Another Castle

Sometimes it is really worth it to get off the beaten path when you're doing touristy things like visiting castles. I know, I know, I sound like a guide book. And since I'm not much of an explorer (ie, I NEVER willingly get off the beaten path), it's a good thing that Oma came up with this awesome castle to visit: Burg Breuberg in Odenwald.

Sure, you can go to the famous castles, but will they let you wonder around the ruins and climb through tunnels?

Will there be a basketball court in the Graben for the youth hostel in the tower?

Will they host themed birthday parties?

Will they let let you wonder inside the walls like a medieval villager?

Exploring this castle was way more fun for the four year old than some stuffy tour.

The thirty-four year old loved this castle because it was simultaneously ancient ruins and modern community center: new and old and accessible to everyone.

Me, on Vacation (if you can call it that...)

Four days into our Germany vacation.

Jet lag is getting better for Noah.  And, strangely, worse for Mattias.

Here are Noah and Oma, feeding the swans. Oma is worried about Noah falling in the water. (She's holding his hood.) I'm worried about the swans. Aren't swans mean? Or is that just black swans? Which of my children will they attack first? See the empty kinderwagen in the background? That's our Borrowed Baby Cadillac. I already grabbed Mattias out of it and took him off in the other direction under some false pretense. Really, I just wanted him away from those swans. But in an attempt to look cool, I left the BBC there. We'll be right back. Uh huh. As soon as those swans are gone.

When I told people that we were going to Germany, they said, "Oh! Lucky!" Then I felt kind of snobbish or I felt like they were really getting the wrong idea about our finances, so I told them that Fritz's family lived in Germany....so it was nothing too special, and after all, Fritz's mother had visited us twice since we moved to Denver...so we really felt we needed to visit and it was the first time in two years. I'm a fourth-or-fifth generation Iowan; I wouldn't want anyone thinking I'm too big for my britches. Just in case they thought something like that. But my little spiel was probably the wrong thing to say, because it just sounds like I'm sharing too much in an annoying, unappreciative, potentially nonchalant way. Really, there's nothing nonchalant about taking piccolini to another country. It might get easier if we do it more. It might get easier as they get older. But it's never going to be Easy. At least, not for me.

And I'm a planner. I like to know what's coming. I don't adapt well when the plan changes. Add two piccolini, with different random needs, who are my responsibility, traveling? I'm hyperventilating.

Traveling has a high degree of uncertainty involved, even without piccolini.

But, if we are going to travel - or really, if we are going to visit family -  it IS nice to travel to Germany, of all places. And honestly, it's great that I lived in Germany long enough to know what to expect. I can (sort of) plan. I can (mostly) communicate. I can (generally) find my way around. I (somewhat) know the cultural landscape. These are things that might otherwise make it very difficult for me, the planner, to travel here with piccolini.

Castleness and Jetlag

I'm sitting on the balcony at my mother in law's house in Germany right now. I won't publish this post until we are back in the states, because that is part of the deal Fritz and I worked out when I said I wanted to blog. The worry is that people will forcibly enter our house and break all our incredibly valuable Ikea furniture, steal our hand-me-down gear, and deface our beautiful builder white walls IF they know that we are on vacation. (I don't have the heart to point out to Fritz that most those things are already a nearly weekly occurrence with two piccolini.)

Two days here and the jetlag is still kicking our butts. Fritz and Mattias are taking the longest morning nap ever; so long that it's ceased to be a nap. Breakfast was merely a brief awakening for them. Noah is hanging out with Oma, his new best friend, running errands and whatnot.  Here's to hoping that he'll be asleep before midnight tonight. And hoping he doesn't fall asleep and nap in the car....

Spring comes earlier in Germany. The trees are budding, the flowers are blooming. It's beautiful. We visited a castle yesterday. Noah said he wanted to see a castle. I think he gleaned the importance of castles from his female classmates - otherwise, I'm not quite sure how he knew what they were. He didn't know the German word (Schloss), so obviously he didn't learn about them from Fritz. There are castles everywhere in Germany, so not a problem, but they don't all look like Neuschwanstein (Disney's idealized castle), so we're having some trouble deciphering what's a castle and what's a chapel and what's the big(ger), fancy hotel and cafe next door.

Here's a quintessential castle for us Americans, complete with moat, view from the inside courtyard.
Mespelbrun in Spessart.

But we did find one with a moat. Hmm. I went on the tour, but I still don't know the German word for moat. Maybe moats aren't so important to german castle-ness. Or maybe I sleep-walked through the tour.