Germany - Updated

We have been invited to visit Germany for as long as we have known Andre. We have never taken him up on the offer (well, I did but Marty and the boys stayed home) because I always thought the boys were to young to appreciate it and too young to be away from home and their dad for so long. (If we go, we are staying as long as we can.)

Marty and I have finally decided that the boys are old enough to go, so the plan is to spend next summer in Germany. Keep your fingers crossed that my car doesn't blow up, or I have to have a big toe transplant and spend all of our Germany money or something crazy like that - which all of you who know me know are totally possible in my life.

The plan is to leave around the first of June and come back around the first of September.

The boys are pretty geeked about the whole thing, which has never happened before when we mentioned it. So far, my list of must sees is:
1. Berlin
2. Autostadt
3. Bergen-Belsen and Dachau (We are going to spend some time learning about concentration capms. My kids already know quite a bit about them, but I want them, but I want them to be prepared. Although I don't know if anything can totally prepare you for them...)
4. Munich (Duh! You can't go to Germany and not go to Munich. Of course, the northern Germans will tell you differently.)
5. Otter park (Not sure of the name... it is a conservation park we went to while I was there.) *Updated because Andre sent me a link*
6. The biddle-baddle towns (Small quaint towns we drove through to get to the otter park. Their names were tortuously long German names that ended in biddle and baddle, so that is what I called them. [Not to anyones face, of course.] Total "Ugly American" thing to do, I know.) *Updated because Andre told me the names: Dannenbuettel, Hankensbuettel, Wasbuettel and Isenbuettel. Not a biddle or a baddle among them. Sheesh my German is worse than I thought.*
7. The North Sea (Emden and Greetsiel)
8. Neuschwanstein

I would also like to go to Switzerland (Gimmelwald and Münchenstein specifically) Christian would like to go to Rome, Ethan wants to go to Paris and Alex wants to go to "the gummy bear place" - whatever that is. Whether or not we go anywhere else will depend on whether Deutsche Bahn is running a sale. lol

The guy at Lufthansa said that the end of January or first part of February would be a good time to buy tickets, so I will keep you posted.

*Updated*
Andre also sent a link to Goslar, which is a world cultural heritage site about an hour from where they live. Of course, we will see the Kaiserpfalz Imperial Palace because I am a history nut and the place was built between 1040 and 1050. As an American, take a few minutes to wrap your brain around that. I'll wait.

Blew my mind, too.

I am going to use this post as a place to store links I find of places we want to go.
Offical tourism website for Lower Saxony