Wanderin am Wochenende: Tübingen und Herrenberg

I'm not just shortening "wandering;" "wanderin" is a German word that means to hike or walk.  I always thought it sounded funny when someone in my German class would say one of their hobbies was "wanderin." :)  

It still takes us awhile to get out of the house on the weekends with both kids, but we did get out and go wanderin for a couple hours in two nearby cities this weekend!  We are so lucky that there are beautiful places to explore just 15-30 minutes away from our house!  And lucky, too, that the weather has been mild enough to do so!  Jim read that this has been the 3rd mildest winter in 150 years in Germany.  As our next door neighbor said, "It is very strange to have a year with no winter."  We'll take it, though!  It is so nice not to worry about navigating around in the snow.

On Saturday, we went to Tübingen, an old medieval town (that is now home to a university) on a river.  We have been here a few times before, but never on a Saturday.  It was so nice to be able to browse in some shops!  (All stores are closed on Sundays in Germany.)  Most of the shops were book and card shops--my favorite!

(Click on photos to enlarge.)

Drew likes to go looking for pigeons to chase.

How do we keep a 3 year old happy while walking the cobblestoned streets for hours?  We promise him a gelato!  Best Euro we spent all day.  Yes, 1 Euro!  (Why is ice cream so much more expensive in America?)

On Sunday, we went to Herrenberg.  We had never been there so we had no idea what to expect.  Luckily we brought the Baby Bjorn with us because it is a very hilly town!  

Ever vigilant with this fearless child

Here we are at the foot of the church.  Drew wanted his photo taken.

We ended up climbing a pretty steep hill to get to the ruins of a castle tower--and saw a marvelous view of the city.  As Drew said, "this is amazing!"  

Can you spot William?

Remember the pic of Drew next to the church?  Look how much higher we are now!

There was a cafe just a short flight of stairs down from where we were in the photo above.  The photo I took does not do it justice.  It was a gorgeous, sunny day and the view was spectacular.  We would have loved to get a drink and sit for a bit but the tables were all full.  I bet they don't turn over much on a day like that!

We climbed down a pretty steep set of stairs to get back to the city center.  I tricked Drew into holding my hand by telling him that I was afraid I might fall and needed him to help Mommy stay safe. :)

A reward for kids at the bottom of the stairs: a spielplatz!

Drew was in a posing mood!

Another gelato--yum!

Drew was skipping through the plaza.  I think it's really neat that this is his "normal" as a kid living in Europe.

What a great outing!