November 25, 2022: Monschau was stop number two on our 'Christmas Market' trip! We trained in from Cologen to Aachen and then hopped on an hour bus ride to get to this cute little town tucked away in the hills. We loved our time in Monschau wandering the cobblestone streets through old classic buildings and homes and the nature views. We loved the remoteness of it which made for a nice change of pace from Cologne with the fresh, crisp mountain air.
Hiking up to the ridge was definitely a highlight. Seeing the village and the Christmas market lights from up top made for some good views and as always with the boys, some good stick finding and rock collecting along the way.
Early morning vibes :)
Our bus ride out of Monschau consisted of a full hour with both Luke and Clay alternating throwing up in our garbage sack barf bag on a jam-packed, standing room only bus. There were a few good Samaritans trying to help by giving us their tissues but most people just wanted to get as far away as they could from the stench that came every time we opened the bag for another round of throw-up.
Unfortunately this was only a pre-cursor to the bug that would hit both Alyssa and I the next day on our last day in Cologne. Spent the evening alternating throwing up for hours at a time, emptying our stomachs and then some. But before then, we were able to enjoy the day in Aachen.
Our bodies barely recovered enough the next day for us to go home, change trains at the last minute and sprint up and down flights of stairs with Riley carrying Clay on his back and Luke in his arms and Alyssa with Lucy, the stroller and suitcase. We made the train with 45 seconds to spare that would have been a 2 hour wait if we had missed it. Good times.
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