Two More Castles! Burg Hohenzollern and Burg Lichtenstein

We bet you think that we've seen enough castles. But can anyone ever see too many castles? What will we do when we go back home and can't drive a few minutes away and see a wonderful castle up on the hill, such as Burg Hohenzollern.

Our friends, Elaine and Martin Craven from Salt Lake City, arrived here to serve in Public Affairs, so we just had to take them off to see their first castles.

Burg Hohenzollern is located about 50 kilometers (31 mi) south of  Stuttgart, Germany. It is considered the ancestral seat of the Hohenzollern family, which emerged in the Middle Ages and eventually became German Emperors. By the end of the 18th century, however, the castle fell into disrepair, and today only the chapel remains from the medieval castle.

The castle which stands today, was constructed as a family memorial between 1846 and 1867. No member of the Hohenzollern family took residence in this castle until 1945, when it became home to the last Prussian Crown Prince, Wilhelm and his wife, Crown Princess Cecillie. They are buried here.

Among the historical artifacts of Prussian history contained in the castle museum is the Crown of Wilhelm II. The crown has a large sapphire supporting a diamond-studded cross, plus 142 rose-cut diamonds, 18 additional diamonds, and 8 large pearls. Must have given Wilhelm a headache.

The rest of the Castle is the later reconstruction.

 

They had a Porsche show of vintage cars in the courtyard.

We stopped in this quaint little town on the way to the next castle and bought fresh Mendelhornken Cookies at the bakery. Yummy!

This chocolate cake was very stubborn and didn't want to turn around for me. 

 

Then we headed for Burg Lichtenstein, located near Honau, Germany and founded around 1200. The castle was  destroyed twice by wars. In 1802 the land came into the hands of King Frederick I of Wurtteberg, who built a hunting lodge here. By 1837 the land had passed to his nephew, Duke Wilhelm of Urach. He added the current castle in 1840–42 in the romantic Neo-Gothic style. Today the castle is still owned by the Dukes of Urach. It houses a large collection of historic weapons and armor.

I remember Lichtenstein from the movie, Dark Knight. Not the same Castle, but a great movie.

What a fairy tale castle this is!

Check out the firm foundation beneath this castle!

A beautiful library inside one of the rooms.

The Chapel

Every castle has a spectacular view!

Can you believe a tree can grow like this?

As we walked around the grounds, we happened upon the most beautiful ropes course.

We discovered an interesting and simple way to build a fence. Great way to clean up the yard too!

Weisbaden and Mainz

We worked hard all week with Bob dealing with challenging situations in the office, and me off in the schools and writing a power point presentation. On Monday evening we had FHE with Bev and Paul Roberts at their apartment in Bad Vilbel and played a really fun card game. On Wednesday evening we had dinner and a missionary discussion with Alejandra and the Sister Missionaries at Dave and Julie Coltons. She made us  delicious crock pot enchiladas with all the trimmings! I made a new date cake with chocolate topping.

 

Then hooray for Saturday! It is always such a special day that we always look forward to.

I went early to two flomarkts with Jerry Dearing. My collection of nesting dolls is growing. 

I always stop at this crepe wagon to get a cheese crepe before leaving.

 

Today the woman who always works there looked at me and made the cutting sign with her fingers to show that she remembered that I always like my crepe cut in half, so that I can share it. I was so excited! She knows who I am. I have a friend! One thing that is really frustrating about living in Germany and not being fluent in the language is that you meet these great people all the time, and you want to share your thoughts and feelings with them, but all you can do is smile.

Then we headed off with the Dearings to Wiesbaden in southwest Germany. Wiesbaden is located on the right (northern) bank of the Rhine River. To the north of the city are the Taunus Mountains. Settlement dates back to the Neolithic era. Historical records document continuous occupancy after the erection of a Roman fort in 6 AD. It is one of the oldest spa towns in Europe. Its name translates to "meadow baths."  At one time, Wiesbaden boasted 26 hot springs of which fourteen are still flowing today.

Finding a parking place is always a challenge. There were lots of expensive cars parked on this street as it has very high end shopping.

We finally found a parking space, but it was too narrow for us to open the doors and get out. So we all got out,and Karen saved the day by parking the car, then climbing into the back seat and out the back door.

This street was filled with people dining in their very fancy clothes.

At the town square, we enjoyed an International Fair.

The buildings in Weisbaden were extraordinary.

We loved this painted building.

We sat on a park bench and took a breather while enjoying this fountain.

This is the Marktkirche, and of course, we got to see another wedding! This church reminded us a bit of the Salt Lake Temple.

The shops had lots of really cool stuff, but all very expensive!

This young man is eleven years old. He played the cello very well and was making good tips. There were several other street musicians in Weisbaden. We always enjoy stopping to listen. It reminds us of our own kids going off to play on the wintry streets of Salt Lake City at Christmas time.

One more, but not nearly as cute:

 
We headed back toward the bridge and crossed over the Rhine River.

We didn't see any hot springs, but we did get to see something rare in this part of Germany--a small beach crowded with sun bathers.


Hungry, we headed straight for Mainz.

We ate at our favorite restaurant--Mexico Lindo. It doesn't look like much from the outside, but it is cute inside. The Mexican food is the best you can get in Germany, but probably on a medium scale for Utah.

What a fun day!