This Christmas I was in Germany. And it was great.

My older niece, Kate, has been living in Garmisch, Bavaria, Germany, since August. My sister Jean (her mother) had been planning to visit her over Christmas with her husband, Don, and other daughter, Kara, and had been inviting my brother, Steve, and me to join for some months.

Over Thanksgiving, Steve and I decided to join them in Germany for the holidays. I left on December 23rd and arrived the morning of Christmas Eve day. It turned out to be a great trip.

The full set of pictures can be found here.

Here a few of my favorites:

Garmisch sits in the Bavarian Alps and the views everywhere are striking:

The center of town, Marienplatz, like many European towns and cities is a pedestrian center:

We had a real Bavarian meal at a great place where Kate's friends knew the owners:

The Zugspitze is the tallest peak in Germany. At the top -- where you are able to be in both Germany and Austria -- there is a restaurant, bar, museum complex that is just amazing:

We went to see the castles in Füssen, Schloß Höhenschwangau and Schloß Neuschwanstein:

The nieces went skiing at The Edelweiss Resort and Lodge:

The last day there, Steve and I went to Munich for the afternoon where we able to walk around the central old city and visit the German technology museum (Deutsches Museum):