A day with friends

In the morning we showed our friends the new Bahnstadt development with a lot of nice playgrounds# - even fun for adults

 The of course a walk along Philosopher's Way with its famous views of the Old Town

A short trip up the river Neckar to Neuburg Abbey

In the evening we attended an Easter mass together

A visit by friends

After their stay in Aachen our friends got on a train which took them along the Rhine river to Heidelberg. - of course the train was delayed We picked them at the Main Station and Luca and Nico first stpped at the model train set up there.

After a cup of coffee at our place we checked in Dan and Sylvia at a nearby hotel

The next morning we first went to see the Campbell barracks where Dan lived for four years as a child when his father was stationed in the army thre. He had ttended the American elementary school there for five years and the building is still intact and uses as a school - now for a vocational school.
After seeig the building we checked out a new playground nearby

After a tour of Dan's old neighborhood we went to see the old town. Unfortunately it started to rain pretty hard and we had to spend some time at a cafe to wait out the worst of this

 
After this we headed up to the castle

At home we had some nice dinner and the played a game together

Three Country Point and Eupen

After saying Good bye to Dan we first stooped at the three country point where Germany, Belgium and the Netherlands meet. we were lucky because it has rained all morning and only stopped when we arrived at the parking lot

The border lines are marked on the ground by a metal band: Germany on the right, Belgium in the front and Belgium is in the left back corner:

The three flags with the EU one

After this stop we headed to Belgium. Eupen is not far from the border and the home of the German speaking minority in Belgium

The parking lot is named "On the Dog"

A beautiful sunset on the drive back to Heidelberg

Chocolate Factory Store and Maastricht

Of course we stopped by at the Lindt factory store - like during our last trip to Aachen. In the week before Easter - an especially busy week in the chocolate industry - they even had extended opening hours.

Even the police has to stock up on sweets

Guarding the shopping basket

Always time for a selfie

What we bought

Across the street was a cookie factory store

Of course we bought something there as well

The afternoon we spend in Maastrich t - the Dutch town is only a 30 minute drive from Aachen

Ice cream on a nice squre

A former church turned into a book store

 The city is full of nice stores

Before we left a quick stop at a supermarket

A freshly squeezed orange juice for the trip back