Yippee!! Germany finally feels like spring. So, we have crammed in all those fun outdoor adventures that we wanted to do last week. The first highlight was a great outdoor living history museum where we walked between local ‘villages’ to see the different styles of home and farm in the Rhine area. It was great! The weather held out and we got to explore a ton of old timey homes. The oldest was, I think, from 1411! I am fascinated by old fireplaces, so that held my attention. The kids loved running around the old homes and seeing chickens and pigs and farm stuff. They also seemed to dig on their wagon which I rented to drag them around with. Zoe dragged Avi between a few of the villages. It was a great time; felt very Hansel and Gretel walking between villages in the deep dark woods. We also had fun getting to know Walter, Bethany’s boyfriend. He, thankfully, drove us out to the place and joined us for the day!
Another fun day we spent at the local Drachenburg castle and ruins across the Rhine from Bonn. We took the train out and then rode a cog rail up the hill. Views from the top were great, if misty, because the warm sun was finally out!! The ruins were neat and the hike down hill to the more recently built castle was nice. Bethany hadn’t been here, yet, either so it was a fun exploration for all of us. The castle was super cool, and our combo ticket got us inside to poke around and wander the halls and interesting spiral staircases to odd rooms. After that, it was (of course) time for Bethany and I to sit and chat over a beer at an outdoor stall while the kids messed around with a cat that seemed to enjoy chasing a stick. The last attraction included in our ticket was the ‘dragon cave’ from the legend associated with the castle. Well, this was an ‘attraction’ – super cheesy, until we got to the reptile house. Here was the most active group of snakes I’ve ever seen. In fact, we got to watch a big ole snake shedding its skin!!! wild.
From the Drachenburg we took a train and bus back out to the Waldau park I visited with the kids earlier. Bethany wanted to see the baby wild pigs!! After some searching, they found her!! It was an awesome, but long day.
The local playground has also been one of our favorite places!! It’s a quick walk down around the corner near the grocery store.
We also went to the old part of town for a traditional German meal, followed by some yummy ice cream at an ice café! Germans know how to do fancy ice cream.
Lastly, we got tickets to a Yakari stage play. Yakari is a show about a Sioux boy that the kids have watched every episode of – Netflix just dropped it recently, however, which is a super bummer. It’s a great show. Zoe even dressed up for the event and got a free book!!
