Update

Hi all,

Had trouble getting online the past few days. Today we moved into the city of Cologne to the Meininger Hostel where surprisingly so for a hostel in the city, is affordable, modern, family oriented, and right in the heart of the city! Our little guest house in the country was a great find. The kids would open their windows to find two horses waiting for them to feed them. They were in heaven and Quintin would not leave me alone, rummaging the place for food to feed the horses. The kids other favorite part of Numbrecht was the adjacent small market with bakery (pictured here; no Kimberly, it is not a bar although they did sell a lot of beer), also owned by the lady who owns the guesthouse. Quintin would wake up bright and early to announce that the store was open ready to spend our money for fresh bread. We would send them to the store to practice their German and to practice using the new currency. We didn't realize until Sunday, that just about a mile down the road was a real medieval castle called Schloss Homburger. It was very exciting to visit and very beautiful; full of artifacts from the medieval era until WWII. The kids had a blast climbing to the tower where we could see miles of stunning views of mountains and trees. Monday, we visited Bonn to see the birthplace of Beethoven! It was truly amazing to explore the house where he grew up and to see it in the middle of a busy shopping area. Will be back to write more!