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Published: September 25th 2015
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Ralf made the drive from Trier to Eisenach reaching speeds of up to 220 kilometers per hour which he loves to do since he is accustomed to driving on the autobahn but it still usually results in me putting my seat back, closing my eyes and trying to sleep through it all! But we reached the cute little town of Eisenach by noon to achieve the highly anticipated “Third Castle in Three Days” itinerary (well... technically
fourdays but the first and third castle tours within 72 hours of each other!) For a castle loving, fairy tale dreamer Pisces girl from Minnesota, these have notably been some of the most exciting 72 hours of my life. Once again the Wartburg castle is situated on the top of a rather steep hill surrounded by woods. They obviously didn’t consider ease of access for exhausted tourists when selecting locations for these castles back in mediaeval times! In all seriousness, it is one of the aspects that Ralf and I have enjoyed most these last days, connecting with nature and each other on our “castle walks” through the lovely wooded areas in Germany. It is so serene and beautiful beyond words. While the other experiences
are new, the feelings, the sights, and sounds and smells of a peaceful walk in the woods are familiar and comforting for both of us.
A similar theme from our days in Germany so far, there is some light rain again today and the walk to the Wartburg Castle is particularly steep but we finally make it up. Not before passing the donkey/ mule (still not sure exactly what they were!) stand where you could rent one to take you up the final descent to the castle. Unfortunately, we had read there was only one tour in English per day which was leaving at 1:30 so we didn't feel we had the time to spare to make arrangements for the mule ride...another time! They were pretty noisy and smelly though and fun to look at. Once at the castle, we enjoyed another fascinating tour by a very knowledgeable (and English speaking) tour guide! The castle was originally built in the Middle Ages and it was the home of St. Elisabeth of Hungary (known for her works of charity) and also the place where Martin Luther translated the New Testament from Greek to German. Additionally, it was an inspiration for
Ludwig II when he decided to build Neuschwanstein. According to our tour guide, the castle today still contains substantial original structures from the 12th to the 15th centuries, much of the interior dates back only to the 19th century period of Romanticism. I probably enjoyed this tour the most of the three tours just because we got to spend so much time in each room and the tour guide was very detailed in his descriptions. On a side note, this castle must be a popular place for weddings (and I can see why!) because we spotted three different wedding couples during our time at Wartburg. There was an onsite hotel there just down the walkway from the castle; very pretty setting but also very expensive and overtaken by the wedding groups.
After our castle tour, we began the much easier walk back down the hill, this time stopping to check out the donkeys and to enjoy a regional favorite of Thuringer Sausage and Radeberger beer from the food cart vendor. Then back into the woods for our decent to the village of Eisenach. We had a reservation at The SchlossHotel and it ended up to be fantastic! It was
a family owned hotel, very well maintained, nice sauna facilities, helpful staff, and amazing food. When we checked in, the young man at the front desk told us there was a pottery fair just across the way in the market square which we later visited and picked up a few souvenirs. Our room was well appointed and had a nice balcony overlooking the hotel courtyard. For dinner, we ate in the hotel restaurant. We were greeted by the couple who owned the hotel and throughout the next few hours, they both went out of their way to make our meal memorable. Again, just an example of the personal touches, I consistently find in Germany. By the end of the evening, we discovered that they'd like to travel to Florida and exchanged contact information so maybe we will get the chance to repay the hospitality.
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