burg E L T Z

We woke up this morning to rain. Last week, it rained every single day- it may have even been more than a week. It was grey. It was cold. It was depressing.

Thankfully, yesterday was glorious. A perfect 80* day in Deutschland.
It was the first feeling of warmth and light of the season. We all needed it. Especially me.

Plus, we had a day trip planned. Now that the weather is nice, I plan on having our family out seeing the sights every open day we have.

I'm pretty sure there are more opions for day trips from our house than we have days in Germany.

We've already learned in our short time here to get out and see what there is to see. Experience it.

This weekend: Burg Eltz.

I thought it would take a while to get the boys to another castle after the last two during Spring Break.

But, we did it and they didn't even complain.

We've heard from several friends this one is a favorite. Just under two hours from our house- it made for a beautiful {winding} drive along the Mosel River.

Around for more than 800 years- it didn't disappoint and might be my new favorite as well.

I LOVED it.


This was up toward the top of the hill on our way back to the car

Accessible only by foot, we parked and walked down the hill to the castle.

Burg Eltz is one of the few castles that was built down low in a valley. Surrounded by forest, you walk down at a pretty good decline before reaching the enormous structure.

Most castles are up on a hill for obvious reasons- you can see for miles and miles. Not here.

It's also one of the few that wasn't ruined during war times. I found it amazing- felt like we were in a page out of a fairytale.

It's that astounding.

The boys had a great time walking down the hill to get to it. Coming back up wasn't quite as fun.

Down below the castle is a nice stream that they took off their shoes and walked across. Next time, we'll pack a sack lunch and hang out for a while longer.

It was so, so hot! If you're German, you just drop your pants, or take off your shirt {even if you're a girl}.

Eighty degrees in Germany feels the same as the rare eighty-degree day in Alaska.
For some crazy reason, the rays feel much hotter here than in the midwest.

Are we really in fact closer to the sun? Anyone who wants to come see us... I'd be happy to repeat this trip.