Rave Runs

...and walks and hikes and rides. 

I have decided to take my camera with me on some of my runs in the mornings because I come across such great scenery. For instance on Monday I ran down here:

And then I turned the corner and saw this:

 (the bridge in the lower right crosses a large river 

called the "Lech" hence the name of this city "Landsberg am Lech")

I just love the crooked, red rooftops that are slanting in precarious ways. Many of these rooftops were built hundreds of years ago...so charming and intriguing.

A bit later I was here, headed through the wall that encircles the "Altsatdt" or old city. It too is hundreds of years old and protected all the people living inside:

Needless to say, I am thinking of you, all my running friends! Wish you were here to run these beautiful routes with me... but I have found a new running companion:

Olivia's been a super sport and she enjoys it so much, she often goes without me. It has amazed me how confident and brave the children are. They have the city figured out and beg me to let them go in to town by themselves and buy their Brezeln alone. (I haven't been brave enough to allow it--yet.) They have no worries about checking out or communicating with the cashiers. Understanding the language comes quickly to young ones, and Ashton seems to have a special knack for speaking it too.

With Bruce at work now all day, and school still out, the kids and I have been doing a lot of exploring in the thick, abundant forests. We often feel like we are in one of Grimm's fairy tales when we are in the woods. It is no wonder there are so many mystical, magical tales with their roots in this area!

I thought about letting the kids play in the forests, and then I thought twice. One could get seriously lost in these woods. They are known as the black forests, "Schwarzwald", because even in the middle of the day, very little sunlight penetrates the thickness of the trees making it very dark and dense. This is one of the brighter areas.

Here's Ashton wishing he could jump in for a swim...however this is the city's drinking water so no swimming allowed here.

This area is called "Die Teufel's Kueche" or the Devil's Kitchen. Folklore has it that is was a place for witches and elves and small, bearded men to gather and build bon fires, and scare any wary traveler who may have been wandering through. So cool! The water comes straight out of the ground and is very high in calcium and other minerals--hence the blue color. Many fresh springs also run into it. The water is crystal clear and so clean. Boston found an arrow and a silver sword at the bottom of the lake which he is sure were lost during an awesome battle here centuries ago. Imaginations have reached new heights since we've been in this magical land!