Many years back, my wife, Lindsay, started saving all of our loose change and random dollars for a big family trip.

When she realized early in 2014 she had met her savings goal, she entered the planning stages, leading to one of those once-in-a-lifetime trips for our family over the recent holidays. For roughly 10 days, we vacationed with our two grown sons and their “girls” in Munich, Germany; Budapest, Hungary; and Vienna, Austria.

Along the way, I took a lot of photographs, many of which included, of course, family members. I won’t subject you to them, but I found I had returned with some typical shots any tourist would have taken, and the Post has allowed me to share a few of them with you.

Today’s page focuses on some of the things we saw in the Bavarian region of Germany — Munich, a beautiful blend of old and new; the town of Füssen, where the Neuschwanstein Castle is located; and Essing, a small German town along the Danube.

We enjoyed plenty of snow and arrived in time to see the Christmas Market in Munich’s Marienplatz, so things were pretty magical. We rode the punctual trains, drank some great German beer, had wonderful food and appreciated how much the folks in Germany and elsewhere on our trip accommodated our language and American ways.

Next week: a few pictures from Budapest.

— Mark Wineka, Salisbury Post