Bregenz, Austria 3 – 5 September 2014, Germany 5 – 23 September 2014

Lake Como, Italy 11- 15 September 2014

Sadly bidding farewell to our German friends, from Horden, we hired another car and drove to Bregenz in Austria to visit Alex’s aunt and uncle. It was actually cheaper to hire a car, including petrol to drive from Karlsruhe, to Bregenz then Munich than it was for the two of us to catch the train. Trains are expensive in Germany, which seems strange to me as they are in most other ways such a green country.

It was lovely to see Elise and Eckhart, Alex hadn’t seen them in nearly 14 years. They took us on a boat ride around Bodensee, Lake Constance, and out for a delicious lunch.

We spent over two weeks with Alex’s sister Simone in Munich, which was a real treat. It was so special for us to be able to stay with Simone and catch up for lost time. We talked for hours and went for a short trip to Lake Como in Italy, which was truly lovely. We ate delicious gelato, pizza and pasta and went on boat rides around the lake. We had fun watching all the Europeans show off their bikes and cars.

We even made it to Oktoberfest for the opening day. It was quite funny as we hadn’t booked a table, and it was the opening day. We still managed to sneak in though (twice!) and made some friends…oh and drank too much beer…