Celtic Hiking

Today was a German holiday so there was no school and David had off from work. The sun was shining this morning so we rounded up the kids and headed out. Last weekend we found out that there is a ancient Celtic settlement in the hills above Cody's school. Turns out that after more than 2000 years there isn't much left of the settlement. Even the most visible signs are easily missed if you don't know what you are looking at. See that long remarkably straight rise behind Grayson, on the left side of the picture? That is really the remains of the town wall.

Good thing there are signs in that help you identify the visible remains.

It is a bit awe inspiring to realize that you are standing in what was a city before even the time of Christ and all that is left is a few almost unrecognizable walls in the middle of a forest.

At one time I was fascinated by archeology and thought I might become an archeologist when I grew up but somehow that didn't happen. Today I remembered that dream. I would love to have the knowledge to be able to look at an ancient site and read the clues to the past. Even though I had to rely on the signs to understand what I was seeing I had a fabulous time.

As we followed the trail signs through the woods we happened upon lots of lovely surprises, a patch of moss, a tiny mushroom or an unexpected purple flower. The kids made it something of a game to spot something new and different. This was good because it kept them running ahead on the path and cut WAY down on the whining. At one point someone (I forget who) spotted a bench on a steep slope above the path. We thought it was a weird place for a bench but a good place for lunch since the bench was in a puddle of sunlight, we could defrost a bit while we ate (I know the cold thing again, sorry! That's it for today's whining, promise!) David used a near by stump to prepare our lunch. He is such a good hubby! No the camera isn't tilted the slope was really that steep.

It wasn't until I had my sandwich and sat down to eat it that I realized why there was a bench in such a weird spot. From the bench we had a perfect view of Frankfurt. OK not a perfect view, it was a bit hazy today, but you see the tower? Look closely. You might need to click on the picture to blow it up. That's the same tower that I see out my living room window. We thought it was cool we see home from the hike.
I will leave you with a picture of the path we followed. It was incredibly beautiful and peaceful everywhere we looked.