Kloster Kreuzberg: Take Two ...

On Friday we dropped Eli off at the daycare on-post, and decided to make the short drive out to Kloster-Kreuzberg - a mountaintop monastery/brewery. We had previously tried to visit this place during the winter, but it was way too cold and crowded. Our second attempt was much better ... perfect weather, and we had the whole mountaintop to ourselves.

The views on the drive were amazing ...

Huge, creepy statue at the base of the mountain ... 

View from halfway up ...

We made it!

Three crosses on top of the mountain ... equally as creepy as the giant statue ... 

Another view from the top ...

Checking out the little shops ... I think Vic needs to go back and purchase this hat ...

Inside the church, which is connected to the brewery ... 

The beer used to be brewed by the monks who live here until 1992. It is still brewed at this location, but by a second-party, but still under the supervision of the monks. I was really hoping to see a monk, but we only spotted a little, old nun ... I'll take what I can get. Apparently, the beer was voted 'Best in the World' by Playboy years ago ... ehhhhh, I wouldn't go that far, but it was pretty good! Better than the beer was the roasted pork with potato dumplings and cabbage. Oh. My. God. Amazing.

They also breed Saint Bernards here, and these little pups were the cutest!

We spent Monday at the pool, and Eli finally got to test out his new raft (a great gift from Poppy and Reagan) ... he LOVED it!! He was a big hit among the Germans; who were amazed at how relaxed he was in the water. Hopefully we have a few more nice weekends before summer is over ... 

We also got a chance to check out our first German soccer game. It was a very interesting experience, as we were probably the only Americans there, but we had a great time. The Germans love their soccer!