Trierer, Germany

This is Tierer, Germany

It is the oldest existing city in Germany.

And this is the oldest part.

It is called the Black Gate.

We thought it was a perfect name for it.

It reminded us of "The Black Gate of Mordor." From the Lord of the Rings

This city also had a toy museum.  There were tons of toys to look at.

But Philip most definitely wanted to play with them so he was a little disappointed.

But everyone else seemed to enjoy just being out for a day.

This is the front view of the Black Gate.

Of course this place also had the Oldest Cathedral.

Honestly the kids are getting tired of walking around quietly in cathedrals.

This one looked like so many others we have already seen.

But it had one interesting point.

The stain glass windows.

They were very mosaic.

And the figures were almost modern looking.

Once we noticed this it was a whole new game for everyone.

Altogether I would have to say that our kids surprise us over and over.  They seem to notice little things that my eyes pass over and they are always willing to go on another "Family Outing" around here.

WW II and The Battle of the Buldge

 While Robin's brother was with us, we wanted to make sure and see some WWII sites.  We have been to a few.  This one was a must on our list.  This is thee American Cemetery where General Patton and many of the Battle of the Bulge Soldiers finally rest.

 It was a very impressive and reverencing cemetery.  Beautifully kept.

 And General Patton lies at the head of all his soldiers.

 General Patton passed many years after the end of the war in his home in California, but he wanted to lie with those who fought next to him.

 Monument in the cemetery.

 Stain glass window.  Symbol for US 8th Air Force.

 We then went to a museum about the Battle of the Bulge in Belgium.  It was an impressive collection of WWII artifacts.  They even had a German enigma machine.  We forgot to get a photo though.

 But the boys like the tank outside the best.

 Go figure.

 Watch out bad guys!

 Benjamin

 Jacob 

On our way back to our hotel we found a great chocolate shop.  It was in a little town and a complete mom and pop operation, but their chocolate was fabulous!  So far Belgium has my vote for the best European chocolate.

What do they speak in Luxembourg?

 This is the first question Robin asked her brother Cliff when they discovered Luxembourg is actually a country south of Belgium.  Both of them thought it was just a city in Belgium (which they were technically right.  There is a city Luxembourg, Belgium).  But as we were researching places to see and visit on our latest trip through Europe we decided to visit this castle in Luxembourg and we weren't sure what language we would need to use during our outing.

 The castle is pretty, with little historical significants to us, but we thought it would be a great stop along the way and a nice place to take some family photos.

 Chateau de Vianden

 The stone walls were really pretty and the autumn colors really added to the beauty of this place.

 The family pics we have added to our header and so you can see them all.

 Over all it was a great stopping place.  How fun to be able to say, "Let's stop in Luxembourg today for lunch."  

Oh, ya!  They speak French and Luxembourgish mostly.  Yes Luxembourgish is a real language!  Who knew?

Matthew and the Hollow Leg

 I swear this kid must have a hollow leg.  Every time I turn around he is into something and it is usually editable!  It mostly started when he discovered the hiding place of all the candy we brought with us from the U.S.

 The Reeses Pieces were by far his favorite and he seemed to enjoy sharing them by the handfuls with anyone who was around.

 Day after day I would take them away and he would find them again.  I probably should have not taken so many pictures. I think it turned it into a game for him.  Finally I got a lock on the candy cupboard.  Unfortunately no Reeses Pieces survived his multiple raids.

 The day after I installed the lock, I made cookies during nap time.  When Matthew awoke from his nap that day he greeted me in this fashion.  Two cookies in hands and a chocolate smile.

 As soon as I took the first photo he sat and posed for this one.  What a turkey!

 Now that the candy cupboard is locked he has found a new favorite cupboard and the cracker boxes are receiving no mercy. 

 Of course Matthew obviously still thinks he is pretty smart and cute as he just smiles when I catch him in the cupboards.  At least he has stopped climbing on the tables for the time being.

Silly Days

 Benjamin and Philip 

 Just being

 Silly.

Having kids around is awesome, and exhausting.

Arnhem

 Arnhem in The Netherlands has a great World War II museum.  It is the location of part of the biggest airborne drop in history and a very sad story that is unfortunately one of the results of war.  The people in this town welcomed the Allied Forces arrival hoping to find relief from the German occupancy they were experiencing.  But there were two tanks divisions hidden here and so the the allied efforts were unsuccessful.  Even though this town was practically destroyed by this operation the citizens honor those who gave their lives in an effort to free them.  It was touching to read all the first person accounts from the locals here.

As just a part of this museum, there is a live size diorama, or as they called it an "experience", in the bottom floor of the museum.  Where you are briefed on the mission and then you walk right onto a plane like you are one of the jumpers.

 You come off the plane and see the mission from a troopers point of view.

 Here is the outside of the plane we "jumped" from.

 As I mentioned before the mission went from hopeful to not so positive, quickly.

 They couldn't drop right into the town and most of the planes carrying the jeeps crashed so they had a long walk ahead.

 Once they got into town and discovered the tanks they found themselves out numbered and out gunned.

 The Allies were stuck here for 9 days and all their supply drops through that time was being captured by Germans.

 It was an amazing story.  Honestly it was a little much for Emma and Jane, but the boys ate it up.

 The movie "A Bridge Too Far" tells this story well, just incase you are a little far from Arnhem and can't make it to the actual museum and monuments.

 The big kids.

 Philip

Jane

 The whole museum is in this old hotel.  This is actually the location of the Allied Headquarters during the mission.  Each year the locals have a march through town and honor all those lost in the mission.

No Pick-up Trucks in Germany

 There may be several reasons for this fact.   The first could be that gas is TWICE as expensive here than in the states.  (No wonder they all shake their fingers at us when we complain about our U.S. prices.) The other reason is that the roads are so small and narrow and parking spots EVERYWHERE are meant for compact cars.  Maybe it is just that Mercedes or Peugeot just don't make pick-ups.  Whatever the reason we just don't see them here.  And we live in farming country!  What do farmers use to haul trailers full of whatever?  Tractors.  They pull everything that has to do with the farm work with a tractor down the road.  But when it comes to horses and horse trailers, any car will work in their minds.  It is very humorous to me to see little sports cars pulling horse trailers down the road.  We always point them out.  This morning the kids noticed this car in front of our house.