Hohentwiel: Singen, Germany

Aug 11

N found an site that was on our way and we were happy to stop and see it! It is a castle/fortress built on top of an ancient volcano. This place was a major hike to get up to, and it was huge. HUGE.

*Just now looking it up-- they are the largest castle ruins in Germany. I believe it. 

Troopers. :)

 Later pictures are from the top of that top tower!

 See the fireplaces from what once was the different levels? 

 Don't worry-- as with most German ruins, the place would be banished behind plexiglass for the American public due to the lack of safety measures, but the wells ARE covered. 

 The walls from the cliffs aren't: 

 The view of the bottom.... about eight stories down.

I *love* playing with light in my pictures. 

See that lump at the bottom of that strange/random window booth?

 It's Tamar's head. Weird place for a window bench, yes? I'm going to guess that there used to be a floor where Tamar's hand is. 

 *love* shadows and stairs. 

In the chimney. I asked if she found any ancient notes/treasure maps in there... no dice.  

 Can you see that funny little hook hanging from the hole in the ceiling? 

 View of the lower part of the castle.

 Taking a peek over the edge...

 And wising up. Yikes. We were HIGH UP.

 Preparing to march back down the mountain.

It's beautiful. I'd definitely visit this one again! 

Zurich Zoo

Aug 10

Fortunately, Tamar is a very realistic tourist while traveling with children. As much as I would love to just sight see beautiful old churches, museums, landmarks, etc... it's just not going to work with the littles to do that all day! We decided to take a leg-stretcher at the nearby zoo. It was pretty impressive and had a pretty impressive aquarium feature too. We were all entertained! 

Tamar pointing out..

... the cool seal. 

 Nemo. I always find it a little ironic how much these fish are a staple in aquariums in contrast to the message of Finding Nemo. 

I like this ugly fish's glitter sides.  

My favorite part of the zoo.. emperor penguins! SO COOL. 

The elephants were shocking with how huge they were!... and then with their *ahem* frisky behavior. *ahem*. 

Zurich

August 10

Zurich is the cleanest city I remember ever visiting. ALL of the cities fountains are safe for drinking! ... that isn't to say that they taste great, but still!

 One of the canals that runs through town. I couldn't believe how clear it the water was!

Tamar and I loved this front porch. :) 

 And this roof. :)

 The cathedral there. T, C and A listening reverently to ... the dude throwing away old flower arrangements. 

I'll expose my ignorance here, but apparently this city had something to do with Winston Churchill...but I had no idea what until literally 10 seconds ago when I googled it (*love* google!)... he gave a famous speech on the topic of the tragedy in Europe, apparently at the building near that plaque above. Brilliant. 

Goofball, himself! 

I loved the detail on these doors. This church was fascinating. It had elaborate and extremely varied stain glass windows. It also had a massive statue of Charlemagne. I think this was a "no pictures inside" place. Boo. I hate those places!

 Snack break.

 Coolin' off the tootsies. 

When we went down to let W cool off his feet (he got a huge blister on his feet), a Swan swum up quite close to us. The only remotely bird-friendly snacks I had with us were Teddy Grahams. Let the record show, Swans love Teddy Grahams... the cinnamon variety, I can't vouch for the Honey flavor! ;) They devoured the whole pack ... between all 7 swans and various ducks that came over. Very cool to see the swans so close up!

Hi, to get to our hotel, drive your gondola right up to our own private little pier. 

I wish. So. Awesome. 

Schaffhausen Rheinfalls

Aug 9

On Tamar's last visit out to Europe, we spent a lot of time in France so this time we decide to see what Switzerland had to offer us (for my first visit there too!). Our first stop was to "Europe's largest waterfall". I have no idea how they gauge these sort of things... how much water goes through it? Must be... since it's obviously not height based. It was pretty, but the falls I've seen in the States have tainted my "BIG waterfall" standards. 

All three-- stuck to me like glue. Yup looks about right. :)

Busy boy trying to escape his leash... mwaa ha haaa!

Side note on Andrew... in general conversation he drops nearly all of his consonants... but he says "waterfall" almost perfectly, minus the L sound. Tamar was called "MameR". It's hilarious to me that a child who can't say his hard C or T sound has mastered his R. For the record, Cameron is: Mah-Men, and William is: Yih-Yum. 

Andrew pointed to this bridge and called it a Rainbow. ;)

Tamar, the mighty, pushing the stroller up a very steep road!

It was such a kick to be here.. I just kept thinking of a Swiss Army Knife though... and wasn't peaceful until I bought one. :) It's so cute! Designed with edelweiss all over it. I'm such a nerd. :)

Tamar knows how to have a good time in Switzerland! Oh yes... we're well-cultured in our playground equipment. 

All three boys in one frame. Success! 

*wink*

Always a ham!

Europe, your doors are 100x cooler than any I've seen in the states. Seriously.. have you ever seen doors like this? Amazing. Wonder how the HoCo HOA would feel about me changing my door to something like this.... 

Waiting for dinner... :) 

I'm sure that castle was beautiful.. but we didn't risk it with car-cabin fever ridden children. It was beautiful to look at, in any case. The tower on the far right was actually an elevator!