belgium and getting really lost

So we were on our way to monschau through Belgium. And we get to a direction on the mapquest printout that said, “Turn Right.” I think that’s where everything went wrong. The next four directions said, “Turn left. Turn Right. Turn Right. Turn left.” We are now almost back to where we got off the autobahn, an hour ago. I tossed the mapquest directions in the back and grabbed the REAL map and navigated us through malmedy, elsenborn and some small abandoned town until we got to Monschau. It only took 2 and a half hours for a trip that should’ve taken an hour. We were ok with it though because we stumbled upon some very interesting towns that had hedges as tall as the houses they were in front of, and a whole town that had not one person in sight. Once we drove down into the narrow valley that looked only wide enough for the river running through it, we parked the car at the handworkers market near the river and walked down further into Monschau. You would never even know it was there if you didn’t trust the people walking in front of you to lead you to this quaint little village. The buildings were stacked, leaning against each other for support as to not fall into the river rushing below them. What a beautiful town and it was so cool how hidden it was from the rest of the world. Mary and I took some pictures and headed back up to the car after making a few small purchases!! It took us about an hour and a half to get back to bitburg, of course we got lost again after being SO confident that we knew our way. Directly to mark's house (a fellow teacher of Mary's) to pick up a bike that I ended up riding home through the farm fields and the town. Its been way too long since I've ridden. It was an awesome day and I can't wait for another one tomorrow!!

-lyndsey