Ahhhhh Germany! I am sure I have ancestors here because it always feels like home. Most of my ancestry is English, but it is possible that I could be German as my grandfather Jenkins was adopted.

November 8th

Steve arrived here late last night via train from Dusseldorf to Frankfurt. He has another fair tonight in Frankfurt showcasing his school district. What a cool job he has!

We all slept in this morning then enjoyed a multicultural buffet breakfast where one child had sausages and egg, another noodles, another rice and sausage. I had miso soup and granola with yogurt and Steve had his traditional croissant with ham, cheese and jam.

We decided to do a walking tour to see what we could discover and find some lunch. We followed the red line starting in the west at our hotel across from the Hauptbahnhof. It was a magnificent walk. Cities were built around water here. Not like Canada where most were built around train stations in the middle of nowhere.

2 bridges.

2 playgrounds.

1 self-driving bus.

1 Maclaren seen in real life.

Copious amount of steps. ( My Garmin is dead and I can’t find my charger!)

1 lunch in a restaurant above the Markethalle.

5 lit candles and prayers for Grandma, Nana and our boys at the church.

3 more handstands.

1 chamomile tea ordered that ended up being a karmel alcohol-free beer. (I don’t even like beer 🤣 and it wasn’t too bad!)

One thing I LOOOOVE about Europe are their parks and non-vehicular spaces. The symmetry of the trees and the imperfect spaces as well as the non-cement paths feel good for my soul. I think we use way too much concrete and spend too much time maintaining our parks in Canada and we have too few defined spaces and too much grass. 🤪

We had an amazing time just walking along the river and through the pedestrian paths of the old city today. Even in the sprinkles of rain, it was beautiful and divine.

My very creative husband took the next couple of photos. Man, do I love this man. He is such a genius in so many ways: in business, in education, as a man, with photography, with drawing and even guitar playing!! What a gift to spend this day with him in Frankfurt.

Friends, what is it about boys and farts…🤣 this is the exit sign in German… which will now become a permanent sign in our home.

November 9th

1 failed attempt to find another RC store.

1 awesome park found instead.

Daddy dropped off at the airport for a flight to Hamburg.

2 Berliner (donut) and 1 pretzel eaten today.

1 large “STILL” water bottle.

1 bag of Haribo coke bottles.

208kms to our next “field trip”.

Going back to 1272 in the German medieval city of Rothenburg ob der Tauber.

One of Steve and I’s favourite German cities.

Walls all around it.

Cobblestone roads.

Staying in a family-owned Gasthaus inside the walls.

Pedestrian friendly.

And oh so beautiful for a one night stop.

We decided to try the Gasthaus Goldener Greifen. It didn’t disappoint. Take a look at the view from the third floor looking down on the street and the dinner was delicious. The boys are loving the potatoes pancakes, apple sauce, cheese and bread.

In the evenings, we have been doing stretching and writing in journals. I bought all the boys each a special black journal and wrote a blessings for them for this trip. It’s beautiful to watch them immerse themselves in writing and drawing. It’s such a great way to debrief our full and fun days. I am enjoying spending some time each evening, connecting with my customers, looking at photos from the day and recapping what we’ve done. The boys have told me they want to do this whole trip again.

Guten Nacht with a final handstand photo from today and our walk to see what the wall around the city actually looks like. It’s thick!

Tomorrow, we will walk the mile around the wall that encloses the city and see what we discover, before heading farther south into Germany.

November 10th

Traditional German breakfast at our awesome, cozy hotel in the centre of town.

3km walk around the city, mostly on the 500+ year old walls.

3 head bonks.

1 Sneeballen.

3 toques and 4 pairs of gloves.

2 degrees.

1 Christmas store with automated teddy bears and a very cool woodworker.

1 church visit.

Many church bells ringing on this Sunday morning.

A walk in the fog and the sun.

Oh what fun!

When we were walking around the city walls, the boys were pumped at what they could see through the archer’s windows. One thing they spied was a wooden castle playground. After driving out of the city walls, we went to play at the playground before heading south to Munich on the Autobahn.

214 km drive to Munich.

Driving 150 km/hr in the slow lane.

1 stop at a resthof.

70 cents to pee.

Another playground.

Check-in at Brunnenhof Hotel near Marienplatz, the centre of Munich since the 1200’s.

We are very happy we have enough beds.