Don't Question the GPS

GPS: In 200 meters board ferry....
Todd: Did that just tell us to board a ferry?
Nicole: Ummmm, I think so.
Hailee: I don't see a "fairy" Where is the fairy? Is the GPS crazy...?

On our first real trip here in Germany, our Garmin GPS took us through several farming villages to Neuschwanstein.  The drive took quite a bit longer than it would have on major roads but was just the experience we were hoping for.  It was then we decided that since adventure is what we're out for, we'd just trust the GPS no matter how odd the instructions.

So when the GPS told us to board a ferry on our way home rather than heading back to Heidelberg we decided "why not?"

Here we are on the ferry crossing the Neckar river just below Hirschhorn Castle.

Swans on the Neckar river.

Once again the GPS took us on back roads for several kilometers.

Who needs the autobahn when you've got this?

Castle

Just down the hill from Brombach we explored the ruins of Hirschhorn Castle.  The castle would have had some prominence in the lives of our Layer family.  The first Layer we have on record in 1640 also happened to be the only Layer recorded anywhere in the area.  Our Layer relatives here believe he may have been the only Layer to survive the Thirty Years War.  I wonder if he sheltered in this castle?

The Knights who controlled the Hirschhorn (Deer Horn) Castle were on the Protestant side of the Thirty Years War and directly opposed the Holy Roman Emperor.  The same was true of Heidelberg.  This region was one of the areas with the most intense fighting and 3/4ths of the inhabitants were killed in the conflict.

The castle overlooks the Neckar river.  This area was known as the Pearl of the Neckar.

Hailee and James loved their afternoon in Brombach.

Finding Our Roots

After getting locked in the parking garage for 30 minutes, we finally got on the road. Following directions from our random store keeper we went east along the north side of the Neckar River. It took all of five minutes to decide that the drive alone was worth it. We traded the crowed tourism of Heidelberg for a string of quaint little towns that grew more peaceful as we went. In a matter of 10 minutes we seemed to have the valley to ourselves. 

About 20 minutes into the drive we saw Hirshhorn Castle perched on a hilltop. It was here that we found the turn to Brombach. It is the type of road that you don't notice unless you're looking for it. Barely wide enough for two cars, it wandered straight into a thick forest. That's when I got the feeling we'd found it.

 

 World War II casualties of Brombach.

Our first discovery was the Brombach church and it's plaque of soldiers who perished in WWI and WWII.  The Layer family had five casualties in WWI but only two casualties in WWII.  After discovering that the church was locked and empty we set off to find someone who could help us.

As luck would have it, we immediately ran into a mom who explained that nearly everyone in Brombach was either a Layer or descended from one.  She directed us to a Mr. Layer who managed the church and lived at the top of an overlooking hill.  After thanking her, we left for the house in hopes of more information.

Our luck continued as we were met at the home by a grandmother who spoke a little English and her son who spoke very well. They provided directions to the local cemetery and then invited us back for coffee after we'd had a look around.

The cemetery only dated to the late 1800's.  We learned later that it had been relocated from the church yard and that old headstones are removed after 40 years to allow new ones.

After some time at the cemetery, we went in search of a better view of the valley.  We discovered this vantage point from which we could see most of the village.

After some time enjoying the spring weather we headed back down for refreshments with the Layer family.  We were pleased to meet their grandfather who had been keeping family history as a hobby for several years.  After some time getting to know each other he brought out his genealogy of the town which we compared with our records.

To our delight we found we were related on both his grandfather and grandmothers side.  He corrected a few minor errors in our genealogy and was able to provide two new names which now take our family back to Switzerland.  Who knew?

It was about then that we learned that we've also been pronouncing our name wrong.  We're not Layers it turns out, we're Liars (as pronounced in German.)  My poor wife.  Now she's married to a cheating pig (Cunningham Ham) and a liar (Layer).

Before leaving we took a picture with our Layer cousins.  We'll be looking to keep in touch with them.

It's hard to describe what is feels like to discover your roots.  There are few days in my life that I can compare with it.  There was something magical about discovering this little village of 400 people. It was new and different and yet so familiar and warm.  It felt like home.

Heidelberg - day two

Once James was dressed he got in his stroller and buckled himself in and informed us he was ready to go. He was so excited to head outside again.

 We didn't need to be out of our hotel until 11:00 am so we decided that we would take a walk down by the river. We were too tired to do it the day before. I am so glad we waited. Everyone must have been up late because we almost had the pathway to ourselves, it was lovely. The weather was absolutely perfect, it was nice and quiet and we heard birds chirping the whole way.

Wouldn't it be nice to have one of those homes right on the river with a view of the castle? Heidelberg really lived up to everything I had heard about it. It was beautiful...a little overrun with tourists, but beautiful just the same.

Heidelberg

Unfortunately Intel is not paying Todd to see the sights of Germany. They are in fact paying him to work and we are just extremely lucky (in fact it's the first time Intel has done something like this) to get to come with him. Since work comes before sightseeing, this weekend was looking like it might have to be spent working. It is end of the quarter, which is always a busy time, but for this newly purchased piece of Intel, it is their first quarter close with Intel. As you can imagine there are lots and lots of things that have to be worked through.

After working a lot of late nights (not getting home until after 10 p.m.) on Friday evening he came home giving us the good news. He wouldn't have to work on Saturday. So the question was: "Could we get away for the weekend?"  We have been wanting to go to Heidelberg. Todd's mom's side of the family is from Germany and the records go back to 1641 with all of the Layers going back to Brombach, Heidelberg. We could never find Brombach on a map near Heidelberg, so we figured that Brombach must have been some kind of suburb/neighborhood of Heidelberg, and decided that Heidelburg would be a good place to start.

We decided all of this on Friday night at 11:00 pm. All the hotels were closed by this point so we got up early Saturday, started packing, and when the hotels opened found one we could stay in that night. All that was left was to wake up the kids, feed them breakfast and hop in the car. It was quite a last minute adventure.

We got into our hotel and decided to start checking out the city. The city was absolutely packed with people. We saw signs advertising some kind of "spring" something for that day. It was crazy how many people were out and about. We walked up the main square and headed up to the castle.

 This picture really does not do justice to the hike we had to the top. The kids did awesome and James had a great time climbing all the way to the top. (He was grateful for the stroller by the time it was time to go down.) We were not very prepared for the summer-like weather we found in Heidelberg. I was glad that Todd had heard that it was warmer in this part of Germany so we brought shorts for James and skirts for Hailee.

Castles seriously have the best views.It was totally worth the hike to the top.

After checking out the castle, we decided to ask someone if they knew the Brombach area of Heidelberg. There was little gift shop at the top of the castle. Hailee really wanted to check out the bears that said "I love Germany." Todd went in with her and asked the guy, who wasn't from Germany, if he knew where Brombach was. He told Todd that he thought it was actually a little town about 30 kilometers on the other side of the Neckar river from where the castle was. With his directions we were able to go home and find it on a map. We still had no idea if this was the right Brombach, but we plugged it into our GPS and decided to check it out on Sunday. 

 We continued exploring and then went back to our hotel to rest. It had been a long week for Todd and a long day for the kids. Everyone was ready for an early bedtime to rest up for our next adventure.

What a better way to celebrate the top of the climb than with a yummy ice cream cone? James was in heaven and covered in ice cream by the time he was done.

That kind of a day...

The kind that leaves your kids so exhausted that they put themselves down for a nap.

I had a few errands to run in Munich today and Hailee really wanted to go see the Treasury with the audio tour (she thought the Residence was pretty cool with the audio tour.)

Since James has turned two, he has decided that he is way to big for his stroller. He has since decided to walk by himself when we run errands. To this point he has been really good and walked holding my hand. Today when I was getting ready to go to Munich he again insisted that he could walk by himself. One of the places I was going wasn't really stroller friendly so I decided that we might be able to do it.

He walked the whole way to the train station and did really well the whole day. At the end of our trip he started getting a little tired. The last thing we did was go to the Treasury in the Residence Museum and by the end he was so tired. At one point he even laid down in front of me and pretended to snore. We quickly finished our tour and with the promise of ice cream we made it back to the main square. We enjoyed some ice cream and then headed down to our train.

The hardest part of the day for James was waiting for our train. There are quite a few S-bahn trains that go through this station so we had to watch 4 or 5 trains pass without getting on. The first two he handled quite well. Every time one would pull up he would say "Thomas" and I would say "Nope, this is a S-2." By the end he was sure his mom had gone crazy and was never going to let him have any fun riding a train. After an agonizing 9 minute wait for our train we finally got to ride the train home.

He then walked the 10 minute walk (or 20 minutes at James' pace) home. After a quick snack, I was chatting on the phone and noticed him fast asleep on the couch. He was exhausted. He slept almost 3 hours and when it was time to go to the grocery store he didn't even complain about getting in the stroller. What a funny guy.