A Week in Eifel

And by Eifel, I don't mean the tower; Eifel is a large region in the northern part of Europe shared between Germany, Luxembourg, and Belgium. On Saturday 25th, we drove 7hours from Sachen to the border of Belgium, where we stayed in a vacation home next to the Our river (pronounced oar) on the German side. The Eifel is best known for all the Castes it holds and the many different hiking trails. It's very beautiful and scenic. Here are a few of my favorite days: 

Sunday

We went into Belgium to see a museum where there was a model train room with RC racers and other electronic car things. Upstairs was a sand sculpture exhibition which was very interesting. I also went to ride a rail bike on an old Belgian train track. Allow me to explain the rail bike, its like one of those multi-person bikes you see at the beach on a boardwalk, but it's a station on a train track. My host family and I took turns between two rail bikes to pedal. It only went but so fast, very exhausting work, but very fun too! I also tried a traditional Belgium waffle which is nothing like it tastes in the USA. It's dense with sugar chunks in it, but it's 100x better than the ones we have in the States! 

BELGIUM WAFFLE AND HOT KAKO

Tuesday

We went to Luxembourg to see some castles. The first was the largest I saw for the week. It was very old, very cool, and very cold; the Château de Vianden. They had the castle sectioned off, so you couldn't go exploring just anywhere all on your own, which was what I wanted to do... And I didn't get to see a single old-style castle toilet, I really wanted to see one... and use one too! I even went into the restroom to see if the old-style toilet would be in there. 

CHATEAU DE VIANDEN

The second castle was renovated to be a war museum that displayed and discussed Luxembourg's liberation from Germany through the help of the US. Two things that stood out, the candy bombers and the smiling mannequins. The candy bombers were the flight crew of the US who would drop candy-filled bags down to Luxembourg children in the promotion of peace. The mannequins, on the other hand, were all smiling in their wartime displays. I know I shouldn't be so critical, but to that mannequin solder behind the model of an old army car- "Wipe that smile off your face boy, this ain't happy-vill!" * in a Drill Sargent voice*

That night we also went to a German pool. It was amazing; a water slide, a cold pool, a warm pool, a bubbling laying area, complimentary recreation pool toys, lap pool, diving, and a deep end section, play pool, kiddie pool, and my favorite, a steaming room! They also had a sauna and massage rooms in another section, but that cost extra.

Thursday

We went into Belgium again to a town to first look around. The cities here are smaller than what I'm used to, but they're nice and have a clean look to them. We went to a museum that had several random exhibits. The main exhibit was on WW2, but I liked the side exhibits better. One on how paper is made and old mills around the area, one on a traditional festival that takes place in the town, one on leather and an old leather mill in the area. After eating in a french style restaurant, we went to go into a cave. I don't recall if I have ever actually been inside a cave or not, but this cave was huge - Many different open spaces, tight corners. We even rode on the river inside the cave in canoes which was really cool.

IN AND AROUND TOWN

In between these days, we hiked the countryside. I would like to say that the Eifel is the hilliest place I have been to in my whole life! So hiking was actually a hike! We hiked for the whole day too. It was sooo tiring. Even though we walked shorter distances every time we hiked, it seemed to get more and more difficult! The first time we hiked 18k in total from the vacation home to see a castle. The next time we hiked 16k in total to what we were hoping was an open cafe, but it was closed, and I was heartbroken. The last time we hiked 12k to a small cave, but it was gated to stop people from going in. But of course, it was beautiful. 

It's Autumn here in Germany and being in the Eifel was amazing. I had so much fun, I loved that we did something different every day! Makes me look forward to the next place we'll be going to...

GOODBYE EIFEL