June 14: Brussels

This was a travel day...drop off the car in Cologne, train to Brussels, layover in Brussels, Eurostar to London.  I love train travel....hop on, let someone else drive.  And of course, the European trains are so stellar.

We left time in Brussels to check it out, so we took a walk from the station.  And we had frites, naturally!

Made entirely of chocolate! 

Just another cool European building. 

Judging from the tourist hordes, this peeing boy statue is very famous.

June 13: Castles!!

Germany is excellent castle country.  We visited two of the coolest castles...on the same day!  One because it was a ruin you could prowl around, the other because OMG would you look at the pictures?!!  Also, the Rhein river valley...a beautiful, beautiful place and drive.

 In the stocks at Rheinfuls castle.

Amazing views of the Rhein from the tower. 

The Rheinfuls ruin...

Lunch on the Rhein. 

 Burg Eltz castle, hidden in the hills and owned by the same family for 850 years.

Would you look at this place?

June 12: Ummmmmm

Well, let's just say that German road signs are cryptic.  And they don't put some towns on the map.  And we can't read German, so if there were some more helpful instructions posted when we hit a closed road, um....

So this day was supposed to be a more driving-heavy day with stops in a walled city and in the area where I lived with my parents when my dad was in the Air Force.  Unfortunately, it ended up just being a driving day.  Sad face.  I really would have liked to see where I lived as a toddler, but by the time we reached the general area, we all just wanted to get to our overnight stop and get out of the car.  We did have a nice lunch stop in Ulm, which is charming.

We stopped in Osthofen, a very small town close to the Rhine, and we got lucky by staying at this adorable, hilarious inn that had suits of armor in our suite and a medieval feasting hall on the premises.  The owner was so kind, and his dad took us to feed some ponies and walk around his vineyard.  A nice end to the day.

 King Maximilian.

 Sunset in Osthofen.

Everyone needs a suit of armor in their room!  

June 11: Austria

We had hoped to get a good hike up to a waterfall this day, but with poor maps we ended up just having a long walk along this lake in Maurach, Austria.  It was still really hot!! So a dip in the lake was quite welcome.  Then onward to Germany with a quick coffee break in Innsbruck.  Innsbruck was actually quite crowded and had an unattractive sprawl.  Still you can't be too disappointed in a city ringed with mountains.  In Germany, we found a hotel right on the square in a little city called Kempten.   BTW, the Germans (and the Austrians) do drive fast.  But they drive well, so I thoroughly enjoyed the autobahn driving!

 Passed this along the way.

 Those two little dots are Max and Maggie.  This lake was actually an extraordinary turquoise blue!  

 We took a quick coffee break in Innsbruck, Austria.  Beautiful setting, cute Old Town, but the town seems to have a bit of ugly sprawl.

Dinner on the square.  Always nice.  The Radler helps, too.

June 10: Salzburg

Because we were packed for a Denmark climate, we had very few clothes for a heat wave.  I will probably be ready to throw my two or three hot weather items in the trash when we get home.  Laundry is scarce on the road.  Twice we stayed in Meininger Hotels, which are a cross between a hostel and a hotel.  They are one of the few places that has rooms that can accommodate a family.  Many places only have two person rooms.  They have one laundry machine and a guest kitchen as well.  With the number of backpackers who stay at these places, it's hard to use those facilities, but I managed to wash our few clothes that we had been wearing repeatedly.  Salzburg was wonderful...I'm so glad we decided to go there!  It is what I expected of Vienna, beautiful and quaint with a huge dose of history.  Plus....mountains.  

The fountain from the Sound of Music in Mirabelle Gardens!!

Fa....a long, long way to go!

On the Salzach River, with the Hohensalzburg Fortress in the background.

Afternoon break on the Salzach.  Necessary in 90 degrees.

The hills are alive!  I wanted to sing, too!  View from the fortress.

June 9

Some places take their holidays very seriously.  In Denmark, EVERYTHING is closed on national holidays, including grocery stores (many restaurants are open, though), so you better have some food!   Well, apparently Austria is the same and we had planned to pick up some groceries for this day.  Gas station groceries it was for our hike!  We did a little more exploration of beautiful Gmunden, then headed up to hike.  Of course, we all thought it would be cooler in the mountains, but Austria was still having a heat wave.  It was not cool.  The hike was beautiful, though, and we found a very cold lake where we all took a dip.  We had reserved a hotel in Salzburg, so we headed there in the evening.

Schloss Ort in Gmunden....actually in the Traunsee Lake in Gmunden!  A 1000 year old castle. 

 Ice cold lake on our hike.  Felt great in 90 degree temps!  There was also a cafe/pub...we didn't stop for a beer, but the Austrians know what they're doing.

Trees!

June 8 and forward

Playing catch up.  Been too tired or had too crappy wifi to post!  It's been a great week.  We started by picking a spot on the map: Gmunden, Austria.  Beautiful lake surrounded by mountains.  You can't get much more stunning than this place.  Just add a couple of kids.

This was our view from the hotel....a splurge for my birthday.  Would you believe there were fireworks that night?  Perfect.