The Hale Adventures of 2014: Overdue Post: Last Days in Munich

Augustiner Keller

Although we've been back in Shenzhen now for nearly two weeks, I haven't had the chance to blog about our last week in Munich. It was pretty eventful, so I've added lots of pics, but I'll try to keep my explanation short.

Our yummy spread.

Most of the days we just hung out at our apartment, but we ventured out on one of those lazy days to the Augustiner Keller. Paul had a blast playing on the playground, and we enjoyed a picnic and a sunny afternoon. It was a great day.

When the weekend rolled around, we rented a car and headed out for some fun in the Alps. On our previous trip to Salzburg, we had planned on seeing the salt mine there. Unfortunately we weren't able to see it, so we made the trip down to the mines and an alpine slide that Donnie had read about.

The salt mine was super cool. It was just enough information balanced with some fun things like riding a train into the mine, then riding down these long wooden slides deeper into the mine. Paul loved those parts. The tour was only an hour, which was perfect for Paul's attention span. We bought some big pieces of salt and then made the short drive to the alpine slide.

Daddy and Paul in our crazy miner outfits.

Inside the mine selfies.

A collapsed tunnel inside the mine.

One of the slides. We all rode down as a family.

They found a dead guy stuck in salt. This is just a model.

The alpine slide was only a five minute drive away, and when we arrived I was immediately nervous about it. We had to ride the ski lift up to the top of a pretty tall mountain, with the intent of riding a toboggan attached to a rail all the way down. the entire ride was 2.2 km. But Paul was fearless. When we got to the top he was very upset to find that he wouldn't get to ride down by himself (you have to be 6 to do that). So he climbed onto Donnie's lap and off they went. I was only a minute behind them, but they went so fast I didn't even see them on the track in front of me. My fears were unfounded. It was a beautiful ride. Cool and fast and the scenery was unbelievable. I would've gone again, but we left in search of food.

Looking down on the slide from the ski lift.

Nothing scares this guy.

Top of the mountain, waiting for our turn.

We drove back to Munich that night, and went to bed early. The next morning was an early start, Donnie had planned an exciting trip to Europa Park. Europa Park is one of the top rated amusement parks in Europe, and Donnie wanted to get there when it opened. So we left around 5:30am to get there by 9:30am ( it was all the way on the other side of Germany, near France).

The day was cool and rainy, which made some of the rides difficult, but overall it was amazing. It is separated by countries in Europe, and each section has a series of rides that can entertain any age. We never waited in line more than 20 minutes, and we even caught a really cheesy ice skating show. We spent about 5 hours playing in the park, then worn out and ready for rest, we headed to a hotel nearby.

Ready to start the day!

This was the coolest kids' playground ever!

Can you spot Paul the Viking?

Paddling down the river.

Crazy London cabs.

Paul loves the spinning rides!

After a short night's rest, we got up and drove another hour to a race. We had signed up for a half-marathon at the beginning of the summer and had been working towards training for it. The race didn't start until 9:45 and by then it was a little warmish and we were anxious to get started. This was the first race we've taken Paul with us on. Thirteen miles is a long way for a little guy to sit in a stroller for, but he watched, then napped and even ran across the finish line with us. It was a tough race, we struggled through it and I have to give credit to Donnie for pushing Paul in the stroller for most of the way. It took us a long time, but we finished! I even got a prize for finishing, but there was no fancy fanfare or even medals. We stuck around for the kid's race, and Paul struggled through to finish his 400m. He was very proud of himself for finishing, and so were we. :) Hopefully, it's the beginning of his running career.

Before the run, we're Number 1!

Happy family before the race.

Kilometer 18...almost there.

Ready for the kid's run!

After the race, we made the long drive back to Munich and had a few lazy days, partly because we were tired from the race, but the rain had come again. But a few days before departure, we found out there was a festival not far from where we lived. So we made the short walk down there and had some fun on the rides and yummy fest food. Paul was a bit grumpy, so we cut our time short and headed home.

More fun rides!

Paul's first ferris wheel!

Loves driving cars with Daddy.

So then there it was. Our last day in Munich. We had such a beautiful summer, lazy days and full days, yummy food, fun in all parts of the country. We were sad to see it end, but ready to start another chapter in China. Munich will be a place I treasure for my whole life. I'm sure we'll be back soon in the next few years, and I'm happy that Paul has these memories of our time there.

We had our last meal at the Hofbrauhaus, then ended the day with a stroll through downtown and left early the next day for Hong Kong. So many bright adventures await. Some of which I will write about soon. :)