Destination Weddings: Deutchland

So, it's just a few weeks until my cousin gets married off in Jamaica. Unfortunately, we aren't going, but nonetheless it's gotten me thinking about destination weddings! I've been to a few destination weddings in the past few years (my own included) and I've always had a wonderful time. . One of the first ones I attended was for my BFF in Germany, Nikki. It was a blast! Well I love traveling so this was a great excuse to see Germany and Austria. They got married in Oberau, Austria. What was so incredible is that the mixture of American and Austrian/German wedding traditions was so fun. The first picture is one immediately after the wedding. Picture the "Sound of Music" meets modern day weddings. The church they married in was over 300 years old! It was an incredible church. It was such a big deal in the town that even the locals came out to see the wedding!

After the ceremony, we boarded a Bumelzug (I think that's how it's spelled) anyhow this train thing which took us all over for pictures. For this picture (above)we had to walk through a COW pasture! And I am NOT joking. I did my best to make sure Nik's dress didn't drag in any copw pies :) But as you can see the picture turned out wonderful so it was worth it!

Here is the few from my hotel room. Beautiful.. I think I hear the Von Trapp family singing somewhere...

The day after the wedding all the guests attended a small village festival. Where I let Mathias talk me into trying "Krauten Schnaps" or Sauerkraut Schnapps. Oh yes, that's what I drank. Notice the look on my face when I realized what I was going to be drinking. Oh well it's a good story to tell! I don't think I'd do it again, but apparently that type of Schnapps is really expensive in Austria!

And yes, just like you see on TV and movies, the Austrians/Germans do sit at large tables at beer festivals! But instead of serving the beer in plastic cups they are a bit more sophisticated. We got REAL glasses. All these people attended the wedding. Some were from Germany, Austria, Holland, the US, and Spain. It was a great time!

And during my final days I traveled to Munich, Germany. Here is a picture in the famous shopping district. I hope to return one year for Oktoberfest. So if anybody's thinking of going.... let me know!

Traveling is so much fun and a wonderful way to make friends and learn much about yourself and your own culture. I can't wait to go back! Hopefully Nikki and Mathias will have a 10 year anniversary trip b/c I will be signing up!