Staying in Horst, Limburg & Eifel Mountains of Germany
Ten days into our trip we moved from Han’s younger brother Jos to older brother Eef and his wife Marlies who live in the quaint village of Horst about 50 miles to the north. Just driving through the country sides you quickly realize that there is so much more to the Netherlands than just Amsterdam. Every city, town and village has its own wondrous attractions, pedestrian friendly town centers with tons of small stores, markets, cozy pubs and restaurants and friendly people.
When we arrived in Horst we unpacked the car and went to see Eef in the hospital from where he was released a couple of days later. He is doing much better.
Their home, close to the center of the village, is so comfortable and welcoming. A five minute, easy walk takes us to shopping, have coffee at our favorite restaurant and get groceries. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Horst,_Limburg 
If you are ever in the area, don’t forget to drink from the dog statue water fountain. Water comes out of his nether region and the verse on the statue explains in a local dialect that if you ever visit the town to make sure you catch a drink at the fountain. Kind of like the world famous “Manneken Pis” in Brussels. The kids were having a great time.
Their youngest daughter Monique and sweet family live just across the street. She was there when we arrived and it was my first time meeting her. It was so relaxed and enjoyable, like we had known each other for years. She also offered her time to dye my hair. Much to my dismay, I dyed it a dark auburn. I have been a blonde longer than I can remember. It has since grown on me.
The other most impressive notable thing was, when my sister-in-law “Marlies” found out we were to visit again, she downloaded an English app on her phone and began to teach herself so we could communicate better. I found that to be most endearing and touched my heart. She learned so much in just two months, and I am helping her tweak it.
Contrary to our visit three years ago, this visit is more about spending time with family, meeting more family members, catching up with friends and eating delicious food……an overabundance of food might I add. It was Christmas after all and indulgence is key, or so it seems. I personally crave Dutch food and Marlies’s home cooking was beyond me to resist.
During these almost two weeks of staying in Horst, we took a day trip to visit a dear friend who is Dutch, however I met her in Fernandina Beach, FL where she lived for a bit. She has since moved to Breda Netherlands, another beautiful old city in the province of Brabant. I wish we had had more time to explore it. All three of us throughly enjoyed hanging out, eating, walking the streets, shopping, Christmas decorations and seeing lovely art pieces everywhere you turned.
And for those who know I’m a huge Elvis fan, I found something very interesting on a random street corner here; a plaque to memorize that Elvis’s manager Colonel Tom Parker was born here in Breda in 1909.
At the end of the first week Han and I decided to take a three night trip to the Eifel Mountains in nearby Germany. We stayed in Hotel Friedrichs in Gemünd Germany. We had a lovely view from our room, staff is friendly, breakfast buffet was sufficient to get your energy going and everything was extremely clean. The only small inconvenience were the church bells across the river. Not a sweet melody like on Beaver Island, but just a lot of LOUD clanging that became overly intrusive. https://www.hotel-friedrichs.de/?lang=en
We took the day of arrival to walk the small village and become acquainted. It is a sleepy little town, quiet and charming. We ate at a few restaurants while we were there, and one of them twice, called Istanbul Döner. The staff is very welcoming, speaks English and their food is delectable. https://www.imbiss-istanbul.de/speisekarte/
Han used to vacation in this low mountain area with his family when he was a child, and wanted to share some of the experiences with me. The surrounding towns and villages are magical, in easy driving distance, and truly enchanting.
Of course the Christmas Markets were in full swing, with the villages exceeding maximum people capacity, which made seeing the smaller details of medieval and renaissance architecture and history a bit more challenging.
We went to the village of Monschau first, as their Christmas Market is the most famous one. It was so busy that the police had the village closed down at the outskirts. They were busing in people faster than they left. We luckily found a parking space along a river bank, but had to walk about two miles to get into the village and it was a COLD walk.
The live Christmas music by performers were fun to watch and I tried to relish in the medieval castle and atmosphere, but with wall to wall people blocking many views, it was a bit distracting. I would love to re-visit during a less busy time of year. https://en.wikivoyage.org/wiki/Monschau
We did not stay long and as we were making the two mile uphill hike back to the car…it began a very misty rain. We were both looking forward to retreating to our hotel room, however it was approximately 30 minutes away by car, in the dark, with rain, on winding mountainous skinny roads and German drivers. (German drivers! Enough said.) Yep, we both were damn relieved to arrive safely back at the hotel.
On day three we were off to another village called Bad Münstereifel. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bad_Münstereifel Mind you by this time, I who love Christmas dearly, had about my fill of Christmas markets and decor. I guess you can get burnt out on anything if you have too much of it. LOL – I learned quickly however that this market and village was SO much more relaxed than the previous ones. It turned out to be a true pleasure. Purchased more items because I have to fill the suitcase we bought at a thrift shop just for that reason. (kinda a joke, but not really) I wanted to get all the Christmas gifts for friends and family while in Europe. I am succeeding swiftly.
The best surprise of the day came when we sat down for our daily dose of espresso. There was a gentleman nestled on the terrace as a regular. When he heard us speaking English, he immediately invited us to join him and offered to pay for our espresso. He had lived in the area his whole life, was well known and he proceeded to ask us about a bazillion questions about America, or so it seemed. We sat and talked for quite awhile, until I was getting restless to continue on. He was very nice and informative, but the streets were calling me.
Another notable event was when we saw four local men playing Christmas melodies on Alphorns. Experiencing that was worth the trip itself. If you enjoy hiking, the Eifel Mountains are famous for miles and miles of trails, nature and rivers. My advice though is take your compass or leave a trail of breadcrumbs. LOL. On Christmas Eve we headed back to Eef and Marlies and the family.
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