Summer Fun

"Oh, what do you do in the Summertime when all the world is green?"  That's how a childhood song we used to sing begins.  This Summer has been extremely dry here in Germany and the past few days have reached highs around 100 degrees!  But we have still been busy, and having fun this July. Here are some of the things we've been up to since our castle day-trip: 

*We've been going to the neighborhood pool to stay cool.
*We had some friends over for a tea party- lemonade style. One friend even brought macarons straight from Paris!  The kiddos were thrilled!
*We've been doing Summer reading through the library and attending some of their events like kite flying and making candy parachutes after learning about the Berlin Airlift.
*We spent several days doing what was needed for my minivan to pass inspection and get re-registered. (New windshield mainly, and a few other little things.  Now we have begun getting Rob's truck's work done- including removing the crash bars from the front, since after four years here those are suddenly not permitted.)
*The kids have been playing video games together.
*We've been visiting lots of playgrounds off-base and on-base.
*We made homemade ice cream one night.
*We have been picking blackberries from the yard and made a big batch of jam.
*We went to the movies to see The Incredibles 2.
*We went to IKEA for lunch and had schnitzel and meatballs.
*We've done almost all of our back-to-school shopping.

And what do all of these things have in common?  I haven't taken any pictures of them!  Just everyday life is so busy with four kiddos at home, that I have been doing my best to just enjoy it, and not think so much about photographing every moment.  It has been a productive and fun July.

Here are a couple of pictures that I did take this month while we were out and about:

 

We went to the Vivarium one day.  

I love this little zoo in Darmstadt and we have been coming here for years!

 

Another shot at the playground at the Vivarium... of the little one who was throwing a tantrum and wouldn't have her photo taken with the other kids by the owl statue at the entrance.

I took a look and found this photo of walking to the Vivarium from our old house in Traisa with my niece Leah, and my little bitty Charlotte and Toby way back in 2009!!

 

While my car was in the shop in Wiesbaden one day, the kids and I spent the morning playing at a playground in the park nearby.

 

And back in Darmstadt, we celebrated the 13 year anniversary of the day Rob proposed, with a family lunch out at this really lovely Biergarten that had great food and a small playground. 

We have some more fun, and some more work, planned for August but no big trips in the next month.  We are happily soaking up our last German Summer and looking forward to some cooler weather this Fall!

Castle Hopping

On Saturday we decided to knock out one of the items on our "Summer Fun" list and visit Berg Hohenzollern and Schloss Lichtenstein. These two castle are only about 30-40 minutes apart, about 2.5 hours from our house. That makes for a pretty long day trip, but do-able. We sat in an additional hour of traffic on our way there which made us wonder if these castles would be worth the hassle... but they totally were.

 

I knew from researching ahead of time that Hohenzollern was the larger of the two and that it was a hike (or shuttle ride) high up from the parking area, but I was still awed by the commanding presence of the castle on the hilltop. This is the ancestral seat of the House of Hohenzollern and the first castle on this hill was built in the 11th century, but the current structure was built in the 1800s. The building was also used in the 2017 adaptation of The Worst Witch.

 

The hike up the hill was no joke.

 

Still climbing.

 

Nearly there.

 

Finally!  We reached the gate and learned that this was only the beginning of a spiral drive like none I have ever seen before.  We continued to climb up and up over drawbridges and around courtyards.

 

It was really cool.  We could just imagine horse-drawn carriages driving up to the upper most courtyard.

 

When we reached the top, we strolled around the ramparts and took in the view of the countryside. 

 

Then we found a shady table at the restaurant in the courtyard and enjoyed a nice lunch.  I literally took this photo from where I sat eating lunch.  I could have happily sat there for hours.

 

We poked in the little Catholic chapel on the grounds (There is also a Protestant chapel, and I am sure many a wedding takes place at this castle.)

 

When I think of fairy tales, this is pretty much what I envision.

I knew it was not a great plan to try and tour two interiors in one day with all of our kids, so I researched and decided this was clearly the more impressive interior and the one we should tour.  We didn't want to wait for one of the English tour groups, so we went on one of the German ones. And they didn't allow any photos inside, but here are a few I pulled from the internet:

 

The first room is absolutely covered in the Hohenzollern genealogy... to the present day.

They had us put on little slippers over our shoes in this room so that we wouldn't scratch the floors in the castle.

 

This room was modeled after St. Chapelle in Paris and it was apparent.  Absolutely gorgeous.

 

Princess Victoria (first daughter of Queen Victoria of England) was married to Prince Friedrich (Hohenzollern) in 1858.  She was an accomplished painter and painted the a portrait of her son that hangs in this sitting room. I liked the blue velvet couches.

After a very, very long downhill climb, it was time to drive to our next castle: Schloss Lichtenstein. 

 

Similar to Burg Hohoenzollern, a castle has been in this location since the 1100s, but the current structure dates from the 1800s. We opted to only pay the few Euros to walk the grounds rather than take a guided tour here.  The grounds were beautiful. This building is the "Outer Bailey."

 

The catle itself sits on a stony escarpment.  There is a footbridge to the door.  It looks very precariously situated, and is actually quite a bit smaller than I thought it would be.

 

Castle selfie.  Ussie?

 

And a family photo in front of another outbuilding.

 

After walking the small castle grounds, we headed out on a trail nearby for some forest walking.  It was a beautiful day, and the shady woods were cool and lovely.  We would have walked much further if we didn't have four tired, hungry kids.  They are cute though: