German Adventures with the Moore Sisters...

Wow! I'm finally finding the time to actually sit down and blog again... It's been a while! :) The past couple of weeks have been quite busy for us (or I should actually say that the past couple of months have been pretty chaotic! :)). I'm honestly in shock when I think about how fast the summer is flying by... Can you believe it's already the middle of July?? It seems like summer just started... Crazy!! We can only hope that the rest of the summer doesn't go by so quickly. :)

Stacy's time in Germany was yet another example of how quickly the time is flying by this summer... I still can't believe that she's already back in the U.S... Her time here went by way too fast! :( However, we managed to have ALOT of fun in the short time that she was here!! We had the opportunity to go to so many different places and to see such a variety of amazing things while she was here... From Munich to Heidelburg to France to Dachau, and everything in between. Needless to say, we definitely kept ourselves busy! :) Plus, we had a great time just being able to spend time together... The two of us have a way of making an adventure out of everything we do, and while she was here, we did just that! :) We enjoyed the fact that we had the opportunity for some long overdue "sister bonding" time... The two of us haven't really been able to spend that much time together since we lived together in Lansing about 5 years ago... Yikes!

During Stacy's stay in Germany, we went to Neuschwanstein Castle, Munich, Freiburg, Strasbourg (France), Heidelburg, Karlsruhe, Speyer, Dachau, and Ravensburg... Not bad for her only being here 8 whole days! :) There was ALOT of driving involved, and there were many times where we were just a little bit slap happy while sitting in the car (remember the marshmallow mice, Stacy? :)), but it was definitely worth it! I would love to be able to fill you in on all of the details of the places we visited, but I'm afraid that might take all day! So, I figured that the best way to share all of the places we visited is through pictures (and believe me, we took enough of those... 453 to be precise! :))... So, on that note, here's a short recap of our adventures in Germany... Enjoy!!

A view of the river in Strasbourg, France... So pretty! :)

Stacy and I pointing out Strasbourg, France on the map... :)

A memorial dedicated to the American Army... This is located in the Cathedral de Notre Dame in Strasbourg, France...

The view of Heidelburg, Germany...

Inside the Heidelburg Castle...

Eva, Stacy, and I at the top of the castle, with the view of Heidelburg in the distance...

Another view of the castle...

Look at the thickness of those walls! :)

Downtown Heidelburg... You can see the castle at the top of the hill...

A little house in downtown Speyer... This is such a cute city... It's over 2,000 years old!!

The Speyer Cathedral... Over 1,000 years old!

Downtown Speyer... We loved the half-timbered houses... Very Bavarian looking! :)

Stacy and Eva advertising the Brezelfest! :)

Standing at the entrance of Brezelfest in Speyer...

This was our first taste of a "Chocolate Kiss"... A German snack that is ABSOLUTELY delicious!! :)

We stopped to check out the Birnau Church...

This was the view from the church at sunset... Gorgeous!

A monument standing at the entrance of Dachau Concentration Camp...

The entrance into the camp...

The sign on the gate as you enter the camp... It says "Work is Freedom"...

In my opinion, this is a very powerful picture... It accurately depicts the horror of the concentration camps...

The main building at the camp... This is where the prisoners would have to report to when entering the camp... It also hosted the prison. The open area in the front is where roll call would be taken in the morning and at night. This was also used as a form of punishment at times... They would keep the prisoners standing out there, in all types of weather conditions, for hours or even days on end. Most of the prisoners wore very thin clothing and oftentimes no shoes.

A guard tower with part of the original fence...

The sleeping rooms... Can you imagine having to sleep here, amongst all of the other prisoners?? So sad... :(

The original fence and barbed wire that still surrounds the perimeter...

The infamous shower room...

A hallway in the prison area of the camp...

The crematorium...

The old crematorium... This one was built when the camp originally opened. The second one was built a few years after the camp opened... When the number of prisoners multiplied.

The path leading up to the Gehrenberg Tower, which provides magnificent views of the surrounding areas! :)

Stacy and I on the top of the Gehrenberg Tower... The view of the Lake Bodensee and the Alps are behind us...