Luebeck

I took the kids to Luebeck on Saturday. The ancient capital of the Hanseatic League. I had promised to take M to a giant craft store that was there. It is their first time to the old city; they had only stopped to change trains in the hauptbahnhof before. We entered through the Holstein Gate (castle!) and saw the entrance to the museum, but planed to return there later. We got some snacks at a cafe then visited Nedriggers marzipan wonderland. It started raining so we ducked inside and walked around in some old cathedrals. In one there was a roped off section where the giant bells had fallen and crushed the floor in. The force had crumpled and broken the thick metal of the bells. It was impressive. We found a few other places to file away for future activities (climbing a cathedral tower and a paint-it-yourself ceramic shop). In several places there were small covered alleyways that lead into hidden courtyards. The kids made a lot of fun exploring and running through them. We made it to the craft store and the kids were in heaven! We must have spent hours there wondering around looking at beads and model kits and paint and yarn and ... We all got some supplies then went for ice cream at a shop nearby. It was indoors and there was also a two story slide nearby that the kids played on for a while. We wandered some small side streets on the way back to the station and it started drizzling again. I fell asleep in the train on the way back (a combination of the kids exhausting me and too much activity and lack of sleep for several days). Thankfully they woke me up before our stop so we got off in the right place. They correctly recognized it! I think they could have made the trip on their own now that they have seen me buy tickets and everything.