September 13 - Church Service, Parade, More Festival

​There was a church service in the castle gardens. Didn’t really understand any of the words but the tune of the music was familiar. 

Shan took us on a tour of the inside of the castle, which is being renovated.  Here’s Carl’s families crest. Quite impressive. 

Next was the parade. I can’t begin to describe the parade except to say the floats were very creative and probably not ones we will ever see in the US. 

This was the one that caught my eye, a brothel!

A bee hotel  

Even though it rained, it didn’t faze anyone. No one left.  They just put up their umbrellas. 

Arlo needed a few more rides and a couple games.

John got into the fun, too. 

Here’s the crew who made it to the tent tonight 

September 12 - Drive to Nuremberg and Party in the tent

​We drove about 20 miles to Nuremberg for 2 planned tours. We met Mason and Kya for the first tour. 

First one was the tunnels and secret passages. Lots of information about how they turned the beer cellars into escape routes during World War II. There were tunnels going many different ways. 

Mason trying to get into the ca he of whiskey. 

The 2 pictures above are showing how they built their houses with tunnels below.

At the end of this tour we were in the distillery.

After the tour, Mason bought us each a red beer.  

Our 2nd guided tour was around the old town city to learn more about its history. 

Just so happened that we were there on one of two flea market weekends.  Very busy. 

Bridge over the Pegnitz River. 

Protestant church

Original building that didn’t get bombed during the war.

Tower that held art pieces during the war 

Original house that wasn’t bombed during the war.

Back to Nuenhof for more of the festival, called the Kawa. 

We watched as a group of men from the town raised a very tall tree. Still not sure of the symbolism of this though.

We were invited to join the family for dinner at the castle, which was sausages and beer! The sausages were very tasty. 

Huge tents for food, music and dancing on the tables!

September 10 and 11 - Flights to Munich Germany and Drive to Nuenhof

​Today’s the day the Alsups, Drew and us fly from Sacramento to Germany. We will meet up with Kristen, John, Winter and Kaleb, and Kya and Mason when we get to our hotel in Nuenhof.

Arlo is so excited because he can watch Paw Patrol!

Our flights were all smooth and mostly on time. With International flights, all your food and drink is part of your ticket. 

Once we landed in Munich, we had to go through customs which took about 30 minutes. We picked up our rental car, which is standard transmission. Glad we both know how to use that. Drove about 2 hours from Munich to Nuenhof which is the region Carl’s mom and family come from. Carl’s relative was a knight of the Nuenhof Castle, which has been owned by the family until 2 years ago. They are still involved but don’t own it any more. 

The castle is currently being renovated. 

Driving to Nuenhof, the landscape was very much like home, lots of farms. 

This is a hop farm … passed a lot of these on the highway.

Our hotel is the Grunen Baum

September 9 - Hike, Arlo school, Toes Pained. , Last-minute Checking Lists.

​This is our last day to take a hike up Trevor and Diana‘s driveway to the Snow ditch Trail. It’s also the last day to take Arlo to school before we leave for Germany.

I didn’t get a picture because Arlo loves going to Miss Tyana’s so much that he was off and running as soon as Pappy got him out of the truck. 

Shannon and I got our toes painted.

Then it was time for the Alsup’s to pick up Arlo from school and drive to Sacramento to stay at Drew and Erin’s for an early morning flight to Munich Germany. Drew also flies out early to meet us there. 

It will be fun to have the whole Hull, Luckovich, Cingel family together in Germany. Kristen, John, Winter and Kaleb, and Kya and Mason have been in Germany for the past several days.

As Shuff and I sat out on our last night at the Alsups before we fly later tomorrow, we had a beautiful sky. 

The cross in the sky is a good omen for sure. 

September 8 - Packing

​Our trip to Germany is two days away so we were busy making lists and packing. 

Lenny did get a couple walks in though.

Dropped Shannon off at Yoga and I did some last minute shopping.  

Nothing too exciting today. 

September 7 - Hike, Tractor Ride and a look inside an Airplane

​We walked up Trevor and Diana’s driveway again but this time when we were walking up, Trevor and Otis were using the tractor. They gave Arlo a ride. That was a treat. 

Even more fun was when Trevor let Arlo work the controls for the bucket  

We did finish our walk on the ditch trail. 

After that, more excitement because Arlo got to visit Abby who pilots a fire plane and he got to sit inside … wow!