Holiday with the parents!!

We've just had a great time in Munich and Salzburg with my parents - Keith and Debbie. It was so good to see them after almost a year with Mum and over 2 years since we'd seen Dad. The reunion took place in Munich - land of the beer! Lots of beer was drunk and lots of meat was eaten!!

Clock tower at Marianplatz


We did a bike tour of Munich on the Monday which was heaps of fun. The weather was great which made it even nicer although a bit dusty! We biked through the Englisher Garten and through the meadows where there is nudist sunbathing - Dad wanted to stop and take pictures and Simon missed the whole thing - too busy looking at the other bikes. Munich is such a bike friendly city. We had lunch at the Chinese temple beer garden and it was lovely, drinking German beer and eating sausages. Had to get back on the bike though which was a bit hairy at times. We had a great time and ended up going out for drinks and dinner with 2 other couples that we met on the tour. Was a long night.... although one of the good things about the Bavarian beer is that it has no preservatives and is all natural so waking up the next morning wasn't nearly as bad as I thought it would be!

We went out to Neushwienstien Castle on Tuesday. Another lovely day and spent the day walking about the to castles there. It took all day but we met another guy that we had met on the bike tour - Carlos - an american soldier on leave from Iraq so we hooked up with him and went back to Munich to the Spring Festival where the Beer House Augustiner had a beer tent. Gave us a small taste of what Oktoberfest must be like!

View of the Schloss

Disney Castle

Augustiner Beer Tent


On Wednesday we had a look around the shops before catching the train to Salzburg in Austria. Salzburg is a beautiful place and we wandered the streets and went up to the castle to watch the sunset. On Thursday we went to the saltmines and had a look around Salzburg - we didn't plan that part of the trip too well and could have done a lot more if we'd researched it a bit more. Not to worry - Friday we headed back to Munich to catch our flights to Edinburgh. We picked up a car in Edinburgh and drove down to Simon's parents for the long weekend.

view of Salzburg from the castle


The hills are alive....


The Banks Family


Salzburg by moonlight


On Saturday Mum and Dad's best friends Trish and Alan Brownell and their daughter Sasha came up from London and we picked them up in Carlisle before having a mighty feast at Tom and Barbara's that night. Was good to catch up with the Brownells.

Dad on the BBQ - in Scotland!!


Lost of eating and drinking was done over the weekend as it always is at Tom and Barb's, always the most hospitable of hosts.

Mum and Dad and Trish and Alan came back up to Glasgow with us on Monday and then Mum and Dad left on Wednesday to finish their trip home. Was sad to say goodbye but we had an awesome time with them. Thanks so much for spoiling us Mum and Dad - you can come back anytime!!