Nurburgring

One of the famous things that was near where we stayed was the Nurburgring. I had never heard of it, until I saw an American commercial for a car that mentioned that it had been tested on the "famous Nurburgring." I had thought they had said "Nuremburg" which is not far from Bamberg, but this place is near the Belgium Border. It is a World Famous race track for formula 1 cars (not Nascars). There are 2 very interesting things that stand out to me about this track. #1 - The track has many turns, and is designed like a road, not a race track, like you normally think of. #2 - What really amazed us was that anyone can pay to ride on the track (we could have even taken our Van on it if we wanted to). The really crazy thing is, you can even race other normal drivers on this crazy course. With the very limited liability in Europe, they allow for you to do this. We read that 3-12 people die each year on the track (not the professionals, but the average joe's that come to try and race). Camden and Mia weren't too interested in it, but Bailey was really intrigued and thought it was fascinating! For a euro each, they allowed us up into the grandstands by ourselves to watch the "average joe's" race - a very interesting experience!

Waiting for the racers to come by

Check that out!

If you don't have your own car (or you don't want to ruin your own car) you can rent a race car too - this car was a rental...

You can barely see the red car, but this was the first hair pin turn - lots of the racers skidded, and we thought for sure we would see a few bad accidents....

When the people first lined, I said to Bryan, "There is no way they are going to let these average people race" - but sure enough, that is exactly what they did! It could have been me in my minivan too :-)

You can barely see the hairpin turn coming, but it was crazy to see these people racing around it!

The cars were all different..some were race cars, some were small normal cars, some were rental cars, some were new, and some were quite a bit older....

This is the map of what the track looks like...

When we were pulling out of the parking lot, this tractor trailer was blocking us (we were one of only a handful of people there, so they must not have realized we would need to get out). The Maserati company must have been bringing in cars to test for time on the track.

Flooding - (and a break in vacation photos)

As I am still slowly posting vacation photos (yes, sorry for the never-ending photos :-)), I wanted to take a break and post photos of our flooding here. Central Europe has been slammed with rain, and the flood waters are really doing a toll on many of the cities - especially in Southern Germany. While we were away, apparently it rained everyday back in Bamberg. Luckily in our city, they can control the flooding a little bit, by redistributing the water to the bigger of the two rivers that lie in this town - that way the old city doesn't flood. Many of the small villages were flooded though, including the village where Camden plays soccer.

The river is usually only on the right side of the trees, and on the left is our bike path, now completely flooded...

You can see the bench on the bike path, now completely covered

Again, the river is usually only on the other side of the trees, and has now risen at least 6 or 7 feet

The bike path - completely covered!

Burg Eltz

Burg Eltz is perhaps one of the prettiest castles in Europe - (It is even Rick Steeves favorite Castle in all of Europe - which definitely says something). It is nestled near the Mosel River in a valley surrounded by Forest. You park at the top, and then walk down into the valley. It is the only thing around, and is actually owned by a private Family. The absolute amazing thing is that this castle has been in this family for 33 generations!!!! We had a nice lunch on the patio there, and the kids walked down to a stream and had blast skipping rocks. A beautiful pace!!!

Lunch at the castle...

Like a fairy tale!!!!

I can't even imagine how they built this so long ago!!!!

Stunning!

skipping rocks in the stream...

This made me laugh - it was a random Maine bumper sticker stuck to the side of a trashcan sitting near the castle.

The view, as you walked down into the valley...

This also made us laugh (and get a little nervous at the same time) Camden met this random stranger on the hike back up to the car - we turned around and he was chatting away with this Man visiting from Colorado. We always say that Camden could make friends with a tree ( he is very friendly and personable) - but it was quite funny, yet a little scary :-)

Bailey, on the hike back up!

Bryan and I on the hike back up

Cologne (Koln)

On a rainy day, we went to Cologne. Two interesting facts about Cologne: 95 % of the city was destroyed during World War 2 and it is also where the name Cologne (the fragrance) got its name. The very famous Cathedral was left in tact though, and we climbed all 533 steps to the very top. We were only in the city for1/2 a day, but we enjoyed our quick visit - even in the rain :-)

Bailey, Camden, and Mia in front of the Cathedral - a long way up to the top!

Inside the Cathedral - gorgeous!!! Amazing to think how this was built so long ago without any of the equipment that we have today....

Always candles to light....

Bailey at the top!

Mia on the way up - 533 steps in all!!!!

Cologne is famous for its Lock bridge (this is where Bamberg got the idea). There are thousands (maybe even millions) of keys laying on the bottom of the Rhein River that open these locks...

The top of the Cathedral, looking down over the Rhein River

The locks go on forever.... Quite amazing to see so much love and friendship :-)

Monschau

Monschau is an adorable Medievel town that reminded me a little of Bamberg. The architecture was different though, in that the roofs weren't red. The center of town restricts driving, so we had to park outside, and walk into the village. Super cute!!!

The houses were so old, and had looked like they had shifted many times :-) The building in this photo looks like it is sinking....

View from the top of the town (notice the roofs aren't red)

Silly Camden

The river ran right through the middle of town

The car driving on the street was a local person - they had cameras for tourists violating the no driving rule...

I adore these 4 people!

We were in Monschau on Corpus Christi day (another day off when everything is closed except for restaurants and a few tourist shops). They were setting up the alter for an outside church service as we walked by.

I love the different materials (stone, cobblestone wood etc.) - so much character! I love these guys too :-)

So cute!

Even the fire department had character!

Western Germany

We just got back from a week in Western Germany. We stayed near the Eifel National Forest, which is on the German side of the Belgium border. As usual, I will bore you to death with photos :-) I just never want to forget this time here.!!! There is so much countryside to see in this region, and apart from a few rainy days, we had a really fun time.

Below are pictures from the Mosel Valley. It is famous for its adorable villages along the Mosel River, as well as its vineyards. It is really a beautiful area, with so much character and quaintness!

This picture was taken as we were driving parallel to the river - the river cruise boats and barges take full advantage of the rivers throughout Germany...

This little tractor reminded me of the little engine that could.... I think I can.....

We spent the afternoon in an adorable town called Cochem. It sits right on the river, and is one of the cutest towns I have ever been to.

We stopped in at a store for wine tasting - they even had a "kinder" table for the kids :-)

Camden being goofy :-)

Along the Mosel River...

This is the town of Cochem - so picture perfect!

Our purchases after the wine tasting - I will truly miss the inexpensive, but great wines in Europe!!!! 

Closer view of the castle in Cochem