Aachen Trip

In front of cathedral

We were able to squeeze in our little mini trip to Aachen the last weekend my parents were here.  We went to Aachen to see Charlemagne's cathedral and treasury.  There was a nice tour in English with a good amount of detail about the architecture and explanations for why things were built the way they were.  We saw Charlemagne's throne that you can only see with a guide, but it is uncertain whether or not he ever actually sat on it.  Bobby had a killer diaper right before that, and since he'd already been changed on the floor of the cathedral bathroom due to a lack of changing tables or even a counter near the sinks I opted for a memorable sneaky diaper change during the tour right near the throne.  Another monumental event for Bobby in Europe = diaper change right by throne of Charlemagne.

Looking at the model of the cathedral while waiting on the tour to begin

One section of the exterior

Before the tour we had lunch across the street from the cathedral in the pedestrian square.  While eating we had the pleasure of enjoying a huge (and LOUD) street band perform right next to us.  It was a great show.  The men were funny performers and excellent musicians.

After the tour, my dad and Brian took all the kids except Bobby to the treasury, and I got to spend a little time with my mommy alone (plus Bobby) to shop.  Then we picked up dinner for the kids and headed to the rental/apartment.  The plan was to go out with just my parents to dinner after getting the little ones to sleep, but we ran into a series of unfortunate events.  The first place we went was a brewery that Brian was dying to go to, but it was closed to the public for a wedding reception.  The next place looked fine and a hopping joint, but after ordering our drinks, we tried to ask for a food menu and the manager came over to explain in German plus a few English and French words thrown in that they only serve food if you make a reservation before 6pm.  It was now 9pm.  She sat down and apologized profusely and told us all about her club she runs and the restaurant.  Then after 30 minutes of chatting us up (My brain was really starting to hurt at this point having this long of a conversation in German.) she recommended the restaurant across the street.  We went there only to find they were just shutting down the kitchen and not taking more food orders.  The only place left to go in a reasonable distance was a Friterie which is exactly what the kids ate for dinner.  It is a buffet of fried foods.  You pick it, they fry it up.  Not what we were hoping for, but with growling tummies and no more options it is what we ate,

The place we stayed was actually in Belgium.  It was a really amazing place.  It had a bedroom and bathroom downstairs for my parents and three bedrooms and a loft in the upstairs.  We think it was an old barn refinished, but it was done really nicely with much attention to detail.  the showers were a favorite feature of mine.  They had no curtains or glass, just a three-walled, tiled area with a drain and shower heads.  The kids favorite features were the playground and animals in the backyard.  The loft seemed fun at first, but only Genevieve ended up enjoying it.  I didn't let the boys up there because it was an extremely steep climb up. I didn't even go all the way up.

The weather was superb, so the kids had dinner outside that night when we picked up food on the way home.

Bobby liked the chickens almost as much as he loves ducks.

Bobby really enjoys a good swing!

Genevieve really enjoys a good climb.