June 13: Castles!!

Germany is excellent castle country.  We visited two of the coolest castles...on the same day!  One because it was a ruin you could prowl around, the other because OMG would you look at the pictures?!!  Also, the Rhein river valley...a beautiful, beautiful place and drive.

 In the stocks at Rheinfuls castle.

Amazing views of the Rhein from the tower. 

The Rheinfuls ruin...

Lunch on the Rhein. 

 Burg Eltz castle, hidden in the hills and owned by the same family for 850 years.

Would you look at this place?

June 12: Ummmmmm

Well, let's just say that German road signs are cryptic.  And they don't put some towns on the map.  And we can't read German, so if there were some more helpful instructions posted when we hit a closed road, um....

So this day was supposed to be a more driving-heavy day with stops in a walled city and in the area where I lived with my parents when my dad was in the Air Force.  Unfortunately, it ended up just being a driving day.  Sad face.  I really would have liked to see where I lived as a toddler, but by the time we reached the general area, we all just wanted to get to our overnight stop and get out of the car.  We did have a nice lunch stop in Ulm, which is charming.

We stopped in Osthofen, a very small town close to the Rhine, and we got lucky by staying at this adorable, hilarious inn that had suits of armor in our suite and a medieval feasting hall on the premises.  The owner was so kind, and his dad took us to feed some ponies and walk around his vineyard.  A nice end to the day.

 King Maximilian.

 Sunset in Osthofen.

Everyone needs a suit of armor in their room!  

June 11: Austria

We had hoped to get a good hike up to a waterfall this day, but with poor maps we ended up just having a long walk along this lake in Maurach, Austria.  It was still really hot!! So a dip in the lake was quite welcome.  Then onward to Germany with a quick coffee break in Innsbruck.  Innsbruck was actually quite crowded and had an unattractive sprawl.  Still you can't be too disappointed in a city ringed with mountains.  In Germany, we found a hotel right on the square in a little city called Kempten.   BTW, the Germans (and the Austrians) do drive fast.  But they drive well, so I thoroughly enjoyed the autobahn driving!

 Passed this along the way.

 Those two little dots are Max and Maggie.  This lake was actually an extraordinary turquoise blue!  

 We took a quick coffee break in Innsbruck, Austria.  Beautiful setting, cute Old Town, but the town seems to have a bit of ugly sprawl.

Dinner on the square.  Always nice.  The Radler helps, too.