Most people who come to Europe set out on trips to Paris, Rome, Prague, etc. Bill likes to go find quirky European events to go to that most Americans would not be at. Have you heard of Ypres, Belgium?? No?? Well, it's home to the Kattanstoet festival held once every three years. The Kattanstoet festival is a cat festival. Check this out:
We left Stuttgart on Thursday, May 7th. We drove to Trier, Germany. This picture was taken in front of Porta Nigra. When the last Romans left Trier in about 400 A.D., they left behind a city full of Roman architecture. The city used to be completely walled. This part of the wall is all that is left.
Peek-a-boo.
Hi!!
Nolan loved climbing on the walls of Porta Nigra.
Perched in a window on the wall.
Half timbered houses in Trier, the city was beautiful.
Nolan always likes to support the local street performers.
Katie trying to whisper in the Trier basilica.
Billy likes to be the cool American teenager, but after enough poking fun from me about his Metallica t-shirt which goes on every trip, I finally got a good laugh. What a sport!
The Trier Basilica.
Saying a prayer.
Love...love...love.
In front of Karl Marx house; Karl wasn't home, we checked.
Maybe it's time to go back to our rental apartment.
A new day...we drove to Gent, Belgium. The churches and fountains and buildings were beautiful.
Billy is always up for giving the kids a break from walking.
Gravensteen castle built by the counts of Flanders in about 1177. It was first a castle for several counts but later in medieval times it became a prison. The prison was very much into torture, so we were able to see some of the devices they used and the gruesome way in which many people died.
There are always a lot of stairs in these castles.
Nolan loves the knights attire.
The guillotine.
Lets see what other instruments of death this place has.
Saturday, we drove to Ypres to our cabin. Bill thought it was quaint and rustic. I was creeped out because of all of the spider webs. I was a blubbering mess when we found a huge spider in our bedroom. But...the kids loved it and we did have fun.
Breakfast time.
On Saturday, we spent the day looking at old battlefields and cemetaries for those lost in WWI. The kids liked climbing on the old bunkers.
It was hard to believe as we walked down paths and through beautiful fields, that so many men died on this land.
Big climb-on toys.
This was part of the on-site museum at this famous battle site, Hill 62. This room had tons of war memorabilia and pictures.
Here we are about to enter the trenches at Hill 62 left basically as they were since the first World War, it was pretty amazing.
What else would you do here if you were a 14 year old boy?
Day four, the pinnacle of our trip, Ypres, Belgium; Kattanstoet. This picture is of the cloth market where much of textile trading occured in medeival times. This is also the site where they threw the cats off the belfry tower every spring. This building was really spectacular.
The festivities start at noon. You first go to the restaurant they designated you to and have a traditional Flemish lunch (delicious). Then pre-parade activities where the local business come through and throw candy to little kids as well as Japanese adults (??). Then the parade begins.
A flemish flag twirler.
Creepy, scary float.
Creepy, scary adult cat.
Strange reenactments; these were the "witches" scheduled to be burned at the stake later on after the parade.
The culmination of the parade is when the town jester throws the cat off the belfry tower.
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