Visiting Philine, Again, in Münster, Germany

 

Now that we're all getting older (!), we've decided twice in one year is NOT too often!  When we last visited our photoblog friend, Philine, after Easter in April, it was because she had just moved into a senior-living community, following her last apartment renovation and knee replacement.  We wanted to see how she was doing.

And besides, yesterday was America's Thanksgiving holiday and, because I miss that American holiday more than any other, Astrid and I decided to take a 2-night mini-vacation just for ourselves, with the chance to see Philine AND a Xmas market all in one "swell foop."

So, we left mid-morning this past Monday, arriving at our favorite Fletcher hotel, in Lochem, in time for lunch:

It's only 1.5 hours from home and is in the woods.

On a rainy kind of day, we decided NOT to go traipsing about but to stay cozy inside.

It's one of those hotels that has all kinds of nooks and crannies,

and almost no one was there that afternoon.  We had it all to ourselves.

After settling into our room at 3, we later came back down for some 5 Crowns,

accompanied by nachos and beer.  Just what the doctor ordered.

The next morning we had plenty of time for a leisurely breakfast, not needing to leave until 11:30 for our meetup with Philine in Münster, Germany, at 2 pm:

Whenever Astrid finds a hotel for us, we make sure it has a good breakfast.

It's one of our guilty pleasures when we vacation!

Münster, Germany, is 1.5 hours from the Lochem, NL, hotel, but we gave ourselves plenty of time by leaving at 11:30, knowing we could wait for Philine in their lovely lobby.  She arrived promptly at 2 pm, all bundled up with her rollator, ready to tackle the nearby Xmas markets.

And, yes, she treated us to glühwein with waffles and we treated her to roasted chestnuts.

To be honest, it didn't even matter to us that it wasn't yet dark, especially because

the crowds were still small enough to navigate easily over the cobblestones.

We even got to see plenty of Xmas eye-candy!

We had only TWO hours with Philine at the Xmas markets (we visited 3 or 4 of the 6),

but it was more than enough to get our fill.

We said good-bye to Philine in her lobby at 4 pm, and arrived back at our hotel just before 6 pm, ready for a quiet evening, sorting through our photos and playing another game of 5 Crowns:

Don't worry if you don't know the game.

But Astrid won all 3 of the games we played this trip,

with NO POINTS on that last game after Münster!

That's unheard of (tho' Ruth's husband did it once)!

Anyway, it was another leisurely breakfast on Wednesday morning before driving back home by noon and was just what the doctor ordered!  If I can't have Thanksgiving, I can at least have a Xmas market!  And because it really did uplift my spirit, we may decide to do it every year with Philine, if possible.

And now it's time to trim the Xmas tree and decorate the house for the season.....

Our 15th Anniversary Get-Away

 

Our exact 15th anniversary date was February 5, 2025, but the actual get-away was February 24-28, Monday to Friday, last week.  A mini-vacation!

There was one thing in particular we chose to see, which was in Belgium, just over the border, so we chose a Fletcher hotel in Kerkrade, NL, near the 3-country border of the Netherlands, Germany and Belgium, knowing we'd have several side trips across the 5 days, 4 nights.  We had visited the "three country point" back in 2017 when we went to the Aachen Christmas market.  But this time it was Maastricht we wanted to see again.

Monday, February 24, 2025:  Maastricht, NL: 

Maastricht is the capital of the Limberg province in the Netherlands, at our southernmost border.

We had visited the Dominican Church bookstore back in 2010 and wanted to see it again!

It did not disappoint, with fond memories of the last time we drank a latte macchiato there!

And because this was the week before Carnival, we got our taste, without the chaos.

Tuesday, February 25, 2025:  Genk, Belgium:

THIS was what we most wanted to see this trip:  the "Cycling Through Water" path,

in the beautiful Bokrijk National Park and Open Air Museum.  We had visited the Moses Bridge

in the Netherlands in 2012 and wanted to compare.

Again, we were not disappointed.

After eating lunch in nearby Rijkhoven, we visited the 16th century Alden Biesen Castle.

It was a totally unexpected delight to our already wonderful day!

Wednesday, February 26, 2025, Heimbach, Germany:  

Of course, being so close to Germany, we HAD to get our German "fix," especially with food.

Heimbach is a darling town of only 4K+ people, 15 km from Belgium and 30 km east of Aachen,

situated on the river Rur in North Rhine-Westphalia.  The 11th century Hengebach Castle

was visible from everywhere and, regrettably, still closed for the season.

But, as in Maastricht, they were getting ready for Carnival!

We also made a quick trip to the nearby Mariawald Abbey (top-right), where we hoped to have lunch,

but, not impressed with the menu, we drove back to Heimbach center for our wurst and schnitzel.

Thursday, February 27, 2025, Aubel, Belgium:

The Val-Dieu Abbey is a former Cistercian monastery in Aubel, Belgium, less than an hour's drive from our hotel, worth seeing and where we wanted to eat.  But again, the restaurant was closed for the season.

So we drove to nearby Verviers, just to say we did it, where we ate pizza for lunch.

The joke on us, however, was that we thought we had ordered carbonara and one pizza,

only to find out our carbonara was a carbonara pizza.  Who knew there was such a thing!

Friday, February 28, 2025:  back to Home Sweet Home!  It was a total of 771 km (479 miles), 405 (252 miles) of which were while there on our out-n-abouts.  Like I said, a mini-vacation! 

The trip was totally lackadaisical and without any rushing about from one place to another.  We just let thing happen, apart from the basic research Astrid did for our time away.  We needed to change scenery from the renovation going on here at our senior-living complex (another post!), and chose our anniversary time as a perfect "excuse."

We were reminded again of how mistletoe grows plentifully in that area.

We saw it everywhere in the naked trees of winter, something we don't see in our neck of the woods.

And besides the hotel breakfasts we looked forward to every day, 

eating differently than "normal" was just plain fun...like spaghetti carbonara and pizza.

Oh, and the Belgium and German beers!

Can you tell???

HAPPY 15th ANNIVERSARY to US!

Austria Trip 2019: The Zugspitze

Astrid knew from the very beginning, when we knew we'd go to Austria for her 65th birthday, that we'd get to the top of the Zugspitze by hook or by crook.  And we did.

The Zugspitze is Germany's tallest mountain at 2,962 meters (9,718 ft) above sea level.

Here's what it looks like from below in one of our many views of it on the Austrian side.

Remember that our home base for the week was in Ehrwald, in the valley/shadow of the mountain.

There are two cable car stations for going up, in Ehrwald and in Germany at the Eibsee Lake.

We obviously chose the one in Ehrwald, Austria, only 4 km from our guesthouse.

The ride up took all of 10 minutes...on a gorgeous day!

We purposely sat in the back to take pics looking down instead of up,

knowing we'd do the the same on our way back, looking up.

We arrived at the top on the Austrian side of the mountain, which is at only 2,950 meters.

Later you'll see how the extra 12 meters/34 ft get you to the top on Germany's side.

So, yes, you heard me...there are two sides at the top because this mountain belongs to both.

It's a huge complex of levels with restaurants, cafes, museum, platforms, etc.

[Wikimedia photo]

The first thing we did was look out at the views of the Austrian mountain/countryside.

From there we walked to the German side for our hot chocolate break,

with apple strudel soaked in warm vanilla sauce...an Austrian delicacy, in Germany!

These were the views we had right outside the cafe's terrace.

Going down from that level we caught another cable car taking us to a part of the mountain

just below the top of the mountain (are you following me?).

Not everyone at the top opts for this added cost but we decided to do it all, our only chance!

We especially enjoyed seeing the chapel, where a service was taking place.

I was able to grab the inside views through the outside door windows.

And yes, there was enough (dirty) snow for Astrid to make a snowball for Chris' birthday!
(Happy Birthday, Chris!)

Even enough snow for modern rodel sleds!

And while we were there, a helicopter made a drop-off of supplies.

Thankfully, it was not a rescue stop.

Going back up by cable car, we saw the full breadth of the top,

with the gold cross marking the tallest point of the mountain/Germany (bottom, right side).

THAT gold cross!

This is where those extra 12 meters come in.

A tourist guide in Ehrwald told us to not even think about climbing it,

though Astrid was sorely tempted the longer we stood there and watched.  HA!

At least we got to see it...Germany's tallest point.

If that doesn't make you hungry, what will?

Flanked by the cross outside on our right, we looked out over the countryside below...

where Germany's Eibsee Lake graces the landscape

(from where the other cable car takes you up and down the mountain).

After eating lunch, we walked back to the Tyrol/Austrian side for our descent down the mountain.

Once again, we sat in the back and looked up to see from whence we came.

Ha Ha.  We did it, thanks to all of Astrid's careful planning.

From going up to coming down, we were there for 6 glorious hours!

Austria Trip 2019: The Castles

There were four of them!  And when you consider that two are the top two from all of Germany, you're really saying something about what we saw.

Here they are in the order in which we saw them:

1.  Hohenschwangau Castle, Füssen, Germany

It's a 19th century castle in Bavaria, the childhood home of King Ludwig II,

built by his father, King Maximilian II.

It was fun to see it up close and personal, as well as from far away.

This is what it looked like from the next castle that day, nearby.

2.  Neuschwanstein Castle, Hohenschwangau, Germany

This also is a 19th century castle, commissioned by Ludwig II in honor of Richard Wagner,

the great German composer and conductor of operas.

This is Germany's most popular castle, with 1.3 million people visiting it annually.

It's also supposedly the castle on which Disney's logo is based.

We spent our most time at this castle, walking up to it and even further up the mountain

to the Marienbrücke Bridge to get the views from above.

We were close enough to actually touch it.

Can you imagine living there!

3.  Vaduz Castle, Vaduz, Lichtenstein

Believe it or not, we went to this castle only because it was in Lichtenstein

and we wanted to check off another country on our Bucket List.  HA!

We drove from our home base in Ehrwald, Austria, to the western border into Lichtenstein, 147 km.

See how tiny a country Lichtenstein is, snug as a bug between Switzerland and Austria!

It's a 12th century castle that's now the private residence of the Prince of Lichtenstein.

Absolutely No Entrance!

But we got close enough to see some of the details...

and then from afar, on the side of the mountain.

4.  Eltz Castle, Wierschem, Germany

This is Germany's second most popular castle, which we saw on our way home from Austria.

We first saw it from above and afar, while walking down the pedestrian road to it.

It's a 12th century castle that's been in the same Eltz family for 33 generations!
But why it's there is beyond me.  How/why would anyone want to attack it with no easy outlet?

We actually had time to eat a brat and drink a beer while there, all of 1.25 hours,
and only 37 km out of our way while driving the 860 km home.
A total no-brainer!

Four castles in a week's vacation to celebrate Astrid's 65th birthday!
That's what I'm taking about.

For those of you who wonder, NO, we did not enter any of them:
Neuschwanstein was too expensive, lines too long, and no photos inside,
Hohenschwangau was a side show to the Neuschwanstein,
Vaduz was a private residence, and
Eltz...not enough time, except to eat lunch on the terrace outside.