Friedrichshafen

On Saturday we headed to the town of Friedrichshafen and toured the Zeppelin Museum. The museum was very interesting and the kids even enjoyed it.

After the museum we spent the afternoon walking along the promenade. We noticed a place where you could rent paddle boats by the hour....it looked like a lot of fun and a cheap way to get out on the water....so away we paddled!
You can't tell by the picture but the paddle boats are designed like cars - we got a VW Bug!

The kids each gave it a try - and had so much fun!

Silas enjoyed steering the boat - practicing for future days driving daddy's boat at Shetek!

We finished off the afternoon with the kids favorite - ICE CREAM!

We really enjoyed our weekend together as a family. We were blessed with great weather and fun had by all!

Hagnau

We stayed in a little town called Hagnau on the north shore of Lake Constance. It was a neat little touristy town. We walked along the path by the shoreline and found a great rocky beach where the kids had fun playing and skipping rocks. We spent the evenings relaxing along the shore just enjoying ourselves. Below are the highlights of Hagnau.

The Bodensee (Lake Constance)

Friday -May 2nd we headed to the Bodensee (Lake Constance). Our friends were heading on their way to the Black Forest and on to Switzerland and we had a few more days of holiday to enjoy! Our first stop was Konstanz. We of course headed straight for the water - after we found parking that is...which I'll add wasn't easy.

A walk out on the "dock" was bit different from what we are use to at the cabin!
We loved the view, the mountains, the water, the beautiful blue sky! It was a wonderful day. We walked along the lake, sat on a few park benches and relaxed in the sunshine. Then of course we also checked out some churches. The Munster is pictured below. Jer and Shane climbed up the tower for a magnificent view.

The only way up is to take the stairs.....around and up and around and up...Shane at the top - oh I guess not, there are more steps going higher still...they aren't called bell towers for nothing...see the bell...they just happend to ding as they were going by - WOW WAS IT LOUD!!! Jer's ears are still ringing!

What a view! Look down below - see mommy and the girls waving!

St. Stephen's Church

We decided to continue on our way since our hotel was on the other side of the lake in a little town called Hagnau. First however we saw great views along the route.

We stopped off at the church of Birnau - another great view.

On the lakeside. The star in front of the church. And the inside - WOW!

Schloss Rheinfels at St. Goar

Thursday, May 1st, was holiday in Germany; therefore Jer was off work and Shane was off of school. We also had guests - our friends Doyle and Susie Beltman and their kids Jonathan, Hannah, and Joshua - were visiting from The Netherlands.

We headed to the Rhine River Valley and took in a gorgeous drive with several castles along the route. We stopped off at St. Goar's Rheinfels Castle for a tour. Rheinfels castle was once the biggest castle on the Rhine. It was built back in 1245. Today -while it's still a great complex of ruins it's only a fraction of the size it once was. This particular castle is also known for its covered defense galleries and tunnels which you can venture through. The tour guides recommend taking a flashlight - so we came prepared!

The crew! The Van Essen family ready for the self guided tour - a few of part of the castle.

Susie overlooking the Rhine River. Jer and Silas. The kids on catapult balls!


Venturing through the tunnels and defense galleries...coming up from below! It may not seem that scarey to you - however at moments Sydney and Shaylee were quite scared (and maybe mommy was a bit worried too). There was one tunnel of which upon entering we turned around because we were crawling on the ground and not sure we would ever come out! The guys decided they were not going to be beaten and so formed a plan (see picture below) and then ventured again into the deep dark tunnel! They returned victorious! (see additional picture with raised flashlights!)


As we continued on our tour (I was reading from the Rick Steve's tour guide book) we came to a section where I read "Thoop....your dead!" Ahead is a smartly placed crossbow slit. Susie is aiming her arrow - and shooting! Look out Jer and Silas - your hit!

Quite good reinactment - can you tell we have a great time with the Beltman family!!!!

And last - but not least - the guillotine awaiting the men in the WC - YIKES!

We continued our drive along the Rhine - we went up to Koblenz and then back down the other side. We had 2 vehicles and programmed our navigation systems the same - but at times we were wondering where eachother were going?? We both did get a kick out of our navigation systems as they kept leading us "turn right - and board the ferry!" neither of us wanted to do that - but after 3 tries maybe we should have since this section of the Rhine doesn't have any bridges and so it took us awhile to finally get home. Oh well - live and learn! It was a beautiful drive! Gute Fahrt!