I am not happy right now. One because its raining and two because people are stupid. Unfortunately I don't have any control over the two issues so while I'm waiting for the rain to stop or people to magically gain common sense I will continue with PART 2 of my June adventures!
In my effort to be the best host ever for my first visitors in Germany I toted my mom and sister all over the country! The day after their rainy day arrival I allowed for no jet lag, piled them into the car and drove to Heidelberg for the first "Illumination" of 2013. Three times a year during the summer months the castle of Heidelberg puts on an elaborate firework display to remember the amount of severe destruction the city and castle suffered during the 30 years war. The firework show didn't start until 10:15pm so we had a lot of time to explore, taste wine and eat before heading across the river to pick out our spot for the show. Despite the cold wind and rainy conditions we hiked up to the castle and toured the grounds, tasted local wine next to the giant wine barrel and of course I made them try a traditional German Bratwurst... We found a cute little local cafe to warm up in before the show and after gathering up our blankets attempted to cross the bridge. I say "attempt" because somehow in the 6 hours we spent sightseeing the river had flooded across the road we had driven on to come into the city! We ended up walking down to the second bridge and were able to cross over to find the perfect spot to see the fireworks show. We also found a different way out the city and were able to make it home safely.
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| The flooded river |
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| The Heidelberg castle lit up with fireworks |
The next day after a much needed sleep in we headed down the road to Burg Lichtenberg in the town of Kusel. It was a beautiful day with perfect weather, a much needed change from the past two days!
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| Castle ruins with my sister |
After our relaxing day in Kusel we headed to Idar-Oberstein which is famous for its gemstones. First we headed outside of the city to take a tour of one of the mines in the area. It was so much fun and we even got to wear our own hard hats! We then headed into town to visit the gemstone museum and see the castle/church in the mountain. Now normally I am pretty responsible person but somehow I spaced out and locked the key into the car!! Not good. I called Justin and he and a couple of friends were able to come out and unlock the car. I'm such a dunce sometimes.
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| Mine Tour! |
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| Attempting to break into the car after I locked the keys inside |
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| Burg Eltz with my Sis |
Later in the week we headed to the famous castle Burg Eltz as well as the town and castle of Cochem, see previous blog posts about these two places. The next day we headed to Trier, which is such a cool city! Trier has a heavy roman influence and we were able to see the Porta Nigra, Roman Baths, coluseum (although it was closed) and of course drink some delicious wine! My favorite part of our Trier trip was getting to see the most amazing cathedral. It was beautiful not to mention it apparently is home to the "seamless" robe of Jesus!
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| Porta Nigra |
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| Trier Cathedral |
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| The shrine for the "Seamless Robe" worn by Jesus |
Our week ended with a nice little hike through Baumholder and a late night drive to K-Town in order to go to Prague!
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| We found a horse on our hike |
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| HIKING! |
PART 3 COMING SOON...
In my effort to be the best host ever for my first visitors in Germany I toted my mom and sister all over the country! The day after their rainy day arrival I allowed for no jet lag, piled them into the car and drove to Heidelberg for the first "Illumination" of 2013. Three times a year during the summer months the castle of Heidelberg puts on an elaborate firework display to remember the amount of severe destruction the city and castle suffered during the 30 years war. The firework show didn't start until 10:15pm so we had a lot of time to explore, taste wine and eat before heading across the river to pick out our spot for the show. Despite the cold wind and rainy conditions we hiked up to the castle and toured the grounds, tasted local wine next to the giant wine barrel and of course I made them try a traditional German Bratwurst... We found a cute little local cafe to warm up in before the show and after gathering up our blankets attempted to cross the bridge. I say "attempt" because somehow in the 6 hours we spent sightseeing the river had flooded across the road we had driven on to come into the city! We ended up walking down to the second bridge and were able to cross over to find the perfect spot to see the fireworks show. We also found a different way out the city and were able to make it home safely.
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