Visting Schloss Lichtenstein

     One of the first things I thought of when we got our assignment to Germany, well besides the food, was all the beautiful castles.  As a young toddler in the early 1980's, I was fortunate enough to visit some of these castles, including the famous Schloss Neuschwanstein (the one Walt Disney was inspired by to create for Disneyland), since my dad was stationed in Berlin.  However, I only remember bits and pieces of our trips.  Coming back to Germany, and a different location no less, I am really looking forward to really seeing Germany through the eyes of an adult.  With that said, this past weekend, we loaded up the kiddos and drove about forty-five minutes to an hour through rich farmlands and winding roads in and out of local villages to tour our first German castle, the beautifully romantic Schloss Lichtenstein.  It wasn't big like some other castles, but it was rich is German history.  According to their rules, there is no photographing or videoing of any kind allowed on the tour, so unfortunately, I can't show you the inside.  So I guess you will just have to visit it yourself.  Also, the tour is in ALL German, so be prepared.  However, when you get your tickets, which are pretty cheap, you can pick up a laminated English copy of what the tour guide will be covering.  I believe there are other languages also, Spanish, French, and Italian for example.  I am going to start a Germany Bucket list, might as well, since we will be here three years.  Guess I can check this off my list.  With so many castles, or should I say Schloss or Burgs (I found a great blog post on Germany Ja! that explains the differences if you are interested, I thought it was enlightening), we will be busy!  We cannot wait to visit our next one, I think deciding on which one will be the hardest part.

    After we toured the inside of the castle we walked around this beautiful field.  It was a nice little hike.  Perfect for the kiddos to work off some energy.  

     Right next to the castle there is a little restaurant called Castle's Tavern.  We stopped there before we headed up to see the castle.  After the drive and tummy grumbles, it was a must.  The menus were really cool too, they were laminated onto a rolling pin.  The kiddos didn't want to give them back. The food was great and not overly priced like one might think being next to an "attraction".  The hubby tried out a bowl Erbensuppe mit Schinken und Brot (Pea Soup with Ham and Bread), Big L. liked his Rotewurst und Pomme Frites (red sausage and fries), Little K. loves her Spätzle kit Soße (like pasta noodles in sauce), and my Bratwurst und Kartoffelsalat (sausage and potatoes salad) was wunderbar! Of course we got the appropriate beverages to go with everything, a Beir (beer) for the hubby, a Weißwein (white wine) for me, and Apfelsaft (apple juice) for the kiddos.  

     After our lunch we let the kiddos go play on the nearby spielplatz (playground) for a few minutes, which seem to be EVERYwhere here!  Then we finally went to see the castle.

It was another great adventure!