Cora and Rowan were gathered around the woodworking table with their mother and father in their father's wood shop where he built cabinets and furniture.  "I have some great news!" Mother said. 

  "Oh yay! What is it?!" exclaimed Cora and Rowan. "Mammaw and Pampaw want to take us to Bavaria to celebrate Christmas!"  "Bavaria?! How exciting!" says Cora. "Oh what fun this will be," says Rowan. "Daddy, will you be coming?"  "Unfortunately, I must stay behind and work, but I will join you for Christmas Eve," says daddy. 

After a long flight from Georgia to Bavaria, Germany, the River's were ready to get off the plane and see the town. "This is so thrilling, but it's very cold here," says Cora. "Yes, it is much colder here than back home. Oh, look! There's Mammaw and Pampaw now!" says mama. 

"Children! We are so glad to see you! This is going to be such a fun adventure!" says Mammaw. "I am so excited to see the Christmas trees and eat some cool Bavarian foods!" says Rowan. "Oh don't you worry, you will get to eat plenty of great Bavarian foods and see all sorts of neat stuff. Let's head to the hotel now," says Pampaw

"Welcome to Hotel Eder! Come with us and we will check you into your rooms," says the lady at the front. "Mammaw, Pampaw, what is that the people are wearing?" asked Rowan. "Those, my dears, are dirndles and lederhosen. They are authentic Bavarian clothes. You will probably see a lot of people wearing them. Aren't they beautiful?" "Oh yes!, says Cora, "I would love to wear a beautiful dirndle."

After checking into their hotel rooms, the family decided to walk the streets and visit the Christmas markets. Bavaria has some of the most festive, beautiful markets during Christmas. Christmas trees and wreaths line the streets. "Look at all these cookies, toys, giant pretzels and crafts!" says Rowan. "This is lovely," says Mammaw

"Have you found something you like?" Pampaw asks Cora and Rowan. "Yes, we did. I want this frog that was carved from wood," says Cora. "And I want this wooden train set," says Rowan. "Then a wooden frog and a trainset it is!" says Pampaw. Mammaw and Pampaw were known to be a little easy going with their grandchildren and loved buying them gifts.

"We should visit Neuschwanstein Castle," says Mama. "What a wonderful idea! Let's do that," says Mammaw. The family made the trip to Schwangau, Germany to tour the castle.

"This is such a huge but lovely palace," exclaimed mama. "Yes, it would take us days to see all of the palace," says Mammaw. "I wish I could be a princess. It would be so fun to live in a palace like this," says Cora. "Oh but imagine the cleaning," giggled Pampaw. "You may not be a princess in Germany, but you are our princess, and little Rowan is our prince."

After a long day of touring castles and Christmas markets, everyone was very hungry. Mammaw and Pampaw noticed a small restaurant called Edelweiss Haus, and asked everyone if they would like to eat there. Everyone agreed. "Weisswurst, Schweinbraten, Reiberdatschi, Leberkäse! I don't know what any of this is!" says Cora. Mammaw replies, "That's okay, we'll just order a bunch and have a feast!"

Next thing they know, the table is absolutely filled with traditional Bavarian foods-pretzels, sausages, pork, cookies, meatloaf, potato pancakes, and so much more! "This is all so yummy!" exclaims Rowan. "Yes, this is wonderful! I may not be able to walk after this," says Pampaw. "I don't think I've eaten this much great food in a very long time," says mama.

After dinner, the family walked back to their hotel and enjoyed the Christmas carolers singing in town, the beautiful Christmas trees lining the streets, and the glow of candles from people's windows.

 "It is time for bed everyone. Tomorrow is Christmas Eve, so we have a big day ahead of us and your daddy will be here bright and early to enjoy all of the festivities," says Mammaw.

 "Goodnight everyone"

 "Goodnight!" "Nighty night!."

Just as Mammaw said, bright and early, daddy showed up! "Oh daddy! We are so excited to see you! We can't wait to tell you all about the Neuschwanstein Castle, the foods we got to eat, the Christmas markets and even the toys we got to get!" exclaimed the kids.

 "I am so thrilled to see you guys, too, and I cannot wait to hear all about it!" says daddy.

First thing on the list for Christmas Eve, the family is going to enjoy a nice carriage ride and see the beautiful waters of Konigssee. Carriage rides are a lovely Christmas tradition and what better place to ride one than in Bavaria! "This water is so crystal clear! This is a lot of fun riding a real horse-drawn carriage through the snow!" said Rowan. 

After the carriage ride, the family headed back to the hotel to enjoy a great Christmas feast. "Daddy, just wait til you try all these cool Bavarian foods. There's the schnitzel, the weiss...uh something, the leber...something....oh, I can't remember the names, but they are so yummy!" says Rowan. Daddy giggling, says "That's okay honey, but yes, I am very excited to try these lovely foods."

Once again, everyone enjoyed a wonderful feast. The whole table was filled with all kinds of Bavarian foods. Rowan ate a pretzel the size of his head. Cora loved the potato pancakes and wanted more and more. Pampaw loved the Weisswurst. "If we don't stop eating, we're not going to have any room for the cookies we must bake tonight!" says Mammaw. "Oh don't you worry, Mammaw, we always have room for cookies!" says Cora. Everyone laughed.