Day Six : Dresden

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Ines picks a great breakfast spot just a short walk from her flat. I love all the outdoor dining in Germany and the weather has been beautiful! Then a nice drive through the country side where the kids get to see some typical German villages. One of our main destinations today is the Konigstein Fortress. According to their brochure, The Konigstein Fortress is on a surface the size of 13 football fields and it is one of the largest hilltop fortresses in Europe. Embedded into the bizarre, rocky landscape of the Elbe Sandstone Mountains, visible from afar, the fortress is enthroned on a table mountain. High above the River Elbe, the always-unconquerable fort offers stunnig views or Saxon-Bohemian Switzerland, the foothills of eastern Ore Mountains, and Dresden. We spend a good part of the day exploring the fortress and a most unbelievable view! Then a short drive to Bad Shandau for a train ride through the Kinitzschtalbahn Valley on a historic train. Everyone is pretty tired and very hot by now but enjoying the spectacular views in what Alec describes as "a lot like Wisconsin but with shorter trees". The final stop on the train ride is Back at Lictenhain Waterfall, a gorgeous little spot tucked in the woods. On the train ride back to Bad Shandau, we discover the kids passports are back at the bungalow in Chemnitz, where they turned htem over to Ralf and I for "safekeeping"! Yep, the passports are safe, the kids have not escaped Germany over the past week unattended, and we are up for a roadtrip to Chemnitz to retrieve them. So thankful they discovered this before we were att he airport at 5:30am the next morning with no chance to get them in time! On this last night, we decided everyone was tired so we just ordered in for Pizza on the terrace of Ines' flat. Another enjoyable evening and a toast to a most remarkable time together this past week. Memories of a lifetime no question. Love these little buggers so much and so happy to have had the time together to blend our families. Truly blessed!

On a not so blessed note: Jamie and Alec had 27 hours of return travel after every imaginable travel delay. In fact, the only one of their four flights which was not delayed was the first flight when we put them on the plane in Dresden! Yikes! After repeated delays over their 27 hours of travel, they truly knew the meaning of "Home Sweet Home" when they arrived back in Mankato!

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Photos

Konigstein Fortress
Our train to take us up to the fortress

Konigstein Fortress
How I feel some mornings!