Castle Hopping

One of the things my mom insisted that we do during our stay in Talheim was to visit the historic castles in the neighboring towns. She said that was something she took for granted while she lived there; she never took the time to see the sights that were so close to her. It's hard to believe that driving past castles is an everyday occurrence for people living in Germany, but the castles sit right on top of hills looking down upon populated towns and cities. 

Our first stop on the castle-seeing day was Schloss Liebenstein in Neckarwestheim, Germany. This castle was beautiful and very big. It had been converted into a hotel and people can actually stay inside of the castle. We walked the grounds and went passed the golf course. Apparently, it's very expensive to play golf in Germany. I don't know why, but my mom told me that and Sina said it was one of her goals to accomplish the next time she went to America. On the castle grounds there was a lookout tower. We climbed all the way to the top and got the most beautiful view of the nearby vineyards and towns as well as the entire castle. It is amazing to think of who was standing in the lookout tower hundreds of years ago.

Next stop on the day's adventure was Burg Stettenfels in Untergruppenbach, Gemany. This one was a little bit smaller and completely deserted because it was a Wednesday. The castle had a ditch surrounding it and a big wall. It was very pretty and situated up on a hill so we got to look out over everything. We ate lunch in the Biergarten on the grounds and had Bratwursts.

That night, we decided to go to the pub in Talheim as a family where we sat, drank and laughed. It was near the end of the visit and everyone was completely comfortable with each other. It was funny to see my mom and Angelika, her cousin, interact because they are so much alike.