July 3rd-5th, Luxembourg

It seems like no one ever talks about Luxembourg. It's only three and a half hours from us and it is great. It's beauty is natural and there is so much to do outside. We had a really great three day fourth of July weekend.

We stopped in Mettlach, Germany on the way and did a little bit of shopping in the Villeroy and Boch outlet. The town was quaint.

The first thing we did on July 3rd after checking into our hotel, was visit the ruins of the Luxembourg Castle.

There is not much left here from all the bombings but there is enough for the kids to climb and balance on.

Dating back to 1644, these Bock Casemates in Luxembourg are amazing. They are 14 miles long and built as passage ways for times of war. Once called the best defensive fortress in the world beside Gibralter.

Billy.

Looking out from one of the "windows".

The staircases were steep and the original stone steps were well worn and not super easy to walk on.

And now....time for gelato.

Day 2...Happy 4th of July!!!! we head to General Patton's museum.

The museum had a lot of items found over the years in the country. The kids even thought it was interesting!!

On to Vianden, an adorable town nestled in the hills and home of this beautiful castle.

Time for a break from walking.

Inside the castle.

Beautiful architecture.

After the castle, we drove down the hill to a place where we could park and take this chairlift to the top of the mountain.

At the top of the mountain, after walking quite a ways, we found a high ropes course. We didn't have reservations but they said it was a slow day so Bill and the boys could go through the training course and climb. Nolan was awesome, totally conquering fears of heights and ziplines!!!

Poor Katie begged to ride this four wheeler, maybe next year Katie!!!!

Great job Nolan.

Billy loved this part of our trip and vowed to not complain at castles in the future if we can do more stuff like this.

Nolan did great with very little help from the "big boys" with his carabiners hooking and unhooking.

Towards the end, Nolan got a bit tired and decided to take a break on Bill's head.

Perhaps as close as Bill will get to surfing while we live in Europe.

Bye-bye Vianden, oh beautiful little town.

Day three, the American Cemetary in Hamm, Luxembourg.

6,000 Americans are buried here from World War II.

General Patton is buried here.

The cemetary is beautifully manicured and quite a memorial to those who fought for freedom.

Grevenmacher, Luxembourg. Butterfly garden. The kids loved this. There were butterflies everywhere, a honeycomb swarming with bees, and beautiful flowers. This was a great spot to take the kids.





Last stop...Bernard Massard wine and champagne cellars. We took the thirty minute tour and learned all about bottling and storing champagne. The tasting was fun too of course.

Cheers.

Time for one last ride before we drive home.