November 15th, Lichtenstein

Less than an hour from Stuttgart, in the town of Honau, is the fabled Lichtenstein castle. Originally built in the 12th century, this castle was destroyed a couple times, and was later rebuilt as part castle, part hunting lodge. The grounds tell the story of medieval defenses, and inside are many centuries-old weapons, suits of armor, paintings, and some real oddities such as an original death mask of Napolean Bonaparte and the largest champagne glass in the world. Unfortunately, pictures are not allowed inside the castle.

The kids start the walk up to the grounds

A better view of the outer castle

Bill and the kids crossing the moat into the courtyard

Bill and the kids check out the view from the cliff's edge

Erin says she wants one of these too!

Nolan demonstrates how the castle is defended by archers and special windows

November 11th, Sensapolis

November 11th is Veteran's Day, an American holiday not celebrated in Germany, which makes it a great day to go places that are normally crowded. Sensapolis is no exception to this. I'm not sure exactly how to describe the place... it's 50% playground, 50% activity center, 50% children's museum, and 50% confidence course. Oh, and the gourmet restaurant is pretty nice too.

Katie and Nolan experiment with magnets

Protecting the ship from asteroids and space pirates

Billy races down one of the near-vertical slides

Katie and Nolan get showered with foam balls

Billy on the high ropes course

Bill and Billy scaling the rock wall

Katie and Nolan try dancing in the big shoes

October 31st - November 2nd, Sölden

First trip of the season for the Sitzmarker ski club, of which Billy is a member and Bill is a chaperone. The club drove to Sölden in the Austrian Alps. This early in the season, the only places with snow are the glaciers, and our destination was Tiefenbach glacier at an altitude of 3000m. It was snowing and windy on the first day, then sunny and warm on the next two days. Conditions were great with all the new snow!

View up the glacier from the bottom

Bill does a little advertising for Uncle Kevin

Billy at the top of the world