After breakfast, and hanging around the house, we drove about 45 minutes, between Koblenz and Trier, to Eltz Castle. We wound through a patchwork of fields that eventually led to a forest. The parking lot for Eltz castle was in the forest but we still couldn't see the castle; we wondered where we would find it. A shuttle bus took us down a winding road, and as we rounded a corner the forest opened up into a wide ravine, half way down Eltz castle sat looking li...

We met Albi's family in Vianden (found in the North part of the country Luxembourg) at the Vianden Castle. The castle is a massive smooth stone construction. It was constructed during the 11-14th centuries, and is one of the largest fortified castles west of the Rhine. We felt very small standing up close to the enormous structure. Throughout the history of castle Vianden there were many influential counts with French and German royal connections residing the...

We were very comfy in our quiet little village. Our house was charming, and we really just wanted to drink coffee and take the day slow. I did some blogging and the kids hung out. Tim and Brennin worked on a slide show of our trip. After lunch we went into the town Trauben-Trarbach. Tim finally found a barber that was open, had time, and was a reasonable price. The barber was very friendly and between Tim's Dutch, and the Barber's German they found enou...

We had a leisurely morning. I took time to blog, and Tim played a board game with Belia, Mariah and Darius. Later in the day we drove to Losheim where Luigi's brother, Albi, and his family live. It was just under an hour away. We drove all paved country roads, and again Tim was enjoying the curves, wishing he was in a Porsche. We found Albi's eis cafe, (ice cream cafe) and the girls working there phoned Albi letting him know we arrived. We hadn't seen A...

We had nowhere to be, and it was raining, so we slept in late, had coffee in bed, and I blogged for a while. Every-so-often we heard a tractor putter by. We left the house in the afternoon when the rain stopped to take a hike. There were many hiking routes in the area. For reference we took a picture of the trail map posted next to our house and then started looking for signs to get us going in the right direction. The air was moist and earthy. Following ...