Once upon a time in a faraway land there was a tiny kingdom, peaceful, prosperous, and rich in romance and tradition."
Those are the opening words to the classic fairytale, Cinderella. As a little girl, my "princess phase" lasted about 7 or 8 years before I discovered that wearing dresses in an upstate NY winter was neither comfortable nor practical. After that point, I traded in my dresses for jeans and pursued bike riding, tree climbing and snow fort building with my brother in a vain attempt to win and keep his attention. I was never super girly in high school or college and I'm still learning how to apply makeup in a semi-competent way.
 |
| First grade Halloween party, 1990 |
But sometimes, old, forgotten about wishes DO come true. Dave and Joann were in town in April to celebrate Calvin's second birthday when another gift bag comes out of nowhere and Jon tells me to open it. Inside was a Cinderella DVD and a card telling me to pack my bags because we were headed to the castle that inspired Walt Disney to create his own Cinderella castle. What?!?! Really!? I was floored! I had added Neuschwanstein castle to my "hope to see it someday" bucket list a few years ago after one of my Facebook friends posted pictures of it to her profile. It's a beautiful, if not crazily inspired, castle nestled within the Bavarian Alps in Germany. Since it isn't the easiest place to get to, I figured that it was one of those places that I would just never get to see (sigh). Not only had my wonderful husband planned an amazing trip, but we would get to travel toddler-free (i.e., much faster and easier). Dave and Joann would get some great bonding time with Calvin and we would have a few romantic days to ourselves. What a great surprise 30th birthday present!
We hopped on a quick plane ride to Munich and rented a car to set out for Bavaria. Jon was the first to drive on the Autobahn and was a little nervous with the high speeds. We haven't driven in over a year so getting behind the wheel again on a highway with competent, high performance drivers and vehicles, was a bit daunting.
