Holiday 2019, September 18 - Park Eifel - Day 13

We stayed the mid-week at Centre Parcs for a complete change from the other places we stayed at. It was such a good decision.  The park is set up as a village, with little blocks of townhouses, the above being the one we rented. In the "town" there are indoor and outdoor playgrounds, indoor swimming pools, as well as access to all kinds of activities.  It was all included in the package deal.  We were busy morning till night, the kids had so much fun couldn't stop smiling. It was absolutely and incredibly fun.  

 

Holiday 2019, Sept 17 - Heidelberg - Park Eifel - Day 12

 Heidelberg is very well known for its red castle that sits on the hillside overlooking the river.  The sprawling red sandstone castle was one of Europe's largest in it's day and dates back to the 13th century.  It has partially been rebuilt.  In our Reformed circles it is also well known as the place where the Heidelberg Catechism was written, which was commissioned by Elector Frederick the third in 1563.  Since we use the catechism in our daily lives and worship services we really wanted history to come alive for the kids, and to see this place.  It was worth it. It turned into one of my favorite stops - the beautiful view overlooking the Neckar River and the iconic red tile roofs of the townhouses made it feel like we were in a picture. 

The Heidelberg Castle is also known for the Heidelberg Tun, the worlds largest wine barrel.  It was built in 1751, stands seven meters high, eight and a half meters wide and holds 220,000 litres of wine.  Apparently the people back then never wanted the tap to run dry.... ;)

Very little of the castle was open to us, as they did not want children inside.  But we were able to go in a small part that was an apothecary.  

There was a street artist blowing massive bubbles and he asked Tristan to help him (for a small fee of course) and he got right into it, drawing a crowd.  Travelling with kids sure makes things fun. 

The Heidelberg Mtn railway was something else we were able to do since it was right there.  This rail connected the city since it was built on a hill.  It saved a steep walk up to the castle from the lower part of the city. 

After a long trip on the autobahn and a rest at a rest station, we made it to our next destination, in time for a delicious espresso.  

Holiday 2019, Sept 15 - Weerberg - Neuschwanstein - Sinsheim - Day 11

We woke up our last morning in the Alps, raring to go, as we had our eyes set on Neuschwanstein, back in southern Germany.  Andy and I felt like we were a pretty good team 😊, getting the beds stripped, food packed and kids ready for the day. 

  Neuschwanstein is literally translated as New Swan Stone castle and is a relatively new castle, built in the 1860's for the mad King Ludwig of Bavaria. There were a couple of castles in the area all from the same king.  Neuschwanstein is now called the Walt Disney castle, and has a connection to the Hollywood castle used on the titles of films as well as in Sleeping Beauty.  

We arrived in time for lunch in the parking lot, which we were also getting good at.  Out came buns, butter, cheese and chocolate spread.  Fill those tummies before walking.  It was a busy place, obviously a hot tourist destination even in September. We had to catch a bus up the side of the mountain and walk from there.  Our first stop was the Marienbrucke (Queen Mary's bridge), the pedestrian bridge built over a cliff in 1845, which gives the best view over the castle.  

The lake in the above pictures, was by the parking lot and was a gorgeous place to stop, reminding us of lakes in the Canadian Rockies.  We stopped to dip our toes in and enjoy the swans.

Below: a picture with a the smallest Fendt we had ever seen.

Here is where things take a funny twist.  According to our host in Austria we had booked one more night.  But we had trouble understanding her and in our head we were going to stay in Germany at the next vacation rental. Half way to Neuschwanstein we decided to check the papers more closely and found out that indeed, we left too early and had no place to stay in Germany that night!  We had to find a place that had wifi  so we could book something for that night.  This is where we really missed North America.  The lack of fast food chains and signage (free wifi and washrooms) was really hard for travelers like us, with no data on our phones!  Finally after driving a few hours we found a sign for a Burger King and we were very relieved and were able to book a hotel, as well as fulfill our need for fast food (shhh, we are more Canadian than we thought 😆)  We decided to book the hotel close to Heidelberg since that was originally first on our list of things we really wanted to see, but didn't think we would have time.  Now we did, which was actually a blessing in disguise.  In the meantime we really enjoyed Burger King and the Happy Meals they offered and the coffee they served. 

Once at the hotel, we discovered it was actually someone's home (surprised us yet again, us chain hotel lovers), and we couldn't get in as the instructions were very poor and in German. So we drove around again and found a cell phone store and Andy borrowed someone's cells phone so we could call the lady to meet us at the house and let us in.  Even though that was a bit frustrating for us, I think she was also shocked to see *so* many people and FIVE children going to sleep in her fancy apartment.  We laughed good about that.   

 

The kids with their Burger King toys playing in the front yard while we waited for the lady to open up for us.