I've been mighty lazy about blogging lately, and it's been really wonderful to have David taking over a bit! But now it's time for me to stop procrastinating and catch up a little too. We haven't done a lot of traveling in the last week, since it has been gray and rainy most of the time. But it has been a whole lot warmer (highs in the 50s!), which makes daily life more pleasant.
Sunday 1/13: Monschau and Maria Laach
We did have one sunny day a week ago Sunday, so we made a day trip west to Monschau. This is a quaint hillside village about an hour and a half away that our landlord has been insisting we visit ever since we got here. It was indeed very nice, located in the scenic Eifel National Forest and with lots of half-timbered houses overlooking a mountain river.
The downside is that its mountainside spot and narrow streets meant that much of it was actually in the shade, despite the nice weather. And it was very cold, with lots of frost on the ground in the shady spots. But we had a nice time wandering across bridges and hiking up to a ruin above the town. Here are a few highlights:
