A Fun Holiday Weekend

Thanks to another Germany holiday on Thursday - and then a "Bridge Holiday" on Friday - we had a nice long weekend to have some fun!  We decided to stay semi-local and just do some day trips - easier on the girls and less packing:)  So...
THURSDAY - St. Peters Cathedral in Worms & The Eltz Castle in
     Our day began in Worms (pronounced Verms) touring the St. Peter's Cathedral.  Upon arrival, we realized that we were just in time to watch the "Fronleichnams-Prozession" - Corpus Christi Procession -- AH HA..so that's the holiday we have today:)  It was very interesting to watch the various groups, Priests etc... walk by and listen to the congregation sing  a Hymn I knew the toon to!  It would have been nice to have a Catholic standing with us to explain more of this! But, once they walked by, we were able to tour the Cathedral. This one stands out from the others because of the amount of gold!  Just incredible beautiful - and great place to sit, relax and pray!
     We then walked around the town and found the Hauptstrasse and a neat little cafe. Like most of them in Germany, there's a great outdoor sitting area and you just walk up and find a seat. We indulged ourselves and enjoyed Milch Cafes, some sort of breakfast sandwiches that were like very large Bruchettas, and then ended with LARGE ice cream treats...totally crazy!
     Then, it was time to travel to Munstermaifeld -- and the perfect time for naps for the girls. The route there took us through some beautiful countryside...hills, forest, then open land for miles, green...green...green!  We arrived our destination and actually took a short hike up to the castle along a great little stream. The castle is not as well known, but is the one of the best kept secrets. It is still owned (and seasonally occupied) by the Eltz Castle as in one of the only known castles to have never been destroyed -- since 1472!!!  We took the official tour (the girls did great) and saw app. 13 rooms out of the 80 there!  Good stories and neat artifacts! 
After a brief stop for a wineshorle (their own wine) we hiked back to our car.  We decided to stay and have dinner at the restaurant nearby and had delicious..and I mean delicious weinerschnitzel! Actually, jagerschnitzel..meaning with mushroom sauce...and some friend potatoes that would have had my Dad's mouth watering!! YUM-O!  It was finally time to head home...and 1 1/2 hrs. later we arrived and ready for bed!

The beginning of the Procession



These "stations" were all around the town and made out of flower petals - and then the little girls were going aorund with baskets afterwards to collect petals!




This picture does NOT do this Cathedral justice...imagine more bright gold!




The Eltz Castle from our hikin path below

 FRIDAY - Local day...Linda toured places for the girls' birthday party and made that decision..more later..and then met friends for dinner (and got to see their new little 1 week old baby boy, Jayson!)
SATURDAY - Palitinate Region for Hiking and Wine
    Time to experience the most loved feature of many locals...hiking, biergartens, local wine and BEAUTY!  So, off to Deidesheim. Now, this is countryside exactly like Napa Valley!!! Wine vineyards everywhere - oh, but with castles on the hills!  We found our hike and wandered through the forest along another stream. We sand "Going on a Bear Hunt" over and over and over...because now BOTH girls have the hang of the song and help make up the verses!!! (and Daddy usually ends up being the bear we find!)  After about 30 mins, we found the great little Biergarten tucked up in the hills. We dined on Brats like no other...really..amazing --and served on the largest pile of sauerkraut I've ever seen. The girls played on the playground and it was back on down the hill.  Unfortunately, the weather was a tad cool and semi-wet or it would have been the perfect day.
     After reaching the car, we drove off to find a winery Tim has visited before and enjoyed. We found it, tasted a little, watched Rylee go off and play with the owner's daughter on the trampoline!!!, bought a few bottles, and then ventured on.  Next stop...Schwetzingen for some Kaffee and Kuchen (coffee and cake). We found a great KaffeeHouse with a view to the Schloss (castle) and had a great apple streudel and cherry tart --oh, and milch cafes and hot cocoa!!  Another day of indulgence!
    We are now home and preparing for one more day of fun! There's apparently some sort of festival here in town tomorrow so we're meeting some friends and checking that out. Oh, it includes lots of food!!! YAHOO:)


Rylee making friends quickly - anything for some play fun!




An example of this countryside