.



Now it was time for sledding! The snow was perfect - not icy at all - very good powder. We could ride as fast as we wanted to go. Finn and Penny on one sled. Keane and I were on a sled. Marget was by herself. We steer and slow down by digging our heels into the snow. It was so much fun. Keane squealed most of the way and we stopped several times. Keane said, "When I scream I get snow in my mouth!"



At the bottom, we packed up the sleds and headed back to Burggen.