Spring and summer holidays in Europe may be common, and believe me they are worth it. The flowers, the green, the parks, the hiking, and the walkability of the cities truly make summer and spring holidays in Europe a dream. Europe also sees a high uptick of tourists during Christmas and New Years, mostly to live out the holiday fantasy of visiting the Christmas markets that are straight out of a fairytale.
But after those tourist seasons have come and gone there is a beautiful quiet that falls upon Europe. The trains are not as full, the restaurants have plenty of seats, and you may find yourself on a trail in the woods by yourself. My husband and I are based in Munich, Germany, and we decided to take a spontaneous trip from our apartment. We did have the original plan of going to a thermal sauna and spring, but the train connection was canceled. We turned to each other and asked each other "Want to go on an adventure?" After looking at our destination options in the Hauptbahnhof (Main Train Station) we chose Tegernsee. "See" (zeh* pronunciation) means lake in German. We had heard about this adorable town and it was about an hour and forty minutes outside Munich. Perfect. As we saw the German countryside pass us by, we started to see snow flurries fall outside our window. This excited us so much because neither of us had seen snow very often in Dallas, Texas (where we moved from). The lake came into view with a beautiful fog falling over it, mountains towering in the distance. The town of Tegernsee is situated on the slope of the mountain (Neureuth) behind it and runs all the way down to the lake, Tegernsee. As we stood at the train station, we decided to start a trek up the mountain to a Berggasthof (Mountain Guest House) that was on top of it. The hike starts in the town and the yellow signs will lead you to it. For the record: Follow. The Yellow. Signs. Google Maps is a liar. Follow the yellow signs. The hike to the Berggasthof Neureuth is said to be an hour and a half away. I will say this timeline is only applicable to Germans and avid hikers. For those of you taking a casual stroll or working your way up to avid hiker status, like I am, it's going to be more like an hour and 50 minutes to two hours. I'm not going to lie, the hike can get steep. But as the snow kept falling around, we were transported to a winter wonderland. There was no one on the trail around us and the snow simply sparkled. We may not have had the spectacular view from the mountaintop, but we had a magical snowy forest swirling all around us. Misadventure befell us when we mistakenly believed Google Maps had found a secret shortcut that the yellow signs did not tell us about that would save us three minutes. As we neared the top, that trail disappeared. We dangerously climbed up a steep slope to get to the fence, towards where we assumed the Berggasthof was. We were lucky. Neither one of us slipped and Benjamin had gripping hiking boots, helping me in my waterproof slicker winter rain boots. The field leading to the Berggasthof in the distance was covered in a white blanket of snow. Hard to hike in but simply beautiful. The Berggasthof has a cutoff time of 2:30 PM when their kitchen shuts down and they won't serve hot food. They do continue to serve meat, soft pretzels, and amazing beer past this time until the evening. It is very common for Germany to have these mountain establishments at the end of the trail and I think it is brilliant. That beer and food is a fantastic motivator when you have a steep hill ahead of you. It also just tastes better after intense hikes. This would also be a good location for a mountain view if the clouds hadn't been blocking the view. This means come spring and summer, I'm going to have to make my way back and traverse the steep hike again. After hiking down the mountain (well let's be real it was more of a graceful slide in the mud) we made our way to the lake boardwalk. The path spans the perimeter of the lake, so if you'd like to make a day of a much flatter hike, I recommend this. There are quiet signs on this boardwalk, so if you see these, be mindful and respectful. Finally, we ended our day at the Tergenseer Kloster at Bräustüberl Tegernsee. This has traditional Bavarian food as well as Tergenseer Hell, Spezial, and Dunkel Bier for all you beer lovers out there. My biggest takeaway from this day trip is to let yourself be surprised, the view from a wintery forest can be just as special as the summit, and if you are married to someone from Germany, always always be prepared for your day to turn into a hike. Even if they tell you it's going to be a spa day.
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The Bridesmaid proposal is ranging with this new age of the digital bride from simple gifts to lavish designer collections. It usually either starts with a customized box or bag as the holder with fun smaller gifts assorted inside. For this instance I personally used a Consuela Diego Grab and Go and ordered leather paint from Amazon and painted their initial on the bag to make it more personalized, the set of 12 leather paint was $38.55. Then we were having a destination wedding so for travel I got my four bridesmaids a Jon Hart Grande Cosmetic Bag and had their initials stamped into the leather. The rose water Mario Badescu set (not gonna lie) came from T.J. Maxx but is retailed online for the $38.50 price, which I broke the package up into their perspective gifts. Then people traditionally get their bridesmaids a Starbucks or likewise tumbler but personally I do not find myself reaching for that as much as I reach for my mugs and I love Anthropology and their monogrammed mugs; I did consider their really cute and elegant café tiled designed mug but it is not microwavable safe so I went with the one pictured above instead which is microwave and dishwasher safe. Last few gifts in their bag we're house shoe's to go with their matching pajamas. Some people don't do house shoes they do pjs and robes or a mix-match of things for their getting ready photos. Next that I put inside their initial mugs was a mini bottle of wine, mine we're a random assortment, but this package of mini Stella Rosa fits the bill. I loved seeing my girls open their gift and see their faces on what they loved and it was one of the highlights on my special day.
Below are the actual assembled gifts pictured along with my bridesmaids & family: Charlie Ruth Anderson Wearing: Sherri Hill Insta: @char.char_ra Lisa Gore Wearing: Nieman Marcus Insta: @lisagore__ Isabel Lee-Rosson Wearing: Vintage Velvet Insta: @isabelvleer Lily Etter Wearing: Sherri Hill Insta: @lily.etter Amanda Biles, Co-chair of the Gala Wearing: MacDuggal Insta: @amandabbiles Stephanie Munshower Wearing: Marina Insta: @nurseysteph Maria Entrenas Vargas Wearing: Dillards Shannel Anderson Wearing: Insta: @shannel_anderson Louise Ferguson Wearing: Sherri Hill Insta: @louisem_ferguson Lisa Camp Wearing: AZ Boutique Insta: @artsycamp And just for fun... Me
Wearing: Dillards Insta: @josephineolee
Cami Zimmerman, wearing a Kultivate jumpsuit. @cami_zimm Chloe Garces, Star dancer, wearing a dress from ASOS. @chloereyegraces Cynthia DeFoore, wearing a BCBG dress & Gianni Bini shoes. @cynthia.defoore.realtor Jaxon Shultz wearing Birger Christensen. @jaxonshultz Sara Lindsey, wearing a Lulu's jumpsuit. @life_as_a_lindsey Biloxi Shultz, wearing Super Down. @biloxishultz Caroline Cleveland, wearing Shein. @carolinecleveland Brittani Wilson, wearing Mac Duggal. @britt_lanae84 Terri Cutbirth, wearing Dress the Population. @aston192004 Brittany Salmon, wearing Pink Lilly. @brittanynsalmon Amy McAdams, wearing Nordstrom. @ames1180 Megan Gibbs, wearing Linen. @megandgibbs Randi Guerrero, wearing a jumpsuit by Trina Turk. Deeon Lawson, wearing Neimans. @deon_lawson Morgan Morris, wearing Dillards. @morgangmorris
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