Germany top 10 (in random order)

1. Fairy-tale castles--We visited 2 castles that in my mind, fit this category. First, the dramatic Neuschwanstein, located in the Bavarian Alps on the Austrian border. It was the inspiration for Disneyland's Sleeping Beauty castle. Built by "mad" King Ludwig in the late 1800's. He spent 17 years building it, and only lived in it a few months before he died.



The inside was spectacular! Unfortunately, inside photos were not allowed. But here is a secret picture taken by Ryan. shhhhh!

These photos were taken near the grounds of the castle. the lake was frozen over and looked really cool.

Second, Burg Eltz, is a medival castle that's about 800 years old. Surrounded on 3 sides by a river and built on a hill in a beautiful forest.

2. Driving on the autobahn, where the no speed limit sign actually means no speed limit! This was the ultimate driving experience for Ryan. He was in heaven. and I made it a point to not look at the speedometer. When Ryan asked, "do you want to know how fast we're going?" I always said NO! Luckily, our crappy rental car wouldn't go faster than about 120 mph.

3. Koln cathedral, Germany's most popular tourist attraction, gets about 20,000 people/day. It's a Roman Catholic church completed in 1880. Although this place was beautiful and a photographer's dream, I found it was the only place we visited that was not kid friendly. Every time Jake was getting a little rowdy, a guard would come up and say, "No run! No Game!".

standing inside the nave-140 ft. tall ceilings, purposely made to make you feel small to remind you of your place in the vast scheme of things.

Lots of stained glass--enough to cover 3 football fields.

There were a few statue guys outside the cathedral. They kids thought they were really cool.

4. Touring the Lindt chocolate factory, also in Koln. the kids had a blast here and we loved the samples and the huge gift shop.




5. Rhine River/valley-- is storybook Germany with lots of legends and robber-baron castles, which means the castles were built on or sometimes in the river by a robber-baron. Then, with the help of chains and a tower on the opposite bank, he'd stop each ship and get his toll. Driving up the castle-studded stretch of the Rhine River, was breathtaking and so peaceful.

6. Exploring castle ruins-- Rheinfels Castle was once the biggest castle on the Rhine River, built in 1245. Now, it's just a hollow shell (destroyed by the French in 1797)where the kids could explore and run wild. This was the particular castle our friends, the Gagnon's had told us about. and it was so cool!! we loved it.

7. Staying in a castle hotel-- was an interesting experience. Great views of the Rhine River. Again, the kids loved exploring, but it really was an old castle, which meant, narrow stairways where you bump your head, and then there was this flying beetle in our room that was creeping us out...

the hotel restaurant had great food and fun decor

8. Police cars! Every time I heard a European siren go off I was strangely reminded of the Bourne Identity trilogy. I couldn't help but look over my shoulder half expecting to see Matt Damon running by.

9. Wurtsburg Residenz -- the prince bishop's palace was gorgeous. It was almost entirely destroyed during an air raid in WWII, and has been since rebuilt. Very sad to see the pictures.

the front

the side

the back

again pictures were forbidden inside...(It really is hard to get any meaningful pictures when you are shooting in stealth mode--camera not up to your eye)

it had huge beautiful gardens in the back. We thought these statues were so funny. I love you, I hate you... (or, kids will be kids...)

The city of Wurzburg

don't fall off the wall!

10. Rothenburg--the best preserved medieval town in Germany. I loved the picturesque red tiled roofs, cobbled streets, and walking the wall around the town (almost 2 miles) we did about half of it.


Town square

St. Jakob's Church--Built in the 14th century, was really beautiful
The Alter of the Holy Blood is supposedly the most wonderful wood carving in Germany. 500 years old, 35-foot-high. really amazing.

walking the outer wall had great views!
and then there was the medieval crime and punishment museum. Highly recommended by my siblings Lynne and Jeff and also the guide book. Although Ryan and I found it quite interesting, we quickly realized that it was not really appropriate for kids. First off, our kids had no idea about the concept of torture. That was an interesting conversation. They found the museum really sad and disgusting. We eventually walked really fast through most of it and made a rule that Emily and Trent were not allowed to read the explanations. because, how do you explain things like a chastity belt to a 10 year old??

we think divorce rates would be a lot lower if we used this! so funny.

yikes!

Eis Cafe D'Isep (recommended in our guide book) is the town's ice cream parlor with sundaes so fancy you almost don't want to eat them. It was the perfect way to end our day.