Day 4 - Birkenstocks, Outlet City, Hohenzollern Castle and dinner

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We’ve gotten into a bit of a routine. Everyone kind of wakes up on their own and does their own morning routine and once everyone in’s fully awake we move out and start our day of sight seeing.

This morning Cheryl and I wanted a Diet Coke so we walked down to the village center with Connor (Lori’s son). He is 10th grade and goes to a high school on the Army base. It was nice chatting with him to and from the bakery. Makes me miss the boys. I could picture myself chatting with them as we walk the neighborhood.

On the agenda (that’s what Mandy calls the itinerary) we are going to eat breakfast at a Chocolate factory, shop at the Birkenstock Outlet, visit a castle and going to eat at fun German Restaurant.

Ritter Sport Chocolate Factory

In case anyone was wondering, yes, we are eating our way through Germany.

When you pull into the parking lot you can smell a faint smell of chocolate in the air. When we got out of the car you could really smell the chocolate and we all just started to giggleand smiling.

At the factory they have a nice restaurant that has an inside and outside seating area. On the property they have a nice garden outside and a walking trail. The restaurant has a feel that invites you to stay a little longer.

Cheryl and I had a jogger roll with cream cheese, Swiss cheese, walnuts and aruloga. What is a jogger roll? I still don’t know what a jogger is but it I think it was a cross between a roll and a bagel. The Swiss cheese was soo good. Kind of melt in your mouth good cheese.

To drink I had a peppermint hot chocolate. At the bottom of the drink was a large dollop of chocolate. I’m not sure if I will ever be able to find another hot chocolate like this one. I should have ordered one to go. It was awesome!

We walked around the garden area and then headed to the self guided museum tour. We learned a couple of facts about chocolate and then headed to the gift shop.

Holy chocolate explosion and everything was so cheap. We filled our cart with everything the kids could ever dream. Since we were going to be on the road today we bought thermal bags and ice packs from the chocolate factory store and headed to the next destination.

We were so excited about our chocolate finds. Not sure how we are going to get it all home but we will figure that out in a couple of days.

Outlet City

That’s right, Cheryl found an entire city full of outlets. They have Birkenstock, Dolce and Gabbana, Coach, Tori Burch and the list goes on. It goes for blocks and blocks.

We started at the Birkenstock store because duh, we are in Germany. Since it was an outlet the variety was limited. We spent about an hour trying on shoes and figuring out what we wanted. We settled on a couple of pairs each and checked out.

When we were checking out the lady asked if we wanted tax free. Turns out if you are traveling in Germany you will get your taxes returned to you if you fill out this form and take it to this building they give you the cash. We ended up getting €31 back. Cool!

If we had more time we could have shopped all day. The prices in the store were really good.

Onward to the castle.

Hohenzollern Castle

As we drive down the interstate you can start to see this castle on a hill. Yes, I started singing the Ed Sheeran song in my head. It just looks so cool sitting so high up the hill.

The castle sits 2,805 ft above sea level. The Hohenzollern dynasty traces back to almost 1,000 years ago.

This isn’t the original castle. This is the third castle to be built in the location. The ‘new castle’ was completed on October 3, 1867.

We drive a little bit up the hill and pay €2 to park. After you park you walk into the gift shop and buy our ticket for the tour. You can do a self guided walking tour around the castle but without the ticket you aren’t able to see inside the castle. We decided on the €12 guided tour. The only problem with the tour is that it is in German.

We load the bus to drive up the long windy road. The bus ride cost €1.50. You can walk up to the castle if you wanted to. They have nice walking trails that lead up to the castle. We didn’t walk today because it was already after 3pm and the castle closes at 6pm.

When we got off the bus you walk through the entryway of the castle. You over the drawbridge and through the ‘Eagle Gateway’. There you see Fredrick I (1371 - 1440) on his horse and the Prussian Eagle over his head with the motto ‘Vom Fels zum Meer’ (From Cliff to Sea) which derived from the Hohenzollern Royal Order, found in 1851.

The walkway turns and turns up to the courtyard of the castle. The ramp overlaps 3 times and covers 82 feet in height. Before you get to the courtyard there is another drawbridge.

I mean really, the castle is two miles up a steep mountain then you have the first drawbridge then you walk around a ramp for three stories then another drawbridge. If some sucker gets into this joint with all his gear I move you invite the poor fella to dinner or at least a cocktail. That’s some hard work to get into this castle and with all that gear they were lugging around. Needless to say, I look at the castle from afar and say, ‘I’ll see y’all when you come to town.’

Anyway, in the courtyard area there was a food garden when you can buy snacks and refreshments. Since we had some time to kill before our tour we got refreshments and looked through the English guide books.

Our tour started and they were not lying. This tour was in pure German. Not a breath of English. He did speak English because you know I’m gonna ask a question or two. Cheryl loves when I ask questions.

We start in the Ancestral Hall where they have the Hohenzollern family tree. It’s a lot of names that I can’t pronounce. Apparently the tour guide made a joke but we didn’t understand what he said so we were ‘those people’. We could follow along in the guidebook because I’m pretty sure he was reading the thing verbatim.

When we go into the next room they have everyone put on these large slippers that go over your shoes. I’m assuming it’s to protect the stone floor or they just want ya tourist to do their mopping. You can’t lift your feet so you just shuffle along the floor.

We tour the Count’s Hall, Library, Margrave’s Parlour, Royal Chambers and the Blue Parlour. We listen to our German guide as we shuffle along the stone floor.

It’s a very pretty castle. I can’t get over all the painting in the walls. It’s like wallpaper but paint. Very intricate designs from the ceiling to the chair rail.

In the last room you got to look at the Royal Treasures. The Crown in the case is actually a replica. The only remains of the crown are the crown base. That is on exhibit in Berlin’s Charlottenburg Palace.

We looks at the treasures and back out into the courtyard.

Time to go eat (again).

Hofgut Domane - Dinner

We load back on the bus and down the hill. The restaurant is at the base of the mountain.

This is more of a complex than a singular restaurant. You can tell it is off season because many of the restaurants have closed already for the day.

They have three restaurants in a horseshoe pattern that share a common courtyard. At the head of the courtyard is a stage. Looking at the setup you can tell that when it is high season the seats are packed with patrons that make a day of visiting this place.

They also have a large petting zoo with lllamas, goats and lots of other animals. We didn’t get to go into the petting zoo because they closed at 6pm and we arrive at about 6:02pm. Darn it!

We ate at the only restaurant that was open. It’s a really cool looking place. The floors, walls and decor make you feel like you are in a medieval castle.

We placed our orders and then the food came. Wow! These plates and proportions are huge! I ate steak with fried onions, brown gravy and croquettes. It was very very good.

We finished up dinner and headed back to then apartment. We were all really tired so we had a brief porch meeting and called it a night.

Next stop France.

Later,
O.

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