Germany continued

Our second day in Germany we headed to Heidelberg.  It was a two hour drive from where we were, but was going in the direction of home.  I loved this city.  It was a good mix of feeling like a small town within a larger city.  I still want to see the larger cities in Germany(Berlin, Munich) but I am so glad we got to experience Heidelberg.  

Walking along the river

Walkway to the bridge

The castle in the background in the Heidelberg castle.  We walked up many stairs to get up to the castle and get a better view of the city.

Small, colorful German streets

Such a pretty city

Lunch time!

Another great German beer that we tasted

Cheers...I mean Proost!!! 

(sorry for the lighting this and the next pic are from Brent's phone)

Brent, Ross and Katie all got Pork knuckle for lunch.  They were all pretty excited when this was put down in front of them!

While everyone else was enjoying their meat, I indulged in the carbs Germany had to offer!  This was fantastic~ it was a German pasta dish mixed with onions and sauerkraut, nom nom!

After lunch, in an effort to work off some of that food, we took the stairs up to the castle.

View of the city from the terrace of the castle

Brent and I on the terrace

A tower in the castle where the side looked like it fell off into the ground

On the way down from the castle we stopped at a gift shop and saw a little piece of home.  Minnesota was one of two state badges that they had for purchase.  Our assumption is that a lot of people from the Heidelberg area ended up in Minnesota way back in the day.(If I am wrong please feel free to let me know:))

That night we decided that the couples would each do their own thing.  Brent and I climbed up to an overlook on the opposite side of the castle hoping we could catch sunset up there.  Our hunger got the best of us though and once we were up there sunset looked like it was not going to happen for awhile.

View of the city from the overlook 

Can you spot me in the picture?

Thanks Ross and Katie for being our travel partners for the week and for the great times!

My good friends Nora and Mike have been in town visiting us this week, which is why I have been MIA again.  I promise lot of pictures from their visit!

Mindy

Deutschland part 1

The day after Katie and I got back from Luxembourg we left for Germany with Brent and Ross.  The boys had a work meeting in Stuttgart, Germany and we decided to tag a long and make a trip out of it.  The first day we spent the day in Remshalden- a small city outside of Stuttgart.  It is a very small city with a lot of German charm.

Seriously, how cute is that!

 The town was pretty small so we walked around for awhile up all the hills before dinner. 

Brent of course found a bakery for a pre dinner strudel.

 Very old fountain

 I like to take pictures of all the different beer that I have in every country I go to.  Then I can remember the names if I like them or not.  This one was very tasty

 Ross and Katie at dinner

Brent and I at dinner.  We had the best German food at this restaurant, I guess to everyone there though it is just food :).  I had a turkey schnitzel of some sort.  It was unbelievable!!  The turkey was pounded very thin and had an amazing sauce on it.  I would go back to this tiny town just to have that meal again.  The owner of the restaurant brought over some samples of local schnapps.  They were not nearly as sugary(is that even a word) as the schnapps in the U.S, but man were they strong!

Vineyards that went on for ever

In the vineyard

The next day we headed to Heidelberg, but I have another whole post about that city!

Mindy

Luxembourg

Last Sunday, my sister in law Katie and I took a girls trip to Luxembourg while the guys went on a business trip to the U.K. The trip got under way with a little train mishap, apparently we were on the wrong part of the train when it split and we ended up in a different destination.  Thankfully, it was just a short train ride from where we needed to be.  

Our old train that took us to our next stop.

 Luxembourg is a beautiful country and Luxembourg city definitely did not disappoint.  We were both surprised to find out that they spoke mainly French.  German was very prevalent but not as prevalent as we both had thought.  We had an amazing dinner our first night there and were excited to find that they had a small festival set up in one of the squares.  Which is where we found our amazing dessert.

 It was a cross between a mini churro and a funnel cake that you dipped in... wait for it... warm Nutella!!

I promise you all that we shared one order and took turns holding it for the picture.  They were amazing! 

The next day started with the breakfast of champions- a latte and a donut.  This is what 10 euro buys you for breakfast in Luxembourg.  The latte was great, the donut on the other hand not worth it.  

 The view from the one of the judicial buildings in the city.

Beautiful church in the city 

Old bridge in the city

This was on of the coolest playgrounds I have seen.  It was built like an old pirate ship with lots of ropes, and some awesome water features.  It was a warm day and there were lots of kids playing in the water to cool down.

 Senior picture pose

 This old church was built right into the rock

The inside of the church.  It was locked up but you can see all the old pews.

Anyone who knows me, knows I love my french fries.  Excuse the silly look on my face but, this is heaven to me- french fries and beer :)

Then next day we headed home(with more train issues) and got to spend some time with our hubbies.

Mindy

I'm Baaaack!!!

So I have not been very good at blogging lately.  But not to worry I have lots of posts and pictures planned so you all know what I have been doing while not blogging.  Brent and I have been playing host the past couple weeks to some co-workers and his brother Ross.  Ross' wife Katie came into town last Thursday(the 10th) to hang out.  So on Friday her and I ventured out to Amsterdam and did some sightseeing.  We decided that while the boys were at work we would check out the Heineken brewery- it technically is not the actual brewery, but a mock one they have set up called the Heineken experience.  They have a lot of the brewing equipment on display that has been used throughout the history of the brand.   We both now consider ourselves Heineken experts :) 

Helping out by grinding the grains.  They paid me with free beer 

Apparently that is my best brewer face

 They had a simulated beer pouring station, my results were "what a pity, you are no good at pouring beer"  Shocking!!

Our ticket into the brewery included the tour, 2 beers and a canal boat ride from the brewery to the experience store where we could claim our free souvenir.  Anytime you get the opportunity to take a canal ride on a nice day, DO IT!! It is such a cool way to see the city.

Next time anyone comes to visit I will teach them the proper way to drink Heineken!

Mindy