Tag Archives: castle ruins

Baden-Württemberg

From Wiesbaden to Horben: Pretty as a peacock…

Our last full day in Horben began with another splendid breakfast. I think it was my favorite one of the four we had there. Once again, we were greeted by the same smiling waitress, who seated us at a table that overlooked the splendid open kitchen at Luisenhöhe. After what happened the night before, I was glad to see that no one would be seated near us. The tables around us were cleared of silverware. The lady brought us our coffee and bread, then the wonderful, innovative food we had come to expect. Feast your eyes…

This was my favorite of the breakfasts. I especially liked the cheese toast and the smoked salmon.

After breakfast, we decided to drive to a town called Waldkirch. My German friend, Susanne, had recommended it. I had also seen some people posting about it in a Facebook group about the Schwarzwald. Waldkirch is maybe 35 minutes from Horben. It boasts castle ruins, a treetop trail, a silver mine, and a zoo. We decided to visit the zoo, since we both love to hang out with animals.

On our way to Waldkirch, Bill almost hit some woman who suddenly walked into the crosswalk with no warning. This is a phenomenon we’ve noticed a lot since moving to Germany… people not looking before they step into crosswalks, or before they make a turn. This particular crosswalk was not one with a “green man” to wait for. Germans will wait for the green man if there is one, but if there isn’t, people take their lives into their own hands all the time. Bill survived being run over by a car when he was 16 years old, so he is extra cautious about cars. As surprising as it was for me to see that woman step into traffic, I think it was especially scary for Bill.

When we got to Waldkirch, Bill was a bit confused as to where to park. He finally found a free spot near a sports club. To our great delight, the parking was “kostenlos”– free of charge. We walked around a bit until we found The Black Forest Zoo (Schwarzwaldzoo Waldkirch). Since it was Monday, the place wasn’t busy at all.

Kastelburg: The ruins in Waldkirch

The very pleasant lady who gave us tickets and animal food said if we’d had a Schwarzwald card with a heart on it, we could have gotten in free of charge. We did have a card, but not one with a heart, and we left it in the car. Even if we’d brought it, I think we would have gotten a euro off of the 7,50 euro admission charge. We didn’t mind paying to get in, though. The zoo looks like it could use some funding.

Fish!
Yes, you can bring your dog.

The Schwarzwaldzoo is not very big and, in fact, reminded me more of a Tierpark for children. The exhibits are a bit run down and small. To see the whole thing, you have to walk up a hillside, which is a good exercise. The whole thing takes maybe an hour… two, if you take your time. But, there is a nice playground for children, you can get a snack there, and the animals look like they are well cared for, even if their enclosures could be better. There were a few empty enclosures, and some animals were hidden away. The lynx exhibit, for example, looked deserted during our visit.

However… there was one creature who made the whole visit worthwhile to me… and that was the peacock. The peacock at this zoo was showing off to the peahen, who was not at all interested in his strutting. It was hilarious to watch him fan out his beautiful tail, only to be completely ignored by his much plainer mate.

A short video featuring some of the residents at the Schwarzwaldzoo…
Lovebirds
I remarked that this pheasant looked like Trump…
I made friends with this very friendly cat.

After our visit to the zoo, we decided to have lunch at a Biergarten located right next to it. I don’t have a lot to write about our experience at the Stadtrainsee Restaurant. The food was good, and they have a warm kitchen that doesn’t stop for a pause. However, the service was not very attentive.

This restaurant has a full service Biergarten, meaning that the wait staff brings your food and beverages to you, rather than you going and getting it from a counter. After we were greeted by one of two male servers, we made our orders. Bill had a turkey steak. I had spare ribs. After the food and round of beer were brought to us, it was impossible to get the server’s attention again.

Bill’s turkey steak was slightly more manageable.
The ribs were good, but this was more than I could eat!

What was most appalling was that Bill couldn’t even get the guy’s attention to pay the check. He went up to the counter, and even then, the guy walked away from him, either oblivious or deliberately ignoring him. I don’t understand why a person would act that way on purpose, especially if they wait tables. If you dislike a patron so much that you ignore them completely, wouldn’t you want them to hurry up and pay so they can leave?

It wasn’t a very busy day at all. There were only a few occupied tables. I watched one of the servers sit at a table and smoke a cigarette. The other seemed very preoccupied by his phone. Anyway… at least the food was good. It was more than either of us could eat. We might have taken our leftovers with us, except they charged to box it up, and we really didn’t have the means to store it, anyway. Bill didn’t even bother to give the guy a decent tip. He just rounded up, which he never does.

A place for RVs to get water.

Anyway… after that, we decided maybe we’d visit Staufen, which isn’t that close to Waldkirch. Susanne had also recommended that town. Now that I’ve been to Staufen, I wish we’d just gone there and hung out longer. It is a very cute place, with lots of shopping and dining possibilities, as well as some pretty good buskers. I took a lot of photos and made use of the free WC in the parking lot. Unfortunately, that was all we had time to do, as we needed to get back to the hotel in time for dinner.

Such a beautiful church!
A little library made from a repurposed phone booth.
A parting shot of the castle ruins in Staufen, as we were making our way back to Horben.
A little silliness and a slice of Staufen on a fine April day…

On the way back to Luisenhöhe, I took a few more photos of the very green landscape, flowering trees, and mountains. Once again, I realized why I miss living in Baden-Württemberg. It really is a beautiful part of Germany.

When we got back to the hotel, we decided to have a drink before getting dressed for dinner. The bartender, Pascal, was there. We told him how we spent the day, and he said that the buildings in Staufen were damaged in 2007, when a geothermal project went terribly wrong. Many of the buildings in Staufen date to the 16th century, but now, they are riddled with cracks. A couple of the buildings had to be torn down.

The geothermal project was meant to harness power from geothermal energy. But, to get to the source of the power, the drillers had to “perforate groundwater and a separate layer of anhydrite, a water-free chemical substance.” The process caused the groundwater to bleed into the anhydrite, which increased pressure under the buildings. The chemical reaction resulted in the formation of gypsum, which made the ground swell. Come to think of it, I did notice that there were quite a few building projects going on in Staufen. I guess they are fixing things, to the best of their ability.

Pascal was surprised we went to Waldkirch and Staufen, since they aren’t really near each other. But we had no agenda, other than to see what we could during our time in the area. Now that we’ve been to the Freiburg area, we know there’s plenty more to see.

Pascal brought me a beer and Bill another non-alcoholic cocktail called Ginger Love. He made a silly joke about a weird fetish about loving redheads. I had red hair when we met… although it came from a box.

After we had our round of beverages, we got dressed for our final dinner. Once again, we were taken care of by our Slovak friend, who was equally impressive… Unfortunately, I forgot to get a picture of the menu. Instead, I got a few of the kitchen.

I do remember this was beef and veal with asparagus, Hollandaise sauce, and fennel.
Dessert was made with green peas and ice. It worked!
Another nightcap. Brandy for me, and a scotch for Bill.

After dinner, we went to the restroom before having one last nightcap. On the way out, the Slovak waiter found us, shook our hands, and welcomed us back sometime soon. I may have to take him up on the suggestion. I bet Horben is beautiful in the fall.

In the next post, I will wrap up our visit to beautiful Horben. Stay tuned!

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Champagne Bucket trips, Latvia, Regent Seven Seas Cruise Lines

Riga, Latvia… a place I will need to see more of someday…

Monday, June 26th, we had plans to call on Riga, Latvia. Bill had been there a couple of times before, back when we were living in Germany the first time. That would have been in 2008, or thereabouts. Things have changed a bit since then. As for me, I had never been to Latvia, although I had been wanting to go. I was curious about Riga. Bill said it was a beautiful city. Unfortunately, I didn’t get to see very much of it, because of the “free” excursion I chose that day.

Actually, I’m not sorry we went on that excursion, as it was very interesting and we saw some beautiful countryside in Latvia. But, we didn’t have much time to explore Riga, as the excursion took over five hours. It was the longest of all of the ones we experienced last week. Turaida and Sigulda are two castles that are located about an hour outside of Riga.

The plan was to drive to Sigulda Castle and visit the renovated ruins, visit Kropotkin Manor House, see Gutmana Cave, and visit the Turaida Castle and sculpture park. At the end of the tour, we’d have a brief stop at Riga’s Town Hall square for photos, then drive back to the port.

One critical mistake that Bill and I made was not having lunch before we left the ship. The tour began around lunchtime. We weren’t that hungry when we left, and figured there would be a stop for something, given how long the tour was. We were wrong. There was a cafe near the Sigulda Castle ruins, but we didn’t have a lot of time to visit it. One thing we learned on that trip is that Regent will put a plate and silverware icon on trips where there is food involved. That trip didn’t have that particular icon in its description. Actually, now that I’m looking at it, they didn’t use that icon on our Tallinn tour, either, even though that one did include lunch and beer.

Fortunately, at Sigulda Castle, there were also vending machines, so we were able to get some snacks before we went back to Riga. It really was a good thing, because I got very irritable at the end of our visit to Sigulda Castle. Bill… bless him… knows this is an issue of mine. I get “hangry”. I usually try to carry some candy or something with me for emergencies. It usually happens kind of suddenly, and I’m fine once I have something to bring up my blood sugar.

I enjoyed the Turaida and Sigulda trip, in spite of my “hangry-ness”, for a few reasons. Once again, our guide, named the Latvian version of Eva, talked a bit about the Soviet era and the Latvian attitudes about being in the Soviet Union. Here’s a hint. Most people didn’t like that time and wouldn’t go back to it! We also passed Riga’s KGB Museum (the Corner House), which Eva told us was a good thing that came out of a building where there was once a lot of tragedy and sadness. If we ever get back to Riga, I am going to try to go there.

But I also enjoyed our excursion because I liked visiting Latvia’s largest cave… which isn’t so very large. As you will see in my photos, Gutmana Cave is covered with carvings done hundreds of years ago. It’s also got a stream running through it that, legend has it, bestows eternal youth and good health on those who drink or bathe in its waters. I didn’t drink the water… I already had a cold, and have also known the hell of having a stomach bug on a cruise ship. But I did rinse my hands in the cold water.

Below are some photos of our trip through Riga, and Sigulda Castle… You can see some of the art deco buildings that managed to survive the Soviet era.

Sigulda Castle

As for the castles, they were interesting to look at, but we didn’t have that much time for exploring. And, to be honest, by the time we got to the ruins, I was really tired. It’s tiring listening to someone talk and paying attention. We also did a fair amount of walking, and by the time the tour was ending, I was super hungry and cranky. However, I did enjoy hearing about the legend of Turaida Rose. Click here for more information on that.

Here are some more photos from our excursion, mainly of Gutmana Cave, and a very old country church…

Famous walking sticks in Segulda. We bought one for Bill’s granddaughter.
Our guide telling us about the water.
Carvings
Turaidas
Beautiful old church
Click here for the legend about Turaidas Roze…

We walked back to the entrance of the huge park and I dug into my purse for the many euro coins I was carrying for this occasion. I got a leaded Coke, some sparkling water, and a package of a Latvian snack product called Long Chips. This snack, which is kind of the Latvian version of Pringles, comes in several flavors. In the vending machine, they only had the cheese and mashed potato varieties. We got one package of each, and after I’d had a few chips, I felt a lot better.

Interestingly enough, I just read that Long Chips are actually a relic of Latvia’s Soviet era, having been first made in 1986. The company that made them, once owned by the Soviet government, was eventually purchased by a private company in 1992, and is now available in 25 countries. They sure were a lifesaver last week!

I enjoyed seeing what little I did of Riga’s town hall, especially since there was a man with a beautiful baritone voice singing there. He was singing arias very well, and when I dropped a couple of euros in his hat, he bowed graciously and thanked me in English. I took a lot of photos and recorded a little of his performance, but mostly I sat on a bench and enjoyed listening to him sing. I found it inspiring.

A lovely singer…
Town Hall doesn’t suck, either.

I also liked that excursion because it included some good shopping, especially at Sigulda. I bought some beautiful silver earrings from a designer there, as well as a wallet for me, and a new leather bound notebook for Bill, and a walking stick for Bill’s granddaughter. Prices were very reasonable. And, I also loved the Latvian folk music playing where I bought my earrings, so I downloaded that, too.

When we got back to the ship that afternoon, I realized that it was karaoke night in the Splendor lounge. I usually love karaoke, although I was a little skeptical of how good it would be on Regent Splendor. SeaDream had karaoke on one of our cruises and it was honestly the worst karaoke show I’d ever attended. But, in spite of that, I sang a few songs and met my friend Meryl and her parents, who have now sadly passed on to the great beyond. Meryl is in the music business. In fact, she and her husband work with a major rock star. She asked me if I was in the music business! So it wasn’t a total loss. Meryl and I are still friends today.

The other thing that gave me pause is that karaoke started very late at night and only ran for about 90 minutes, which didn’t seem long enough. And I was also dealing with the remnants of my cold, and my voice was, frankly, a bit fucked.

In any case, Bill and I got dressed up and went to dinner in the Compass Rose. Unfortunately, dinner was a bit of a disappointment. I decided to have scallops, which were billed as a main course. But my dish only had three scallops on the plate, and it wasn’t really enough to satisfy me, even with the roasted quail starter I had. Dessert, too, was a bit of a disappointment. I had rum cake that was much too sweet, and lacked a promised scoop of Tahitian vanilla ice cream.

Black Forest hot chocolate for me.
Irish coffee for Bill.
I think this was a Thai flavored soup, but I don’t remember.
The quail was good, though.
Puny main course.
Grouper for Bill.
This came with ice cream, but sat a little too long before delivery.
This was supposed to come with ice cream. It was very sweet and I couldn’t finish it.

Yes, I know I could have and should have complained, and/or ordered more food. But everyone seemed so harried, and I was still feeling kind of crabby after our excursion. So we just beat it out of the dining room and went back to the Splendor Lounge, where Aldo and Dimas were playing music. We were the only ones in there at first, but Ger and Gail soon joined us, having decided to abandon the show in the theater. Bill and I never did make it to a show, so I can’t comment on the quality of the productions on Regent Splendor. But Gail and Ger said they weren’t impressed. During that time, I also learned how to use the “jukebox” in the Splendor Lounge.

After a little while, some teenagers showed up in the bar, obviously wanting to do karaoke. It got very busy, and Gail and Ger very abruptly beat a retreat when the place filled up. We probably should have done the same thing! I did get to sing a song. I chose “When You Say Nothing At All”, by Alison Krauss. To be honest, I think the only reason I chose that song was because I usually do it in the piano bar on SeaDream and I know it pretty well. Unfortunately, due to my cold, my voice wasn’t quite 100 percent, and I botched the high notes.

There were some really good performers, though… people with genuine talent. One guy sang a dead on rendition of “Valerie” by Amy Winehouse. Another guy did a hilarious version of “America” by Neil Diamond. Bill and I stayed for most of it, but left about a half an hour before karaoke ended. It was way past our bedtimes! I don’t think the teens ever did get up to sing. They might have been overwhelmed by the size of the crowd. There were a lot of singers, which is why I think karaoke should have been longer. I also didn’t like that it was run by theater people. It needs a real host. But that’s just my cranky opinion as a karaoke snob. Actually, I think I might prefer a piano bar, which Regent doesn’t have.

I was troubled enough by my own performance that on Monday, I decided to record my version of “When You Say Nothing At All”. It turned out great, if I do say so myself. Or, at least I didn’t mess up the high notes. Being healthy again is a good thing!

I wanted to dedicate this to Bill on Regent Splendor, but I’ll just have to do it on YouTube…

I did also get some photos of the top decks on Regent. Below are some pictures I took. It was the one day we ventured up there… These photos are all from the top of the ship. You can play tennis, mini golf, bocci, or shuffleboard.

Someday, I hope to come back and do Riga properly.

One last thing. When we got back to our stateroom on Tuesday night, we found the door standing wide open. No harm was done, but we don’t know how long the door was left open. It seemed like a pretty serious slip in service. We did speak to the steward about it, and it never happened again during our sailing.

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castles, Hessen

Beautiful Burg Eppstein!

Last fall, when Bill and I were househunting, we happened to visit a home in a place called Lorstein, which is very close to the cute little town of Eppstein.  As we were passing Eppstein, I noticed castle ruins that looked beautifully preserved and inviting.  For months, I’ve been wanting to go back and check out the ruins.  Well, today we’ve had beautiful weather.  The sun is out.  The temperatures are agreeable.  I suggested visiting another nude spa, but Bill was quite happy to go along with my alternate suggestion of visiting Burg Eppstein, castle ruins that have some fame for being the place where ABBA’s video for “Waterloo” was filmed in 1974.

Burg Eppstein!

Eppstein is easily reached from where we live.  It’s maybe fifteen or twenty minutes away via country road, but since it’s in the Taunus hills, it has a totally different landscape.  I was sorry we didn’t find a suitable house in the Eppstein area because it’s very charming.  They even have half timbered houses up there.  We easily found free parking and had no problem finding the town’s big draw, its castle ruins.  Here are some photos from our visit!

We parked next to an old “Friedhof”– cemetery.  Then it was a short walk to the Burg.

 

Walking down the cobblestone road to the ruins..

 

Right in front of the somewhat gentle slope up the hill to the Burg.  On Saturdays, the museum doesn’t open until 2:00pm, but you can still walk around the grounds and climb the tower.  It’s 4 euros per adult to enter, 2,50 for kids.

 

Information… 

 

View on the way up the path.

Don’t be put off by the closed door.  It’s unlocked.  Just open it and and pay the lady who takes admission fees.

 

A little maze, where kids were playing.  There is also a playground near the castle ruins.

 

The playground.  We had no reason to approach it, but if you come with children, maybe they’ll enjoy it.

Beware of the dog!

 
 

The climb is worth it.  There are nice views at the ruins, which date from 1122.

 

It appeared that some kind of play rehearsal was going on today.  We saw many people dressed in medieval costume, including several adorable kids and one guy who bore a striking resemblance to Sting.  They seemed to be rehearsing lines for some kind of production while we visited.  I almost ran into a pint sized guard, who wore a helmet and carried a sword.

Old style cooking?

Rehearsal time.

“Hark!  Who goes there?”

Several dogs were up there, too.  One Labrador Retriever was snoozing happily in the sun.

 

A little vineyard and more medieval stuff… but we couldn’t get any closer.

 

No thoroughfare.

 

 

But you can read all about it.  All of the stations have explanations in German and English.  You can also get an audioguide if you want one.  We didn’t bother.  We also didn’t go into the museum because we’d seen the whole grounds in about 40 minutes and didn’t want to wait for the museum to open at 2:00pm.  We were hungry and it was almost time for the dreaded restaurant pause… dreaded only for hungry people, right?

An herbal and tree garden.

A toilet hole.  This was fenced off, but I managed to put my camera through the bars to get this shot.

Another shot of the vineyard.

 

Yep… another narrow, winding, spiral staircase.  We climbed up the tower to get some nice views of Eppstein.  This wasn’t nearly as exhausting as climbing the tower at the Frankfurt cathedral was.  I did lose my breath, though.

A good excuse to rest for a minute before climbing the last bit.  The stairs weren’t as scary as the ones at the Mandelburg Ruins near Freudenstadt were, either.

An example of how the tower was defended back in the day.

And a flag at the top of the tower.

 
 

Someone’s little dog joined us at the top.  He was very cute and friendly.

I zoomed in on this… I noticed it during our fall trip to Eppstein, too.  Will have to find out what it is.

Nice views!  Worth losing my breath!

 

I think this is my favorite shot!

 

Once we were finished visiting the Burg, we stopped by a local hotel for lunch.  Since the weather was so fine, we ate outside.

We found good food and a warm welcome here. 

 

This was our view from where we were sitting.

I can’t post without a shot of Bill.

 

I had the Salmon Mediterranean, which came with a salad and two sides.  This was a nice salad– I shared it with Bill.  I liked how it was artfully accented with balsamic vinegar.

My salmon came with noodles and a mustard sauce.  The noodles had a different sauce that had the slightest essence of horseradish.  The mustard sauce on the salmon was mild and comforting.  I probably wouldn’t opt to use so much sauce left to my own devices, but I liked the way this fish was cooked.  It was perfect.

Bill had the housemade tagliatelle with spinach and gorgonzola cheese.  He really enjoyed it.

Bill waited for me to finish my beer, then we settled up with the waiter.  It was about 41 euros before the “Trinkgeld”.  Bill gave the guy a good tip, which made him beam and use the word “Ihn”.  I don’t know the significance of that, though Bill has studied German and said it was kind of cool.

We didn’t spend a lot of time in Eppstein today.  It was a bit rolled up, even for a Saturday.  I didn’t see any businesses open or other open restaurants other than the hotel.  There was another place that opened at 5:30pm.  I still really enjoyed our visit today.  It’s hard to believe this little town is so close to where we live, yet has such a different landscape.  It kind of reminds me of Nagold vs. Unterjettingen.  They are only a few kilometers apart, but they look so different.

Anyway… I’m glad we made the time to see this well-preserved ruin.  Now that the weather has finally improved, we will have to get busy seeing other sites up here.  Monday, we are headed for Cologne for the first time since May 2012– however, we’re going there to see The Eagles.  Should be fun, anyway!

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Sundays

Thanks to Ruine Mandelberg, our Sunday wasn’t ruined!

This morning, Bill called my attention to a swollen cut on my dog, Zane’s, face.  He and our other dog, Arran, had a fight last night.  After Bill broke them up, he thought both dogs were okay.  Neither appeared to have a scratch.  In fact, Zane had actually come out the victor, having scored a rare rawhide treat that Arran had momentarily let out of his sight.  We were marveling at that, since Zane is not really a fighter and tends to be the less aggressive of our dogs.  But then this morning, there was that swollen place on his face.

Zane enjoyed the freshly mowed grass yesterday, before he and Arran had their little spat.  He’s going to be ten in November and both he and Arran have had cancerous mast cell tumors that have had to be surgically removed.  But they’re still plugging along and at each other.  

Bill and I don’t have kids together, so we tend to be neurotic about our dogs.  Because puncture wounds can get infected quickly, Bill decided to take Zane to the on duty vet, a gruff guy in Herrenberg named Dr. Katz.  Dr. Katz took a look at Zane, said he was fine, and told Bill to keep the spot clean.  Then he said goodbye without even bothering to charge Bill for the visit.

Since Zane seemed to be okay, Bill and I decided to go out to lunch in Nagold.  Afterwards, we had plans to visit Ruine Mandelberg, another one of my highway finds during our many recent trips to the Black Forest.  I had noticed the sign for it as we passed the turnoff for the little hamlet of Bösingen, a true one horse district if I’ve ever seen one.  I had looked up Ruine Mandelberg on the Internet and I wasn’t sure if it was something that would excite me, but since it’s pretty close to where we live, we decided today was the day to see it.

We started in Nagold, where parking is free on Sundays and you never know what’s going to happen. Lunch was at Provenciale, a little Italian restaurant near the main square.  We had eaten there before, but it had been awhile.  For some reason, this restaurant does not get good reviews on Trip Advisor.  I don’t know why.  Our experiences there have been good.  In fact, today we both enjoyed our pasta dishes.  I especially liked mine.

We enjoyed malty hefeweizens.  Sometimes, when I drink one of these, I taste Ovaltine.  That sounds strange until you realize that beer is malty and so is Ovaltine.  Bill had to move as the sun did.


Bill enjoyed cheese filled tortellini with spinach, ham, and gorgonzola cheese sauce.  He said it was delicious, even if he preferred yesterday’s mushroom extravaganza more.  Personally, I preferred his choice for today, if only because it didn’t smell of fungus!  Sigh– if I only liked mushrooms, my life would be so much easier!


I went with the very safe Tagliatelli Salmone, made with cream sauce and very tender, delicious pieces of salmon.  I loved it.  What can I say?  I like comfort food.  It shows… especially on my ass.  

 

This particular restaurant also specializes in ice cream and we saw plenty of people enjoying fancy Italian/German style ice cream treats today.  I think many people were substituting ice cream for lunch!  Our bill came to 27 euros, which Bill rounded up to 30.  Before we left, we caught the Albanian cultural/dance club Shota marching by.  My German friend says they were performing at Kinderfest today.  I caught a short video clip of them parading by.  I’ll have to see if I can upload it to YouTube.

After lunch, we got back on B28 and headed for Ruine Mandelberg.  We drove through tiny Bösingen, which has an interesting looking antique shop, a gasthaus, a church, and lots of pretty scenery.  There’s a road where cars are not supposed to go unless they are going to the ruins.  There’s a small parking area near a park/picnic area.  It’s free to park there and, as you can see below, there’s playground equipment for kids.

A map of the sights in the area.  If you wanted to, you could take a nice hike here.  There are lots of trails.

It looked like a group was having a picnic today.

 

We parked the car and started walking.  It was about 1.5 kilometers to the ruins themselves, though there were a couple of other trails and roads that made Bill nervous we weren’t going the right way.  

 

But then we rounded a corner and easily found the ruins, which date from the 12th century.  Actually, according to Wikipedia, the 11th century ruins predeceased what is there now.  The first time the castle was mentioned in documents was in 1287.  The castle burned down during the peasant revolts in 1525 and was never rebuilt.

A sign offering a brief history… in German, naturally!

The community of Pflazgrafenweiler purchased the property in 1970 and renovated what was left of the ruins.  In 1975, they renovated the keep, which is 35 meters high and offers nice views of the surrounding countryside.  Below are some pictures I took during our visit.


First glance of the tower.  A family of four was at the top when we first arrived.  They met us at the bottom as I was wondering whether or not I really wanted to climb up the extremely tight spiral staircases.  The parents were encouraging us in German, telling us it wasn’t unlike climbing the church spires in Ulm!

 

The first steps seem narrow…

 

And the tower seems high…  You do get two opportunities to pause on the way up and down.

 

But those steps are extremely narrow.  You must hold on to the railing and the center or risk falling.  Bill got dizzy going up the tight spiral.

 

But then you reach the top…  Thank GOD!  It’s very well fortified, so there’s no need to worry about falling.  Unfortunately, some people left trash up there.

 

At the top of the keep, we were rewarded with some very beautiful views.  Below are some pictures from the top of the tower.


This isn’t a great shot, mainly because the barrier prevented me from getting more of the grounds in the picture.  You can see the cistern on the left, which is unfortunately full of trash.

A couple of closer pictures of the cistern from the ground.

After a few minutes, we decided to climb back down.  Going down was less strenuous, but a bit scarier.  You can see how far down it is as you climb down.  I am very cautious about climbing, so I tend to go slowly.  The last thing I need is to faceplant in a tower.  When we got to the outside steps, I realized that might have been the best spot for picture taking, especially within the ruins.  Here is a 360 tour of the ruins.

Directions for other areas of interest.  I was too sweaty and dirty to hike more.

 

One last look at the tower.

Bill gazes at the view.

A cave?

With a friendly ghost?

Bars on the window…  wonder what for!

Auf wiedersehen, Ruine Mandelberg!

I couldn’t resist taking pictures of this pretty church we passed going in and out of the little hamlet.

I think these ruins are worth seeing if you’re interested in old castle ruins dating from the 12th century.  It might also make an okay stop on the way to Freudenstadt or some of the other attractions in the Black Forest.  It doesn’t take long to see the ruins, but if you wanted to hike longer, you certainly could, and the area is pretty and offers good picnic/play opportunities.  I’m glad we stopped by.  I was also considering visiting Herrenberg’s new Schönbuchturm, but figured it would be crowded, since it just opened yesterday.  Maybe we’ll do that next week!

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Sundays

Yet another wonderful Sunday in Nagold… and another uphill hike!

Because the weather was just so perfect today and I was feeling especially energetic, Bill and I decided to make up for all the lazing around and drinking we did yesterday.  We went to Nagold for lunch, then decided to hike up to Hohennagold Castle, a 12th century ruined castle on a high hill.  Remember, I am in my 40s and not as fit as I could be.  I also hiked up to Wurmlinger Chapel this morning and that, in and of itself, was a workout.  I don’t know what got into me, but dammit, I did it.  And now I’m sure I will sleep well tonight.  Of course, I saw plenty of older and even elderly Germans trekking up the hill.  If I keep up with days like today, maybe I’ll lose my beer gut.

We started with a stop at Longwy, which is a bar and restaurant next to the Nagold River.  We have eaten there before and I was hoping to try a new place today.  We ended up going there because I wanted shade.  It turned out to be a good choice because it’s a lot of fun to sit there and people watch… and dog and duck watch.

We started with Hochdorfer Krystalweizens…

 

Then we did some carb loading.  I had a flammkuchen.  I had ordered a Greek one, but they brought out bacon and onion.  I had already eaten a piece when the correct one showed up.  Tut mir lied!  I liked my dish.  It wasn’t too heavy.  Bill had penne pasta with spicy tomato sauce.  And it really was very spicy.  Being from Texas, he likes spicy food but even he was saying this was pretty hot stuff.  

Watching people boating… it’s a little more laid back in Nagold than it is in Tuebingen.

I had to get a shot of this… an adorable border collie was taking a swim.  I was jealous, even though the water in the river is a little scummy.  We saw a dead fish floating by, too.

 

After lunch, I suggested that we attempt to visit the castle ruins.  Bill was a little skeptical, given our walk this morning.  But he was game to try.

Going up…

 

One of many long, steep switchbacks up the hill…  At least it was shaded.

Be a friend to nature…

 

These little stations were very handy places to stop for a rest… and I did need to stop a few times.  I appreciated the educational nature of these activities.  There’s no reason why one can’t learn while taking a breather.

 

A shot of the gate.  We were  actually stopped there for a few minutes because I wanted a clear shot of it.  Several people were stopped there because a mouse was lying near the gate in its death throes.  Several kids were wanting to play with it while the adults were trying to figure out what to do.  Finally, a man got a tissue from his wife and picked the poor mouse up.  He moved it to a place where it could die in peace.

The views were positively majestic.

This was open from 2 until 5.  Climb to the top and have a look at all of Nagold and its surroundings.

As I climbed up, I was reminded of a scene in the film In Bruges, where the protagonist runs into several fat Americans who were about to try to climb a tower.  Having just been up the tower himself, the man knew it was a tight squeeze.  He tried to warn the Yanks, but they took him for being rude.  I made it up just fine, but it is a bit of a narrow stairway.

 
See?

Yes, that is a biergarten below.  Leave it to Germans to reward a steep climb with beer!  Or coffee and cake, if you prefer… There are also restrooms up there.

Fireplace.

Looks like lovelocks are starting to make an appearance here.

There’s no cost to visit Hohennagold, unless you plan on enjoying a snack.  We were sure glad for a beer break.  They were served to us in ice cold frosted mugs.  I have not seen those outside of South Carolina.  I must say, it was very refreshing!  I liked that the coffee and cake were served on real dishes and not paper plates or styrofoam mugs.  Classy and environmentally friendly, too!

Needless to say, I highly recommend Hohennagold.  And when you’re finished with the hike, you can stop by the freibad for a swim or check out the super cool playground that even had sprinklers for the kids!  I was impressed to see adults playing, too.  I just love that about Germany.  People play outside here.

On the way out of town, we passed one of the fountains in front of a busy restaurant.  I saw the cutest little toddler boy in a diaper.  He flashed me a grin and when I smiled back and said hello, his face lit up into a full blown smile.  Made me feel really good to see that!  I’m so glad we went to Nagold today.  We had a wonderful time.  And I’m so glad we live just minutes away from Nagold so I can hang out there whenever I want to!

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