Eyenburg Castle

We have a new plan for seeing things here in Germany. There are several places to go for day trips within an hour of our house, so I wrote a bunch down on paper, put them in a jar and we will pull on every Friday night to see where we're going to go that weekend.

The first one we pulled was Eyneburg Castle.The castle was named after the first owner Theodoric van Eyenburg (1260) and stayed in the family until 1786 when the castle and grounds were sold. Castle Eyenburg is currently property of Societe de Carrieres de Hergenrath and is open only occasionaly, but you can roam the grounds as much as you like. The weekend we went there was a flea market/antique sale going on with some added excitement of The Scorpion Triker Gang there for a visit. We wandered around and took a ton of pictures around the castle but had the most fun when we discovered the paths into the woods. It was really cool to imagine stepping back in time, when horses were the mode of transportation or when the people believed in things like elves and faries. It was very peaceful and pretty in the woods , was good exercise for us, and also made us super hungry. (We ended up in Aachen afterwards.)

Enjoy the photos of Eyenburg castle and its Grounds.

One of the trikes there. I believe there must have been 15 in all. This is what I want Josh to get before we move back!

Photos of Eyneburg Castle and Grounds

Photos of Eyneburg Castle and Grounds

Photos Eyneburg Castle and Grounds

Photos Eyneburg Castle and Grounds

Photos Eyneburg Castle and Grounds

Heidelberg

You have to love the military for making Josh go to work close to cool places. Josh has been traveling to Ramstein to help out with an Air Force Reintegration Program over the past few weeks. The kids and I decided to go with him on this trip. In a nut shell, the government has alloted a lot of money to help SP's returning from war zones. They spend a few extra days on their way home in a kind of "safe to diuscuss their experiences" place with the people they have been working closely with for the last 6 months. It is supposed to help them learn to deal with their experiences and kind of how to handle things once they get home. Josh really likes doing this, and I think he may want to do this when he gets out. One of the ideas is to take the group out to a public place to see how they deal/react to being back in a normal setting. I didn't understand this at all, but Josh explained that when they are deployed, the military members get used to people moving out of the way when they walk past or having tons of children mob you for candy. Taking the people out to a public place helps them adjust to being just another Joe-schmo. So, this group went to Heidelberg. We tagged along with Josh on this one and went up to see Schloss Heidelberg. The castle is considered a ruin and one of the most important Renaissance structures north of the Alps. It has only been partially rebuilt since it was demolished in the 17th and 18th centuries. The castle is on the northern part of the Konigstuhl (a nice walk up a 45 degree incline) and has an awesome view of Old Heidelberg. (see above picture)
We happened to visit the castle during a European heat wave so we were climbing in about 92 degree heat. Remember, there is no AC in most of Germany. There was "schvitiszing" galore in our family! We toured most of the castle grounds and there are a ton of pictures following this blurb. After we left the castle, we climbed down 340 stairs and took a quick walk to the centrum. There is a beautiful church smack in the middle and we ducked inside to take a look around. I actually posted pictures of two different churches, so bear with me on that one. They are both really beautiful, but I didn't get the names. Josh is due to go back to Ramstein in a few weeks and we may go again. There is talk that they may go to Trier and I really want to see the Dom there. (A really old church)
Enjoy the pictures!

Shots around castle grounds

Really good shot of Josh and the kids....

You know Jax is thrilled ANYTIME he can impress us with Greek mythology. The debate was, " Which Greek God is this?" I thought Neptune, Josh said Zeus but we were both wrong! It's Dionysis. "Grapes on his headband Mom. DUH!"
Cool gate

Now look close! These are the small and medium size oak casks in the castle. That's right, I said small and medium!

This is the LARGE! I know the picture doesn't do it justice, but HOLY COW!

Are all things bigger in this castle? Well, the doors are!

Inside the castle grounds

Part of the castle grounds. I really love this shot!

A statue in the cetrum. There are water spigets on all four sides and people go up and dring from the fountain.

The front of the church in the centrum.

A fresco inside the church. They were on both sides of and behind the alter.

Stained glass windows.

The ceiling in the church.

The organ inside the church. It was being played as we were walking around. They were warming up for a service.

Skye wanted to light a cadle and say a prayer. This is the face she made when she realized that when she blew out the "lighter candle" she also blew out two prayer candles. Guilt much?!

Skye relighting the candles. Good Skye!