On our last school holiday we visited our first castle, Burg Eltz. The day was beautiful and misty, what I would call a nearly perfect autumn afternon.
We hiked down by way of the paved road but the first view was a little disappointing, since half the castle seemed to be covered by scaffolding. In truth, the tour was nearly half under construction, which was a bummer, but not as big a bummer as not being able to take a tour in english--even though Rick Steves says you can just ask when the next one is.
We had lunch at the little place next to the castle. At the end of dinner an old couple came down the stairs and asked us something in German. I told them I was sorry and didn't speak German (the extent of my german) and he then asked, with lovely pronounciation in perfect Queen's English "I suppose we must go down to get a meal?". Makes me ashamed to be such an idiot about learning German.
After lunch Ben went to buy our tickets and we nearly lost Noah out of the arrow slits.
Zak was obsessed with the walls--which were filled with spiders. After realizing that even HE could have climbed up the walls he understood why the arrow slits allowed the archers to see the walls to defend the castle.
On the way back to the car we took the hiking trail and were rewarded with a lovely view of the pretty side of the castle. And, while the tour wasn't all that exciting (Look! a picture of the tapestry and suits of armor we are restoring!) we enjoyed the trip very much.
We hiked down by way of the paved road but the first view was a little disappointing, since half the castle seemed to be covered by scaffolding. In truth, the tour was nearly half under construction, which was a bummer, but not as big a bummer as not being able to take a tour in english--even though Rick Steves says you can just ask when the next one is. 
We had lunch at the little place next to the castle. At the end of dinner an old couple came down the stairs and asked us something in German. I told them I was sorry and didn't speak German (the extent of my german) and he then asked, with lovely pronounciation in perfect Queen's English "I suppose we must go down to get a meal?". Makes me ashamed to be such an idiot about learning German. 
After lunch Ben went to buy our tickets and we nearly lost Noah out of the arrow slits. 
Zak was obsessed with the walls--which were filled with spiders. After realizing that even HE could have climbed up the walls he understood why the arrow slits allowed the archers to see the walls to defend the castle. 
On the way back to the car we took the hiking trail and were rewarded with a lovely view of the pretty side of the castle. And, while the tour wasn't all that exciting (Look! a picture of the tapestry and suits of armor we are restoring!) we enjoyed the trip very much.
2 comments:
That was the fantastic thing about driving through Europe with my parents. I'd be spacing out or something or looking at something else and my dad would say, "Liesl, look at that castle over there!" and then BAM - there's a castle. I loved that.
What a wonderful time for your family to be together (without relatives) in such an interesting place. It reminds me of the Sabbatical year my family spent in Hawaii (I was in 4th grade, the year Hawaii became a state). I have more memories of that year than all the others. Bet your kids will too.
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