Rubble Hill...

Also known as Birkenkopf- is just a few minutes from our hotel. In WWII, the city of Stuttgart received a great deal of damage from bombings and just Bulldozed everything into a huge pile of debris. Later, it became known as Rubble Hill and has been dedicated as a sort of place of meditation and memorial to the dead.

On Tuesday, our friends Liz and Steve came with us as we hiked to the top of Rubble Hill and had a picnic together.

We saw more and more concentrated piles of debris as we grew closer to the top, until finally we got to the main memeorial section: Since we were hungry, we started things off with the picnic:

You can kind of see how they arranged the rubble into rows where people can sit and ponder the devastations of war. It looks like a place fit for a group devotional or even an outdoor church service.

Of course, with my kiddos there, the rubble was considered mostly to be large-motor equipment. They had a lot of fun climbing and exploring.

Even Tori had to get in on all the climbing action- she looks so proud of herself!

In the center of the area is a huge metal cross- it is so striking admist all the reminders of destruction.

One of Matt's awesome panoramic shots of the view from the hill:

More climbing!

Daddy's Girl!
As we were all exploring the area, Daphne, Steve and their son Zach wandered off where I couldn't see them anymore. I noticed Daphne was missing and we were all running around yelling her name. When we finally came upon them, she said (in a very exasperated tone), "Mom, I'm just over here, sittin' on a rock and lookin' at the world." This is pretty much her expression when she said it: The Family (and some other people on top)! (Notice Daphne's very interesting pose)