Hello Again!
I have been gone from this travel diary for a while because after getting back from Europe, I turned right around and travelled again to California to visit my grandparents there. I still have quite a few days to go, so here’s day 6!
This is a field with purple flowers that we drove past. The picture is blurry, but I thought it was pretty, with the darker forest in the background.
On this day, we did three activities: we saw Lichtenstein Castle, went to some bear caves, and went to Reutlingen. First, we went to Lichtenstein.
Lichtenstein Castle is a fairly small, very picturesque castle that was built in the 1800s as a reconstruction of a castle from a story written around the 1500s. I can’t remember the exact story right now, but in it, the main character stops at Lichtenstein on his journey. Before going to Lichtenstein, I thought that it was an actual castle from medieval times, and I was a little disappointed to figure out that wasn’t the case! But it was still very beautiful, and nevertheless entertaining to walk through.
The view outside of the castle was amazing!
I was looking though my pictures and didn’t find any from inside the castle, and I was confused for a bit (I must have lost the pictures?) but then I realized that no photos were allowed inside of the castle, so I just have more pictures of the outside. The castle was small, and it had a little place for prayer, for meals, and a small room where furniture could be pushed out of the way for dancing as well. It all looked quite old and very pretty.
The tour guide spoke German on the tour, so it was a bit difficult because my family members who spoke German kept having to translate everything for us who don’t.
One room in the castle had a secret passageway that could be used for escape if the castle was under attack. There was a trap door in the floor, and it lead to the outside through this little door below the castle!
The next stop was a cave where bear skeletons had been found. It was a very fun place to explore! I had never actually been in a cave before. It was dark and cool, and there were many stalactites and stalagmites. The ceiling in some places was very low. Luckily I’m not that tall!
The last place we went was Reutlingen, which was kind of on our way back home, where we stopped for lunch and walked around. Reutlingen is where my Opa’s mother grew up, so we wanted to see her childhood home.
I had tortellini for lunch!
There is a huge church there, and my great uncle said that he could remember playing next to the fountain outside of the church when he would visit my great Oma’s home when he was young.
Here is just one of the statue displays we saw on the trip. It showed a bunch of old-fashioned professions.
And here’s the house, the whole reason why we came here:
…It was under construction. Completely gutted. We had no idea it was going to happen, but it looks like my great grandma’s old house was being totally renovated!
After going to see the house, or what’s left of it, we went back home.
And that is the end of the 6th day! I hope you enjoyed it! Day 7 is the last full day in Germany, and then on the 8th day, we take a train to Paris!
Happy storybook castle building!
Love,
Bee 🐝
Bee 