Schwäbisch Hall

Saturday morning we thought that some friends had gone to the city of Schwäbisch Hall which is a small medieval city with well-preserved old town about 120 km east of Heidelberg. Ji always wanted to go and as it turned out there is a convenient train connection and with a special weekend ticket we decided to go on short notice.
When we arrived it turned out that our friends actually didn't go since their daughter had a cough but at least we found a nice place for lunch. A really great beer garden on a small island n the river Kocher

They sold good food and refreshing local beer..

.. and Fanta for Mia

The island offered a nice view of the city

There was also a playground

Before walking into the old town we had to take a few more pictures

Then it was time for ice cream

Mia sees sculptures mainly as a climbing opportunity

The main church St Michael'sits on a hill

A cherry tree in bloom

Afternoon at the Zoo

We have a one year family ticket for the zoo so on a nice sunny day it's always a good option to go to.
There are nice playgrounds, the animals of course and some educational exhibition about farm animals.

Mia had leaned about Europa and the bull when they covered ancient Greek gods at school.
Later she spotted a goat that had escaped from it's pen to a lawn next to it with fresh grass

With the help of two 1 Euro servings of goat food from a vending machine and a few other children she managed to lure the goat back to the pen.

Trier

On the way back from Aachen we took a little detour to stop in the city of Trier - the oldest town in Germany that was founded by the Romans 16 BC at the river Mosel. At one point it was the residence of an Roman emperor and had a bishop since 300 AD.
One of the landmarks is the Roman city gate - the Porta Nigra that was built in 170 AD as part of the city wall

The town center has many old corners - like this old gate to he Jewish quarter

The main market

The cathedral

In front of the cathedral is the granite column that was once part of a Roman building. Its from a quarry in Lautertal  in the Odenwald were we had been last September and where a similar column can still be found. Now it was a good climbing spot for Mia and other children who were not terrible interested in the church

The next stop was a short walk away

The Basilca of Constantine that was built by Roman emperor Constantine in 310 AD as part of a palace

It is now used a Lutheran church

A baroque castle was built next to it

Trier is also the birthplace of KArl Max who has hi 200"th birthday this year and is honred with a special exhibition

Three Country Point and Maastricht

At the western city limits of Aachen is the point where the three countries Germany, the Netherlands and Belgium meet. Its also the highest point of the Netherlands at 624 m above sea level  and bit of a tourist attraction with a viewing tower, restaurants and a maze.

Mia was more interested in the highest playground of the Netherlands

Of course we had to take the opportunity to tale a picture with everyone in a different country - Germany in the back, the Netherlands on the left and Belgium on the right.

It is also possible to take a picture with one person in three countries at the same time. So here one with Mia's right foot in Germany, the left one in the Netherlands and her left arm in Belgium

Mia was not too impressed by all this but the she spotted a small leaflet that announced an ester egg hunt organized by the Aachen mountain bike club at their training course nearby 

Less children than expected had turned up - maybe because the weather was not so great

So there was quite a lot for her to find

At one point Mia slipped and hurt her arm a bit but other children gave her extra chocolate eggs to comfort her. Then she wanted to check out the maze on the Dutch side

Some water fountains that blocked the way and only stopped and allowed passage for a few seconds provided excitement

 The route was not too easy and it took more than 30 minuted to find the way out

After our stop at the three country point we drove 30 minutes to Maastricht a Dutch city on the river Maas 30 minutes away.

We didn't spent too much time but the former cultural capitol of Europe seems pretty charming