One Night in a Castle

Nate has worked hard all week and now he finally gets some vacation!

Yesterday a friend/coworker Rolf gave Nate a half dozen eggs from chickens he raises, so I make them for breakfast. Only problem is I have a frying pan but no spatula or seasonings. I use the back of a spoon to try not scratch the pan. Then I remember that Landon saved his silverware packet from the airplane and they have a little salt and pepper pack in there, so that saves the eggs. 

The kids eat cereal and share the last piece of vlaai. After packing the last of our things Nate goes and plays Tetris with our bags in the trunk of the car until we have just enough of a gap to see out the back window. Nate had hoped to be on the road by 10 or so, but its closer to 11 by the time we leave town.

As we are are near Dusseldorf we see Snowworld Neuss, which is an indoor snow park. Nate wants to go show the kids. However when we get there we find that they don't open for several more hours, so we get back on the road.

Not sure what dance move Landon is doing here!

We are confused to find both a stop sign and stop light... what are you to do when the light is green? We have to google it and find that the light takes precedent over signs, and signs over road markings. Seem confusing for no good reason.

Our next stop is Cologne Germany, for some reason it take us longer than expected to find a parking garage. We've been to this area 4-5 other times and don't remember having this difficulty. After finally locating a parking garage we have to drive down 5 levels to find a spot we can fit in.

I had already researched a place for lunch and decided on Peters Brauhaus. It is pretty well rated and has traditional German food on the menu. We try some bratwurst with sauerkraut and schnitzel, all of which were good.

My mother-in-law raved about a vinegar-based potato salad from from a German restaurant in the US. I was excited to try some potato salad without mayo, however I learn that the vinegar based recipe is mainly in southern Germany. Thankfully Nate swaps the potato salad for his roasted potatoes and we shared the Bratwurst and Schnitzel so we could try both.

We see one of these micro-mobile Amazon delivery vans, which are e-bike powered. Landon asks if we can buy him one! I have to admit it's rather cute and very practical in the narrow streets of Europe.

After lunch we walk to the Cologne Cathedral nearby. Along the way there is a section of what looks like an old road. It's a reconstruction of how Romans built the old roads in this city. We also get to see some chalk street art along the way.

You are welcome to come in and pray or light a candle, but if you are just a tourist they charge entry to the church so we don't go inside.

Behind the cathedral is the Hohenzollern Bridge that crosses the Rhine River. We walk there to add our love lock to the bridge. Nate lasered our names and wedding date on the lock while at home. We had talked about adding a lock to the bridge 14 years ago, but we didn't know where to get a lock.

People started putting love locks on this bridge back in 2008, and they estimate there could be up to 500,000 locks on the bridge weighing over 40 tons. The main railing of the bridge is all covered and it's hard to find a spot so most people have started adding them to the railings coming up to the bridge or near the bridge, but Nate manages to find a spot on the bridge.

       

As we leave Cologne we drive about 30 minutes then we stop at the Haribo Factory Store for some sweet treats. They don't allow tours of the factory but they have an outlet store that sells everything that they make. They also have bulk bins so you don't have to buy bags of each thing. We let the kids each put candy they want to try in a bag, and Nate and I get a bag too to share. This is our road trip candy. We'll be covering lots of miles over the next week, so we'll meter it out by letting them have a few pieces when we hit certain distance milestones.

This Haribo sponsored Mercedes AMG GT3 racecar placed 3rd at the 24 Hour of Nürburgring in 2016 and 9th in 2017.

As we get back on the autobahn (freeway) we tell the kids we are getting into castle country, and to keep their eyes out. Only a couple minutes later we spot our first castle off in the distance. Germany has an estimated 20,000-25,000 castles, so it's always good to keep a lookout for them.

We exit the autobahn and start weaving thought the beautiful countryside towards Oberwessel. Finally we turn off the main road onto the driveway up to the Schönburg castle. You can't see the castle until you drive up to it as you exit the forest.

The kids are excited to see a castle up close and ask if we can get out. Nate finds a place to park, although it's very tight on the side of a mountain. We get out our suitcase that we'll be bringing up for the night and start walking up the steep cobblestone walkway. Kailey says, “Wait, we get to stay next to a castle?” Then as we start to enter the castle gates she realizes…”we get to stay in a castle?!”

There is a very picky man being helped by the front desk, so we get to listen to him for 15 min or so before he tells the lady to help us and he will wait, which I appreciate.

When we check-in they ask if we would like a reservation to eat at their restaurant. We decide it will be easier to do that then figure out how to get down to town and hope something is open. So we make a reservation for 7 PM, which is a half hour away. This will give us time to find our room and check it out a little bit.

The castle porter brings our luggage up to our room and shows us the way. Our door opens with a traditional key, and they gave us a scroll with a map of the castle.

The room is a little warm so we ask the porter if it's okay to open the windows and he helps us do that. We also open the room door to get some airflow to the room which helps cool it down.

The kids find an old fashioned style rotary phone, which is actually hooked up.

Doors are a bit on the small side. At 5'-6" I don't have to duck, but I hope Nate remembers!

The kids enjoy exploring our room but we soon need to head to dinner. We get a little lost winding through the castle trying to find our way out, but we are able to ask for directions.

This part of the castle, at least on the main floor is the restaurant.

There is a waiter waiting for us at the door. He greets us with "Good evening Mr. Kandoll", making us feel important. The waiters are dressed in a medieval style dress that would match the castle's era. We get to sit by a window that looks out over the Rhine River. The food is also very good.

Slices of veal fillet on morel cream sauce, glazed carrot vegetables and rosemary potatoes

Wild boar sausage on apple-ginger sauerkraut, mashed potatoes and homemade apricot mustard

Looking for the garden entrance we find a pathway down to a terrace that overlooks of the town of Oberwesel.

View of Oberwesel from the lower castle grounds

After looking at our map we find the path towards the garden entrance. We head there quickly as they ask you not to go after 9 PM. The pathway down to the garden is narrow and steep and could be dangerous in the dark. I can see why they say that as the pathway is only a couple feet wide, and there are many steps with no handrails.

Unlocking the garden gate

View of the castle from the top part of the garden pathway. Our room is the lower right windows on the red section of the castle.

Steep and narrow pathway down to the garden

There is a little pond at the bottom with some fish in it and a giant chess set. Landon wants to play a game with Nate, but just as they start a game it starts to rain. We quickly head back up the path as only Kailey had brought a coat and we didn't want to get soaked.

View of the Burg Pfalzfrafenstein in the middle of the River and Burg Gutenfels up on the hill to the left. There are 53 castles along the Rhine River, 40 of which are clustered in a 40 miles stretch, one at about every bend on both sides of the river.

A break in the clouds letting sunlight shine a spotlight on the town of Kaub, Germany

Back in the room the kids find some stationary in our room and decide to write letters to friends. Then we get ready for bed and admire the view from our Castle window.

Young Master Landon ready for bed

The room normally has one large bed and a twin bed in the little alcove, but they also brought in a roll away bed to accommodate us. We leave the windows open until we are ready for bed as there is no AC in a castle. I don't use covers all night, but it is not too cold or too hot. As I drift off to sleep I think that I'm glad it isn't any warmer outside.