"The Mol-leeeeee family!"

Okay, so it's been awhile since I've been able to sit down and reflect on the wedding week, but a quick recap of one of the funny things that happened. The day after the ceremony, M. and I set out on a wedding trip with our wedding guests, his parents and my mom! The first day, our destination was Garmisch for dinner and the plan was to get to Reutte, Austria, by bedtime. Reutte is a great launching spot for trips to Neuschwanstein Castle, where we'd planned to go early the next day. So, while introducing the fam to their first doner kebaps at Kebap King (verdict: delicious!) I got on the cell phone to reserve rooms at a hotel that M. and I like in Reutte. The place is huge and I know the owner speaks English well...this is going to be toooo easy! Or not: they were booked solid! Okay, trying option #2 in Reutte...booked. Completely. So now, I'm starting to get a little worried...Reutte isn't exactly a metropolis, and we were starting to run out of options. Alright, you can always pull out the ol' Rick Steve's, right? Which is how I found the Hotel Maximilien. It's in Ehrenbichel, AT...just around the corner from Reutte, according to my good friend Rick. So, doners finished, we headed down the autobahn, and hit a nice looong stau (short for staugefahr, or "traffic jam") and we sat, and sat, and sat. It was even starting to get dark! A little concerned that I'd booked us into one of the mom and pop guesthouses where they roll up the carpet and lock the door at 8:00 PM, I call back to the Maxilmilien. Gabi, the proprietor, answers: "Gruss Gott!" (the customary greeting in Bavaria...literally, "Greet God".) "Uh, Gruss Gott!" (I can get at least that far in German on the phone!) I ask Gabi, rather tenatively, how late we can check in because, well, we're gonna be late. She says, "Oh, keine problem: we'll be here until 11 o'clock!" She pauses and then says, "Is this Molly?" Um, uh, yeah. This is Molly. "Okay, see you before 11 Molly!" Such a nice lady, that Gabi. Anyway, we continue on down the road, stopping in Garmisch for a bite to eat, and this is where mom learned firsthand that when you order "meatloaf" you might actually just get a big hunk of grilled...baloney! Mmmm! If only we had pictures, I would share them: it was hilarious! I guarantee, though, that the dining experience is seared on mom's brain. ANYWAY, stuffed full of good German food (well, mom's might not have been good...), we jumped in the car, over the Austrian border, through Reutte and down the road another 15 minutes to Ehrenbichl. Situated right below several castle ruins high on the mountainside, it's a tiny village in a beautiful alpine valley. Anyway, we find the Hotel Maximilien, pile out of our vehicle and head for the lobby. We could see a woman coming down the lobby stairs. I said "Hallo!" and she held her arms out wide and said, "Ah hah! This must be the Moll-leeee family!" And we laughed. Yes, indeed, we are the Molly family! She got us settled in our rooms and we returned to the lounge for a drink. Gabi came back a few minutes later to give us information on the area and chat a bit. She introduced herself, and we told her that M. and I had just been married. And she pointed back and forth between the two of us and said, "Sooo...you two are just married?" She cast a suspicious eye at the parents, and said "...and these are your parents?" Um, yes... And then she whispered behind her hand to M. and me, "And you brought them on your honeymoon with you?!" And we laughed. Again. Hey, what can we say! It was a great trip. And Rick Steves was right: Gabi is a wonderful hotelier and we, the Mol-lee family, had a great time during our stay!