September 14 - Walk to Kraftshof, More Ceremonies

​The Kawa Festival is steeped in lots of traditions. This morning we went to watch the goose dance. 

The locals of the town have a this dance around the tree they erected the other day. First there is the entrance to the tree, then the dance.

After the dance, Shan, Arlo, Drew and Bill and I walked to the next town, Kraftshof. This is a picture of St George’s church.

St. George’s church provided a level of protection from the North during the late 1500s.

A few pictures of the houses and the Automat, as we were walking through the town, 

This is the last day of the festival. It culminates at the castle where Carl, Shan and Arlo will be part of a reception where the mayor and other dignitaries will give messages.  We will be able to watch from the castle gardens.  

Here’s a picture of Arlo in a traditional outfit  

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