Remember Mr. Peabody and the WABAC machine?

Well, we traveled into the past this weekend. We went to the Renaissance Festival down in Larkspur (it's a little over an hour from here.) The photos are of Megan and Matt - hamming it up in front of the main gates, and Steve and me in our finery :-). The festival is held every year during the weekends in June and July. There is lots of entertainment - our favorite shows are the Washing Well Wenches, Puke & Snot, and Ded Bob - lots of food and of course lots of vendors. We added to our costumes this year. Steve got a sword frog (it's a thingy that keeps your sword horizontal instead of vertical), Aaron got wrist gauntlets and I got a flowered wreath to match my new costume. We'll go again next weekend when Matthew will be able to join us....more pix to follow!

More Bremerhaven...

Bremerhaven is also the place where Steve was born. The red brick building was the hospital where he was hatched, it now houses medical offices. Because we were there on a Sunday it was closed. The cobblestone streets and sidewalk are typical of smaller/older towns in Germany.

Bremerhaven.....

Bremerhaven is a port city on the North Sea and home to a maritime museum. They have everything from prehistoric dugout canoes to tall sailing ships to U-boats. We had lunch in the cafe and walked along the edge of the bay. It was very windy and rainy the day we were there.

On the road.....

Traveling through Germany, we could see why German settlers ended up in the Midwest US...it looked so much like home to them :-).

Boat Ride on the Rhine.....

We took an afternoon boat ride on the Rhine. There are several boats running up and down the river all day long making to possible to ride for just a few hours or all day. We boarded the Goethe in Kamp-Bornhofen and rode it upstream a few miles to St. Goar. After an hour or so in St. Goar we got on the Boppard and took it back to K-B. There are castles and small villages all along the Rhine...the castle you see here is the one we stayed in.

Castle Liebenstein.....

Castle Liebenstein is set high on a wooded hill, on the banks above the Rhine river. We stayed in the new part of the castle (the top floor of the white building) that was built in 1600. The old, gray part was built in 1100 :-). The grotto is where the castle's well was located. The path through the woods is part of a marked hiking trail that follows the Rhine and goes from castle to castle. The dining room was decorated with suits of armor and other weapons...the boys thought it was way too cool! The evening photo was taken from the top window of the white part of the building that you see here. Beautiful!

Aachen.....

These photos were taken outside and inside the cathedral in Aachen. Except for the one that looks like the exterior of a hotel, because that's what it is :-). We stayed at the Buschhausen, a nice place with a lovely patio restaurant.