Switzerland. In Germany.

About a month ago we went hiking in an area of Franconia coined "Little Switzerland" (the Germans call it "Fränkische Schweiz," or Franconian Switzerland) and Liam loved every minute of it.  Just in case you care, the area gets its name from a few writers and poets back in the 19th century who compared the area's landscape to the beauty of Switzerland.

Travel map of the area from 1912

While that sounds special and fabulous, I've learned that it was common for many areas to be considered "Little Switzerland," so long as the terrain was peppered with mountains, valleys, and exposed rockface.  But as you can see, this area is pretty gosh darn beautiful:

Just your everyday view of the world

At the summit of our 12k-hike

Liam was in great spirits the whole day, pointing out trees, the sun, clouds, sticks, rocks, leaves, sand, dirt... basically anything he could identify by name was shouted at the top of his lungs at some point.  He especially enjoyed the humongoid Great Dane accompanying us hikers.  Liam barked at him several times and loved being able to pet him.

Dog? DOG! arf woof WOOF!

A slight problem developed early on in Liam's relationship with the Great Dane... You may not know this little tidbit, but one of Liam's favorite phrases is "OK."  He uses it to answer questions when appropriate, to ask for things, and to reassure himself in uneasy or questionable moments.

Turns out that "OK" was the release word for the dog. Just perfect.

Liam worked very hard on the hike, can't you tell?

We were able to see one of the 16 castles in the region

One of the unique topographical attributes of this part of Franconia is its extensive collection of caves.  There are 13 named caves accessible to the public; however, there are countless smaller caves and little coves you can stumble upon on a hike.  We explored three cave areas, one of which had an incredibly old stone landing that was used as a fire pit back in the day.

It's difficult to make a fire while actually standing ON the pit, but I'm sure Liam will find a way

Scaling cave walls. Typical experience for a toddler.

A day in the life, folks.  A day in the life.