Shopping at the farm

a few farms in the nearby villages have little stores where they sell farm products. We checked out one of these places that even had a little restaurant and bakery.

The playground there was really only for smaller children

Of course we tried some cake

We took home some fresh apple juice and young wine - Federweisser
There was a nice big dog that looked for someone to throw an apple for him which he then would bring back

Felsenmeer in Lautertal

About 40 km north of Heidelberg at the western edge of the Odenwald is a formation of big granite boulders that called Felsenmeer - literally a sea of rocks. A colleague had mentioned it and since Mia likes to climb on rocks - who doesn't - we thought we should check it out on a Sunday which finally had a bit of sunshine after a week of clouds and rain
From the visitors center one could see a fairly big  number of boulders but it did not really look spectacular

But somehow the stream of big granite boulders went on and one - higher and higher up the mountain. Mia didn't get discouraged and went on climbing

On the maps we could see just how long the way up was. While Mia was climbing we walked the trail along side the rock formation and would meet Mia at the different intersection that were numbered as rescue points

After a few hundred meters of climbing we stopped for a little break

 The Romans already used the area as quarry and many rocks are left were they had started to work on. The most famous is a huge column on top

For the way back down we just walked the trails

Once we were dwn we stooped at the beer garden by the visitors center for some ice cream and young wine

Wurstmarkt Bad Dürkheim

Like last year we made a trip to the Wurstmarkt in Bad Dürkheim - one of the largest fairs in the region and a bit like s small Oktoberfest with lots of beer tent that also serve big glasses of the local wine. Like last year the weather was not so great
Of course Mia didn't try scary rides with a lot of spinning or up and down

But we did the Ferris wheel again

Then there was cotton candy

A marching band from the Netherlands

 Flying frogs

They were launched from the yellow catapult with a rubber hammer and had to hit a cup in the center. Unfortunately Mia's swing with the hammer was not so great and the frogs didn't fly far

The streetcar on the way back had a little table

Hoffenheim

We did a little bike tour in the Kraichagu a hilly area south of the Odenwald and only a 30 minute S-Bahn ride away. The brewery for Dachsenfranz beer we wanted to check out was closed but we rode along a small creek to Hoffenheim. Its just a small village but home of a Bundesliga soccer club that even plays international this year and would have made the UEFA champions league if they wouldn't have lost against Liverpool.
It was amazing how small the village is

The ride was a bit hilly so we stopped for a break

Another famous Visitor

After the British price and princess another famous visitor to Heidelberg this summer was Angela Merkel who was campaigning for her re-election. Mia was passing the central Uni Platz in on her way back from the swimming program in the last week of her summer vacation so she stopped for a look at the German chancellor

The Swedish queen also made a surprise visit to Heidelberg this summer to visit a ship for river cruises that is named after her - she was born in Heidelberg - but we missed her

Daring to jump

Back in Heidelberg we went to a nice playground with great things for balancing and climbing - including a huge rock. Mia met a boy from her school and he talked here into jumping all the way from the top. It looked really scary but it worked

Flying Back

Luckily our flight back was at a decent time around noon and the airport only a 15 minute bus ride away from the hotel. So we enjoy a nice breakfast before heading to the airport.

Mia's three stuffed friends were allowed out of the backpack- but still safely buckeld up of course

So they could also enjoy the view of the island from the window

The hotel was not far from small harbor in the upper part of the picture

Mastichari Bay

A week on the beach was just the right amount of time and it didn't get boring.
One day Mia tried the water aerobics that was offered every day at 11;00 am:

In the evening after looking for fish in the ocean all day she swam a bit in the pool

We also walked to the little town of Mastichari a few time

The beach there was very nice and there were a lit of cats

Every evenibg we enjoyed a great sunset