On to Deutschland..

We've been away almost a month now and have arrived in country number three (or four if you count our brief stop in Belgium for waffles and chocolate!)  We are staying in Losheim am See, about 30km out of Trier which I chose mostly because I found some stunning photos on Pintrest and wondered where they were from ;)  

Trier is Germany's oldest city with churches, baths and even a bridge that date back to Roman times.  Unfortunately the day we visited Trier was overcast and not that warm compared to what we've used to, but it did mean we were able to walk all day without feeling too hot and gross!

Google maps was the best help for planning our kid-friendly (haha) walking tour of the city.  We started at the Porta Nigra, explored the market and surrounding shops and then spent some time at the playground at the Palace Gardens which broke the day up quite well.  Barbara Thermen (free entry!) was a good find too as it had a number of information boards along its walkway with pictures and explanations of what was where as well as simplified information for kids that Callum and Daniel were able to follow too.

Porta Nigra, Trier

Barbarathermen

Pretzels at the Hauptmarkt in Trier

Day two we drove along the Mosel River past hundreds of the steepest vineyards we've ever seen.  The photos we managed to take really don't do them justice either.  Luckily, it was back to sunshine and no wind so it was a really enjoyable day.  The boys were very impressed by the vineyards and their very steep lifts which we guessed were used to take workers up amongst the vines and to transport grapes.

Bremm

Stunning day exploring the villages along the Mosel

For our final day of sightseeing we decided to tick off another country (number 5!) and visit Luxembourg for the day.  This might have been a better idea if we hadn't done it on a Sunday and after two quite full on days of sightseeing.  The boys had definitely had better days out and about ;) and in the end we called it quits around 2pm and came back to Losheim.  Luxembourg was beautiful and very interesting, but pretty hard going for the boys walking as much as we did.  There wasn't much open since it was Sunday, so we also struggled to find something for lunch and ended up getting the kids takeaway wraps and fries.  Lunch and watching Jack dancing to the band in the Place d'Armes was pretty fun though.

Beautiful views everywhere in Luxembourg