August 9th, the Rhine River Drive

We did a fun drive from Luxemburg Northeast to Burg Eltz through Trier and then took the classical South the Rhine river stopping at Boppard, St. Goar, Bacharach, Rudesheim, Maintz, and ultimately ending in Frankfurt.

Burg Eltz, locked in on a ledge between two green towers with its whimsical turrets, a multitude of towers, and half timbered living quarters, was a beautiful sight indeed. We initially thought of sending just the kids to roam through the castle while we would enjoy awesome views at a castle cafe while having a cup of coffee and cake. But kids encountered crowds of mostly Russian tours and decided to bail on the opportunity of some autonomy and opted-in to join us for the cake.

We spent some time at Boppard trying to get our bearing. It’s filled with the crowds of German pensioners and features a lot of “antique” stores that really sell a bunch of old junk unattractively piled up in the windows. Every now and then there is a little pearl like the Roman ruin or an awesome cafe that sells dark German bread, or a section of a cute river promenade. We did not get the point and so started back toward the parking lot but then Isabella needed to go to the bathroom so we came back into town and settled at a pretty classical cafe filled with old upholstered furniture. 

Ordered some iced coffees and a little desert from a tall lean older German lady with a mass of blond curls while we waited. The store has pictures of an even older German guy... one of the pictures was framed with a black ribbon in the corner. That picture looked like pictures of grandpa when he was sick. Pensioners sat silently in their seats as if waiting for something. We sent the kids out to get ice-cream on their own. When we were leaving, I’ve asked the owner if the gentleman in pictures was her father. She nodded and said that he died a week and a half ago. That explained some of the drama and suspense in the air. As if those pensioners were still waiting for him to come out and serve them coffee as usual. Are they helping her grieve or the opposite? In any way she stepped out with some prosecco on her serving tray moving remarkably light and graceful. And we too got on our way.

The views of scenic homes lining the banks of Rhine and backed by the hills and featuring neat vineyards and a multitude of castles had started in earnest. We’ve stopped to walk around the ruins of tax fortress Burg Rgeinfels. Kids has a great time. The real perk was the opportunity to take the guided tour of the dungeon and tunnels under the fortress but that plan was crashed when the first droplets of rain started to hit the building and the guide/ticket guy gleefully said ‘nein’ to starting the tour. 

The rain had started and we’ve missed our ferry to Lorelei. We decided to keep going and stopped at Bacharach next. Thanks to the rain, that was already receding, the streets were empty and we had this younger brother to Rothenburg all to ourselves. We wondered around and climbed one of the towers to enjoy the views of the town and vineries below. 

Next we grabbed a ferry to the Eastern bank and ran through the cobbled streets of Rudesheim to make it to the cable cars that took us to the Nieserwald Monument passing more vineyards and lovely Rhine views below. 

Back in town we went through delectable Drosselgasse (as a group we decided that it was cute rather than kitsch - a philosophical debate that challenges a number of travelers). We settled down for the unremarkable but plentiful meal, ad many around here and accompanied it with Riesling as befit the place.

Finally, we’ve made a brief stop at Maintz, lamenting that it was so late and we simply have no energy to give this beautiful town its due, and kept going to Frankfurt to spend the night prior to the final trip of our journey - Berlin.

August 9th, the Rhine River Drive

We did a fun drive from Luxemburg Northeast to Burg Eltz through Trier and then took the classical South the Rhine river stopping at Boppard, St. Goar, Bacharach, Rudesheim, Maintz, and ultimately ending in Frankfurt.

Burg Eltz, locked in on a ledge between two green towers with its whimsical turrets, a multitude of towers, and half timbered living quarters, was a beautiful sight indeed. We initially thought of sending just the kids to roam through the castle while we would enjoy awesome views at a castle cafe while having a cup of coffee and cake. But kids encountered crowds of mostly Russian tours and decided to bail on the opportunity of some autonomy and opted-in to join us for the cake.

We spent some time at Boppard trying to get our bearing. It’s filled with the crowds of German pensioners and features a lot of “antique” stores that really sell a bunch of old junk unattractively piled up in the windows. Every now and then there is a little pearl like the Roman ruin or an awesome cafe that sells dark German bread, or a section of a cute river promenade. We did not get the point and so started back toward the parking lot but then Isabella needed to go to the bathroom so we came back into town and settled at a pretty classical cafe filled with old upholstered furniture. 

Ordered some iced coffees and a little desert from a tall lean older German lady with a mass of blond curls while we waited. The store has pictures of an even older German guy... one of the pictures was framed with a black ribbon in the corner. That picture looked like pictures of grandpa when he was sick. Pensioners sat silently in their seats as if waiting for something. We sent the kids out to get ice-cream on their own. When we were leaving, I’ve asked the owner if the gentleman in pictures was her father. She nodded and said that he died a week and a half ago. That explained some of the drama and suspense in the air. As if those pensioners were still waiting for him to come out and serve them coffee as usual. Are they helping her grieve or the opposite? In any way she stepped out with some prosecco on her serving tray moving remarkably light and graceful. And we too got on our way.

The views of scenic homes lining the banks of Rhine and backed by the hills and featuring neat vineyards and a multitude of castles had started in earnest. We’ve stopped to walk around the ruins of tax fortress Burg Rgeinfels. Kids has a great time. The real perk was the opportunity to take the guided tour of the dungeon and tunnels under the fortress but that plan was crashed when the first droplets of rain started to hit the building and the guide/ticket guy gleefully said ‘nein’ to starting the tour. 

The rain had started and we’ve missed our ferry to Lorelei. We decided to keep going and stopped at Bacharach next. Thanks to the rain, that was already receding, the streets were empty and we had this younger brother to Rothenburg all to ourselves. We wondered around and climbed one of the towers to enjoy the views of the town and vineries below. 

Next we grabbed a ferry to the Eastern bank and ran through the cobbled streets of Rudesheim to make it to the cable cars that took us to the Nieserwald Monument passing more vineyards and lovely Rhine views below. 

Back in town we went through delectable Drosselgasse (as a group we decided that it was cute rather than kitsch - a philosophical debate that challenges a number of travelers). We settled down for the unremarkable but plentiful meal, ad many around here and accompanied it with Riesling as befit the place.

Finally, we’ve made a brief stop at Maintz, lamenting that it was so late and we simply have no energy to give this beautiful town its due, and kept going to Frankfurt to spend the night prior to the final trip of our journey - Berlin.

August 9th, the Rhine River Drive

We did a fun drive from Luxemburg Northeast to Burg Eltz through Trier and then took the classical South the Rhine river stopping at Boppard, St. Goar, Bacharach, Rudesheim, Maintz, and ultimately ending in Frankfurt.

Burg Eltz, locked in on a ledge between two green towers with its whimsical turrets, a multitude of towers, and half timbered living quarters, was a beautiful sight indeed. We initially thought of sending just the kids to roam through the castle while we would enjoy awesome views at a castle cafe while having a cup of coffee and cake. But kids encountered crowds of mostly Russian tours and decided to bail on the opportunity of some autonomy and opted-in to join us for the cake.

We spent some time at Boppard trying to get our bearing. It’s filled with the crowds of German pensioners and features a lot of “antique” stores that really sell a bunch of old junk unattractively piled up in the windows. Every now and then there is a little pearl like the Roman ruin or an awesome cafe that sells dark German bread, or a section of a cute river promenade. We did not get the point and so started back toward the parking lot but then Isabella needed to go to the bathroom so we came back into town and settled at a pretty classical cafe filled with old upholstered furniture. 

Ordered some iced coffees and a little desert from a tall lean older German lady with a mass of blond curls while we waited. The store has pictures of an even older German guy... one of the pictures was framed with a black ribbon in the corner. That picture looked like pictures of grandpa when he was sick. Pensioners sat silently in their seats as if waiting for something. We sent the kids out to get ice-cream on their own. When we were leaving, I’ve asked the owner if the gentleman in pictures was her father. She nodded and said that he died a week and a half ago. That explained some of the drama and suspense in the air. As if those pensioners were still waiting for him to come out and serve them coffee as usual. Are they helping her grieve or the opposite? In any way she stepped out with some prosecco on her serving tray moving remarkably light and graceful. And we too got on our way.

The views of scenic homes lining the banks of Rhine and backed by the hills and featuring neat vineyards and a multitude of castles had started in earnest. We’ve stopped to walk around the ruins of tax fortress Burg Rgeinfels. Kids has a great time. The real perk was the opportunity to take the guided tour of the dungeon and tunnels under the fortress but that plan was crashed when the first droplets of rain started to hit the building and the guide/ticket guy gleefully said ‘nein’ to starting the tour. 

The rain had started and we’ve missed our ferry to Lorelei. We decided to keep going and stopped at Bacharach next. Thanks to the rain, that was already receding, the streets were empty and we had this younger brother to Rothenburg all to ourselves. We wondered around and climbed one of the towers to enjoy the views of the town and vineries below. 

Next we grabbed a ferry to the Eastern bank and ran through the cobbled streets of Rudesheim to make it to the cable cars that took us to the Nieserwald Monument passing more vineyards and lovely Rhine views below. 

Back in town we went through delectable Drosselgasse (as a group we decided that it was cute rather than kitsch - a philosophical debate that challenges a number of travelers). We settled down for the unremarkable but plentiful meal, ad many around here and accompanied it with Riesling as befit the place.

Finally, we’ve made a brief stop at Maintz, lamenting that it was so late and we simply have no energy to give this beautiful town its due, and kept going to Frankfurt to spend the night prior to the final trip of our journey - Berlin.

August 9th, the Rhine River Drive

We did a fun drive from Luxemburg Northeast to Burg Eltz through Trier and then took the classical South the Rhine river stopping at Boppard, St. Goar, Bacharach, Rudesheim, Maintz, and ultimately ending in Frankfurt.

Burg Eltz, locked in on a ledge between two green towers with its whimsical turrets, a multitude of towers, and half timbered living quarters, was a beautiful sight indeed. We initially thought of sending just the kids to roam through the castle while we would enjoy awesome views at a castle cafe while having a cup of coffee and cake. But kids encountered crowds of mostly Russian tours and decided to bail on the opportunity of some autonomy and opted-in to join us for the cake.

We spent some time at Boppard trying to get our bearing. It’s filled with the crowds of German pensioners and features a lot of “antique” stores that really sell a bunch of old junk unattractively piled up in the windows. Every now and then there is a little pearl like the Roman ruin or an awesome cafe that sells dark German bread, or a section of a cute river promenade. We did not get the point and so started back toward the parking lot but then Isabella needed to go to the bathroom so we came back into town and settled at a pretty classical cafe filled with old upholstered furniture. 

Ordered some iced coffees and a little desert from a tall lean older German lady with a mass of blond curls while we waited. The store has pictures of an even older German guy... one of the pictures was framed with a black ribbon in the corner. That picture looked like pictures of grandpa when he was sick. Pensioners sat silently in their seats as if waiting for something. We sent the kids out to get ice-cream on their own. When we were leaving, I’ve asked the owner if the gentleman in pictures was her father. She nodded and said that he died a week and a half ago. That explained some of the drama and suspense in the air. As if those pensioners were still waiting for him to come out and serve them coffee as usual. Are they helping her grieve or the opposite? In any way she stepped out with some prosecco on her serving tray moving remarkably light and graceful. And we too got on our way.

The views of scenic homes lining the banks of Rhine and backed by the hills and featuring neat vineyards and a multitude of castles had started in earnest. We’ve stopped to walk around the ruins of tax fortress Burg Rgeinfels. Kids has a great time. The real perk was the opportunity to take the guided tour of the dungeon and tunnels under the fortress but that plan was crashed when the first droplets of rain started to hit the building and the guide/ticket guy gleefully said ‘nein’ to starting the tour. 

The rain had started and we’ve missed our ferry to Lorelei. We decided to keep going and stopped at Bacharach next. Thanks to the rain, that was already receding, the streets were empty and we had this younger brother to Rothenburg all to ourselves. We wondered around and climbed one of the towers to enjoy the views of the town and vineries below. 

Next we grabbed a ferry to the Eastern bank and ran through the cobbled streets of Rudesheim to make it to the cable cars that took us to the Nieserwald Monument passing more vineyards and lovely Rhine views below. 

Back in town we went through delectable Drosselgasse (as a group we decided that it was cute rather than kitsch - a philosophical debate that challenges a number of travelers). We settled down for the unremarkable but plentiful meal, ad many around here and accompanied it with Riesling as befit the place.

Finally, we’ve made a brief stop at Maintz, lamenting that it was so late and we simply have no energy to give this beautiful town its due, and kept going to Frankfurt to spend the night prior to the final trip of our journey - Berlin.

August 9th, the Rhine River Drive

We did a fun drive from Luxemburg Northeast to Burg Eltz through Trier and then took the classical South the Rhine river stopping at Boppard, St. Goar, Bacharach, Rudesheim, Maintz, and ultimately ending in Frankfurt.

Burg Eltz, locked in on a ledge between two green towers with its whimsical turrets, a multitude of towers, and half timbered living quarters, was a beautiful sight indeed. We initially thought of sending just the kids to roam through the castle while we would enjoy awesome views at a castle cafe while having a cup of coffee and cake. But kids encountered crowds of mostly Russian tours and decided to bail on the opportunity of some autonomy and opted-in to join us for the cake.

We spent some time at Boppard trying to get our bearing. It’s filled with the crowds of German pensioners and features a lot of “antique” stores that really sell a bunch of old junk unattractively piled up in the windows. Every now and then there is a little pearl like the Roman ruin or an awesome cafe that sells dark German bread, or a section of a cute river promenade. We did not get the point and so started back toward the parking lot but then Isabella needed to go to the bathroom so we came back into town and settled at a pretty classical cafe filled with old upholstered furniture. 

Ordered some iced coffees and a little desert from a tall lean older German lady with a mass of blond curls while we waited. The store has pictures of an even older German guy... one of the pictures was framed with a black ribbon in the corner. That picture looked like pictures of grandpa when he was sick. Pensioners sat silently in their seats as if waiting for something. We sent the kids out to get ice-cream on their own. When we were leaving, I’ve asked the owner if the gentleman in pictures was her father. She nodded and said that he died a week and a half ago. That explained some of the drama and suspense in the air. As if those pensioners were still waiting for him to come out and serve them coffee as usual. Are they helping her grieve or the opposite? In any way she stepped out with some prosecco on her serving tray moving remarkably light and graceful. And we too got on our way.

The views of scenic homes lining the banks of Rhine and backed by the hills and featuring neat vineyards and a multitude of castles had started in earnest. We’ve stopped to walk around the ruins of tax fortress Burg Rgeinfels. Kids has a great time. The real perk was the opportunity to take the guided tour of the dungeon and tunnels under the fortress but that plan was crashed when the first droplets of rain started to hit the building and the guide/ticket guy gleefully said ‘nein’ to starting the tour. 

The rain had started and we’ve missed our ferry to Lorelei. We decided to keep going and stopped at Bacharach next. Thanks to the rain, that was already receding, the streets were empty and we had this younger brother to Rothenburg all to ourselves. We wondered around and climbed one of the towers to enjoy the views of the town and vineries below. 

Next we grabbed a ferry to the Eastern bank and ran through the cobbled streets of Rudesheim to make it to the cable cars that took us to the Nieserwald Monument passing more vineyards and lovely Rhine views below. 

Back in town we went through delectable Drosselgasse (as a group we decided that it was cute rather than kitsch - a philosophical debate that challenges a number of travelers). We settled down for the unremarkable but plentiful meal, ad many around here and accompanied it with Riesling as befit the place.

Finally, we’ve made a brief stop at Maintz, lamenting that it was so late and we simply have no energy to give this beautiful town its due, and kept going to Frankfurt to spend the night prior to the final trip of our journey - Berlin.

August 9th, the Rhine River Drive

We did a fun drive from Luxemburg Northeast to Burg Eltz through Trier and then took the classical South the Rhine river stopping at Boppard, St. Goar, Bacharach, Rudesheim, Maintz, and ultimately ending in Frankfurt.

Burg Eltz, locked in on a ledge between two green towers with its whimsical turrets, a multitude of towers, and half timbered living quarters, was a beautiful sight indeed. We initially thought of sending just the kids to roam through the castle while we would enjoy awesome views at a castle cafe while having a cup of coffee and cake. But kids encountered crowds of mostly Russian tours and decided to bail on the opportunity of some autonomy and opted-in to join us for the cake.

We spent some time at Boppard trying to get our bearing. It’s filled with the crowds of German pensioners and features a lot of “antique” stores that really sell a bunch of old junk unattractively piled up in the windows. Every now and then there is a little pearl like the Roman ruin or an awesome cafe that sells dark German bread, or a section of a cute river promenade. We did not get the point and so started back toward the parking lot but then Isabella needed to go to the bathroom so we came back into town and settled at a pretty classical cafe filled with old upholstered furniture. 

Ordered some iced coffees and a little desert from a tall lean older German lady with a mass of blond curls while we waited. The store has pictures of an even older German guy... one of the pictures was framed with a black ribbon in the corner. That picture looked like pictures of grandpa when he was sick. Pensioners sat silently in their seats as if waiting for something. We sent the kids out to get ice-cream on their own. When we were leaving, I’ve asked the owner if the gentleman in pictures was her father. She nodded and said that he died a week and a half ago. That explained some of the drama and suspense in the air. As if those pensioners were still waiting for him to come out and serve them coffee as usual. Are they helping her grieve or the opposite? In any way she stepped out with some prosecco on her serving tray moving remarkably light and graceful. And we too got on our way.

The views of scenic homes lining the banks of Rhine and backed by the hills and featuring neat vineyards and a multitude of castles had started in earnest. We’ve stopped to walk around the ruins of tax fortress Burg Rgeinfels. Kids has a great time. The real perk was the opportunity to take the guided tour of the dungeon and tunnels under the fortress but that plan was crashed when the first droplets of rain started to hit the building and the guide/ticket guy gleefully said ‘nein’ to starting the tour. 

The rain had started and we’ve missed our ferry to Lorelei. We decided to keep going and stopped at Bacharach next. Thanks to the rain, that was already receding, the streets were empty and we had this younger brother to Rothenburg all to ourselves. We wondered around and climbed one of the towers to enjoy the views of the town and vineries below. 

Next we grabbed a ferry to the Eastern bank and ran through the cobbled streets of Rudesheim to make it to the cable cars that took us to the Nieserwald Monument passing more vineyards and lovely Rhine views below. 

Back in town we went through delectable Drosselgasse (as a group we decided that it was cute rather than kitsch - a philosophical debate that challenges a number of travelers). We settled down for the unremarkable but plentiful meal, ad many around here and accompanied it with Riesling as befit the place.

Finally, we’ve made a brief stop at Maintz, lamenting that it was so late and we simply have no energy to give this beautiful town its due, and kept going to Frankfurt to spend the night prior to the final trip of our journey - Berlin.

August 9th, the Rhine River Drive

We did a fun drive from Luxemburg Northeast to Burg Eltz through Trier and then took the classical South the Rhine river stopping at Boppard, St. Goar, Bacharach, Rudesheim, Maintz, and ultimately ending in Frankfurt.

Burg Eltz, locked in on a ledge between two green towers with its whimsical turrets, a multitude of towers, and half timbered living quarters, was a beautiful sight indeed. We initially thought of sending just the kids to roam through the castle while we would enjoy awesome views at a castle cafe while having a cup of coffee and cake. But kids encountered crowds of mostly Russian tours and decided to bail on the opportunity of some autonomy and opted-in to join us for the cake.

We spent some time at Boppard trying to get our bearing. It’s filled with the crowds of German pensioners and features a lot of “antique” stores that really sell a bunch of old junk unattractively piled up in the windows. Every now and then there is a little pearl like the Roman ruin or an awesome cafe that sells dark German bread, or a section of a cute river promenade. We did not get the point and so started back toward the parking lot but then Isabella needed to go to the bathroom so we came back into town and settled at a pretty classical cafe filled with old upholstered furniture. 

Ordered some iced coffees and a little desert from a tall lean older German lady with a mass of blond curls while we waited. The store has pictures of an even older German guy... one of the pictures was framed with a black ribbon in the corner. That picture looked like pictures of grandpa when he was sick. Pensioners sat silently in their seats as if waiting for something. We sent the kids out to get ice-cream on their own. When we were leaving, I’ve asked the owner if the gentleman in pictures was her father. She nodded and said that he died a week and a half ago. That explained some of the drama and suspense in the air. As if those pensioners were still waiting for him to come out and serve them coffee as usual. Are they helping her grieve or the opposite? In any way she stepped out with some prosecco on her serving tray moving remarkably light and graceful. And we too got on our way.

The views of scenic homes lining the banks of Rhine and backed by the hills and featuring neat vineyards and a multitude of castles had started in earnest. We’ve stopped to walk around the ruins of tax fortress Burg Rgeinfels. Kids has a great time. The real perk was the opportunity to take the guided tour of the dungeon and tunnels under the fortress but that plan was crashed when the first droplets of rain started to hit the building and the guide/ticket guy gleefully said ‘nein’ to starting the tour. 

The rain had started and we’ve missed our ferry to Lorelei. We decided to keep going and stopped at Bacharach next. Thanks to the rain, that was already receding, the streets were empty and we had this younger brother to Rothenburg all to ourselves. We wondered around and climbed one of the towers to enjoy the views of the town and vineries below. 

Next we grabbed a ferry to the Eastern bank and ran through the cobbled streets of Rudesheim to make it to the cable cars that took us to the Nieserwald Monument passing more vineyards and lovely Rhine views below. 

Back in town we went through delectable Drosselgasse (as a group we decided that it was cute rather than kitsch - a philosophical debate that challenges a number of travelers). We settled down for the unremarkable but plentiful meal, ad many around here and accompanied it with Riesling as befit the place.

Finally, we’ve made a brief stop at Maintz, lamenting that it was so late and we simply have no energy to give this beautiful town its due, and kept going to Frankfurt to spend the night prior to the final trip of our journey - Berlin.

August 9th, the Rhine River Drive

We did a fun drive from Luxemburg Northeast to Burg Eltz through Trier and then took the classical South the Rhine river stopping at Boppard, St. Goar, Bacharach, Rudesheim, Maintz, and ultimately ending in Frankfurt.

Burg Eltz, locked in on a ledge between two green towers with its whimsical turrets, a multitude of towers, and half timbered living quarters, was a beautiful sight indeed. We initially thought of sending just the kids to roam through the castle while we would enjoy awesome views at a castle cafe while having a cup of coffee and cake. But kids encountered crowds of mostly Russian tours and decided to bail on the opportunity of some autonomy and opted-in to join us for the cake.

We spent some time at Boppard trying to get our bearing. It’s filled with the crowds of German pensioners and features a lot of “antique” stores that really sell a bunch of old junk unattractively piled up in the windows. Every now and then there is a little pearl like the Roman ruin or an awesome cafe that sells dark German bread, or a section of a cute river promenade. We did not get the point and so started back toward the parking lot but then Isabella needed to go to the bathroom so we came back into town and settled at a pretty classical cafe filled with old upholstered furniture. 

Ordered some iced coffees and a little desert from a tall lean older German lady with a mass of blond curls while we waited. The store has pictures of an even older German guy... one of the pictures was framed with a black ribbon in the corner. That picture looked like pictures of grandpa when he was sick. Pensioners sat silently in their seats as if waiting for something. We sent the kids out to get ice-cream on their own. When we were leaving, I’ve asked the owner if the gentleman in pictures was her father. She nodded and said that he died a week and a half ago. That explained some of the drama and suspense in the air. As if those pensioners were still waiting for him to come out and serve them coffee as usual. Are they helping her grieve or the opposite? In any way she stepped out with some prosecco on her serving tray moving remarkably light and graceful. And we too got on our way.

The views of scenic homes lining the banks of Rhine and backed by the hills and featuring neat vineyards and a multitude of castles had started in earnest. We’ve stopped to walk around the ruins of tax fortress Burg Rgeinfels. Kids has a great time. The real perk was the opportunity to take the guided tour of the dungeon and tunnels under the fortress but that plan was crashed when the first droplets of rain started to hit the building and the guide/ticket guy gleefully said ‘nein’ to starting the tour. 

The rain had started and we’ve missed our ferry to Lorelei. We decided to keep going and stopped at Bacharach next. Thanks to the rain, that was already receding, the streets were empty and we had this younger brother to Rothenburg all to ourselves. We wondered around and climbed one of the towers to enjoy the views of the town and vineries below. 

Next we grabbed a ferry to the Eastern bank and ran through the cobbled streets of Rudesheim to make it to the cable cars that took us to the Nieserwald Monument passing more vineyards and lovely Rhine views below. 

Back in town we went through delectable Drosselgasse (as a group we decided that it was cute rather than kitsch - a philosophical debate that challenges a number of travelers). We settled down for the unremarkable but plentiful meal, ad many around here and accompanied it with Riesling as befit the place.

Finally, we’ve made a brief stop at Maintz, lamenting that it was so late and we simply have no energy to give this beautiful town its due, and kept going to Frankfurt to spend the night prior to the final trip of our journey - Berlin.

August 8th, Brussels, bedbugs, and bees

We’d started the day with a 2.5 hour drive to Brussels stopping on a way at a Luxembourg’s rest area served by one of nation’s best who apparently could not get a job on banking. The level of service hit rock bottom. The food was styled to match. 

Kind of silly not to invest a little more to get the visitors to have a better experience - it reflects positively on perception of a tiny country and gets visitors to spend more.

Anyhow, our next stop was in Brussels and we re-did our breakfast with a much better coffee and Belgian waffles. 

A bummer of the day was that Dan got bitten on his arms and legs a few days ago and these bites were itching awfully. We’ve compared the bite marks with the images on the Internet and conjectured that those must have been done by bedbugs. 

Completely grossed out we proceeded to walk through the scenic wonders of Brussels: the main town square, peeing boy, etc. all the while trying to re-trace our footsteps and understand where it happed. On the positive side it is surprising that in our decades of travels it is the first time that it happened.

One an added but relevant note, Polinka got stung by a bee on her stomach during our second breakfast. She treated the area with antihistamine. It swelled up a bit locally, but then receded. Dan reacted to the same thing very differently last year and we were weighing taking him to hospital.  

Back to Brussels, the city was very kind to us in our fragile state - store upon store selling marvelous souvenirs opened up to us, kids stopped and touched everything and got treated with friendly warm smiles and candy giveaways, and the cars always yielded to pedestrians. 

Two particular highlights of the morning were Totem Toys store where both kids and adults including the guy who runs the place were mesmerized by the incredible mechanical machines made from laser cut wood and us stumbling onto the Art District filled with the streets of the stores featuring excellent African and Asian artifacts, and modern art.

By the time we sat down at the wonderful In't Spinnekopke suggested by Christophe we had a plan and even started to execute on it by ordering quantities of industrial pesticide on Amazon to await us at home while we shed all the infested clothing in the driveway and take showers and then proceed to wash and disinfect everything.  

The food and amazing service at the Belgian restaurant were amazing :) Kids and Polinka went for mussels prepared in a variety of ways, while Danik, Romik, and I had meatballs, rabbit, and fish stew respectively, cooked to perfection with those rich sauces favored by Napoleon. And of course beer. This meal was on a tight pedestal together with Tibetan a day earlier.

After lunch we continued our wanderings stopping back at the Peeing boy to continue sampling the local beers, served by a friendly chatty Egyptian waiter (who really loved his job) in Russian, then stopping at a local Cheese/Meat/Wine place called Catherine’s and having the wonderful man who worked there give us a deep tasting tour (another person who clearly loves his job :). 

We ended the day having coffee back at the Art District and enjoyed the city views at the Palace of Justice viewpoint, a new discovery on this trip as well.

Maya got stung by a bee as well, with even less impact. That, and having Polinka and her locate some minor healed spots on arms and legs us led us to conclude that our control group of 3 proved the point and those indeed were bedbugs. We are over it :)

Back to a (different) Lux rest area staffed by the copy of the person we saw in the morning. They do have very cheap gas in Lux to give them their due. 

Back to the bar at the hotel in Lux. Nice!

It was a great day!! Back to Germany tomorrow!

August 7th, Trier and Luxembourg

Came back into the old town for breakfast and did a bit of running around to combine awesome coffee with equally great baked good. Having established that all is well with the universe, we started our exploring.

Def. one of the awesomest towns in Germany, certainly the oldest one. Dom was lovely: the cavernous size and magnitude, the nicest organ we saw so far, and vaulted ceiling with Vilnius (St. Peter and Paul) or Vatican quality of the plaster work. Among all that enjoying a green robed priest had emerged from a side door and stood silently glaring at us whereupon we finally got the hint and fled toward the door. He then proceeded to ring a little bell signaling the organist to start giving us the last push to get out and let the service begin.

We proceeded to visit the Roman and Medieval landmarks, skipping on visiting the house of the father of the Socialist revolution. 

The most impressive was the Roman theater. The above ground portion is all but gone in the millennia of being used as a quarry by the locals but amazing acoustics on the arena still works. Restored area under the arena offered amazing glimpse into what it must have been to be an actor staying backstage of this enormous theater - gladiator or an animal to engage in the life or death combat. Gave kids the feel of what the real thing they saw in Thor, the movie, was really like.

We got on our way to visit the third country on our journey - Luxembourg - making a few short trips on our way.

Some town highlights: beautiful severe architecture with gray rooftops, endless city levels, and crazy-long church steeples, drinkable water fountains on the streets, the usual mix of high-end retail, many street beggars that look high, and all of our favorite bakery haunts combined in one spot: Fischer, Paul, Brioche Doree. 

The next highlight were the casemates - the cool maze of ancient  and evolving caves, tunnels, winding stairs, and passage ways built and dug up in the mountain that were enjoyed by kids and adults alike. We pretended to be lost, to be chased by demons and ghosts and had a wonderful time. The few others who braved to get into the caves with us got some free entertainment, whether they understand Russian and English or not!

After we came out the kids promptly climbed a large tree  and proceeded to enjoy themselves further.

We ended the day at a Tibetan restaurant.  It could not be better - a huge giant highlight that adults had to extend a bit further by doing additional round of drinks at the hotel. 

We decided that the city had ran out of highlights and we are taking us out to the new destination tomorrow - Brussels.