Venture Finley: Herbst Ferien in Graineau, aka Fall Holiday.

Every October, German schools let out for Fall Holiday, or Fall Ferien. This year we decided to make a trip to Grainau Germany. Graineau is a small neighboring town to Garmisch, a popular resort town in the district of Bavaria, Southern Germany. It is right on the border of Austria. In Graineau is Zugspitze, Germany's highest peak at 9714 feet.

Many of the towns in this region originate from Roman times. This area boasts many of the most scenic views in Germany. As much as our family loves the great outdoors, we viewed Bavaria as "a must" on our Fall Ferien "to do" list.

Another reason we decided to visit Bavaria is the new addition to our family. I came into contact with a british military couple living in Italy. Italy is known for a large stray dog problem. This woman, Elissa, I met happened to find a 6 month old short haired Saint Bernard. She was full of worms and also had parasites. She took her to the vet and over the course of a month, nursed her back to full health. The vet told her she is pure bred and a very rare and expensive breed from this area. She was not sure why someone would choose to dump her, or how long she could have been living on the street. She was fully house broke, knew how to sit, and showed absolutely no sign of abuse. She has the sweetest personality and seems to be very intelligent. Elissa was going to be visiting Bavaria during Fall Ferien. Daniel and I made the decision to adopt Belle and make her a part of our family.

This quite honestly could have been my favorite trip we have taken in Europe. I know I say that on every trip! This trip was completely relaxing. We stayed in a small apartment on the top floor of a Romanian family's home. The decor was completely Bavarian style. The house was complete with a large back yard, grill, and next door was a wonderful Spielplatz (playground).

During our 3 amazing days we made the train ride to the very peak of Zugspitz. It was absolutely breathtaking. At the top we enjoyed Bavarian pretzels, a beer for Daniel, and a coffee for myself. On the way down we stopped at an gorgeous mountain lake. The kids rolled up their jeans and of course we all skipped rocks. We enjoyed the many walking trails leading to crystal clear mountain lakes and ponds. I have never seen a fresh water pond or lake with such turquoise water and the biggest lake trout one can imagine!

On this trip, we also surprised the kids with Belle. We met with Elissa and her husband and at first the kids thought Belle was their dog. The kids were playing with Belle and having fun when we told them we get to keep her. Liam said, "I always needed a dog!" They had already called her Belle for the time we had her, so we declared her name ClaraBelle.

All in all, we had a fantastic Fall Ferien.