Cool Places to go in Germany

When we weren't gallivanting across the globe to other countries Stuttgart, Germany was our home base.  The last few times I've been to Stuttgart it was more of a stop over to somewhere else, so it was great to have more time to explore it.

Between Paris and Athens we went to Baumwipfelpad Schwarzwald.  It's kind of like the high line in NYC on steroids.  It's longer, higher, in the Black Forest of Bad Wildbad Germany, and was never a train track.  Baumwipfelpad Schwarzwald is a 4,100 foot walk that reaches 65 feet high among the tree tops.  Fun little learning stations and mini obstacle courses along the way culminate in this fantastically architecturally stunning structure.

The path winds upward in a circular direction towards the top where the views are beautiful.  Up there, it was quiet, peaceful and windy.  For a few €2 extra you are welcome to take the slide down, rather than walk because that silver tubing that runs down the center isn't just a design choice. It is actually a working slide.  I giggled, quite loudly I might add, the entire way down.  There are several walking paths on the ground, and we even saw a restaurant nearby if you wanted to have a bite to eat.

There is a castle on a cloud.....

After Prague we spent the day at Hohenzollern Castle, because when in Germany...you must see castles.  The thing is, I already love Castle On a Cloud from Les Miserables, so when I get to sing it all day long and actually go see a real castle I get super excited.  MJ...not so much.

Hohenzollern Castle is the 2nd most beautiful castle in Germany.  We were lucky enough to see the first most beautiful, which is Neuschwanstein Castle in Schwangau.  That's the Sleeping Beauty Castle.  Both castles are high up on a mountain in the clouds, requiring quite a bit of effort to reach the top.  Based on just about every fairy tale I've ever read I'm pretty sure I know why.  Castle's are meant to be high above the Kingdom's people with a good vantage point for scoping out war and other threats of danger.  Makes perfect sense right?  Neauchwanstein Castle offers a horse drawn carriage and Hohenzollern Castle provides a shuttle, because in both cases it's quite a steep trek.  We always choose the walk, because we can, and because it's part of the fun.  I'm not gonna lie.  We were breathing pretty hard when we made it to the top.  Once we got up there we freaked out for a minute because we didn't see a ticket office sign; only one that said here is where you take take your ticket.  I checked the website on my phone and found that tickets are to be purchased at the parking lot aaaalllll the way down at the bottom.  No way would we have done that walk again.  It took us a good 30 minutes one way.  We would most definitely have had to pay to shuttle down and back up. Rather than accept what the website said, MJ asked the guy in the window.  Good thing, because he was able to sell us the tickets right there. 

I love this castle.  Once you get inside the entrance you are taken through a dark stone tunnel lined with giant very castle like windows, that lead to the upper outside area.  We explored the outside, stopped at the Biergarten for food (warm coffee for me), and then explored the inside.  The floor is all Italian Marble (which I hear costs an arm and a leg) and so we were required to put on what is essentially a slide on house shoe that fits over your street shoes.  We did not do a guided tour, so we shuffled our way through the inside at our own pace, before checking out the basement section.  The stone walls were crumbly, and the ceiling quite low.  A wet odor filled the dark passage ways, and we had to tip toe around a deep puddle right in front of the exit.

One of the coolest things about these castles besides the fact that they are just so cool, is that they really are just like you always imagined a castle would be when you see them on TV.  All the stone, with artistically shaped openings that look out over a million foot drop down the side of the building.  Large cavernous rooms, with ornately adorned walls, floors, and ceilings.  Dank rooms that smell like wet stone and earth from hundreds of years ago.  These castles are real.  And really old. It's amazing that they are still standing as they were and they are so fun to explore. And by the end of the day guess what song MJ couldn't get out of his head?  Yep.  Castle on a Cloud.
  

That evening as soon as we got home, we turned around and hopped on the train to...well...I don't even remember the name of the town, for a wine festival.  It was just a few stops away.  Inside this courtyard was a massive amount of people drinking wine.  It was so crowded, that it would have taken forever to get our hands on some food, so we enjoyed our wine, and left.  We took the train back home, and rather than eat out, we popped a frozen pizza in the oven and ate dinner while we watched a movie from the comfort of the couch.

Looking back on this day...like all the other days I spent there brings a goofy smile to my face.  I was happy, content, and exactly where I wanted to be.

Related: 
Exploring Neuschwanstein Castle
Paris
Athens and Santorini
Mallorca
Prague