Just about to touch down and the pilot gunned it and climbed very steep out of Frankfurt hauling butt! The plane in front of us hit a flock of small birds and the airport crew needed time to inspect the runway. An odd feeling.
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| Off loaded onto a bus on the runway to go to customs |
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| Very slow process |
Wow! What an afternoon! We spent from 10 a.m. until 4:15 p.m. walking all over and exploring the little village of Budigen, which is where the castle is located. We are staying in a castle our first night in Europe! We ate breakfast at an outdoor cafe. The kids went with the safe bet, which was written in English. Julie and I gambled on what looked like a traditional breakfast for two. It was, just not the type we are used to! We had mini hard boiled eggs; smoked salmon, with cucumber slices and dill spread; a meat, cheese and fruit plate; espresso; and champagne. We stumbled into quite a delightful meal.
After finishing our meal, the four of us explored every nook and cranny of the village. The museum had artifacts clear back to "Indian" type people, who inhabited the area. There were also photos of the extensive restoration projects in the village. A miniature topal model of the surrounding countryside is one of the most detailed models I've ever seen.
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| Our bed at the castle. No queen or king size mattresses here! Single mattresses...do you want one or two? |
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| Another view of our room. |
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| Brandon in hall outside our room, on the left. |
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| Julie and the kids in front of the castle. |
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| Main house, inside the castle walls. |
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| Our building, which is the outside perimeter of the castle. |
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| Courtyard in the center of the castle. |
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| In the center of the main area we would think of as a castle. |
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| More shots from that center area. |
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| Cheers! Breakfast of champions there Julie! |
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| Kids having breakfast at an outdoor cafe. |
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| Espresso...ahhhhh...but look at our eyes, we're still tired! |
The girls went into a little clothing shop to look. The prices weren't bad at all. Rachel bought a scarf. We walked through a little market, to see what it was like. The shopping carts were literally the size you would expect a three year old to play with. Tiny! Later we followed a trail, running behind the castle, which led to a public swimming pool. The pool had a huge diving platform and a big spiral water slide.
A late lunch/early dinner was held at a little cafe in the shopping area. Salads, sandwiches and mineral waters were consumed, but not really desired. We are all pretty screwed up at this point. We are tired, hot and "time disoriented". Just before the cafe, we snuck into a restored church. It was beautiful! Upon returning to the room, Rachel and Julie went and showered. Brandon and I layed down in the courtyard, under the tree, to wait. It was peaceful and there was a nice breeze blowing. Soon I drifted away into a mild state of napping. Still kind of hearing everything, but refreshed upon rising. My turn in the shower! It's going to be a cold shower, since there's no air conditioning in this castle. Our room has four chambers. Our bedroom, with tow single beds mushed together. The kids bedroom, with two single beds. A luggage storage room, between the bedrooms. Finally, a bathroom off that chamber. (Oh yeah, The bottle of our 2009 Sangiovese made the transatlantic flight unscathed!) The shower was interesting. The tub floor was about 6" higher than the bathroom floor. The wall of the tub was higher than the ones at home. This makes for wet and wild acrobatics! The shower is a handheld unit, with a vertical bar, not high enough for me. This handheld unit makes rinsing ALL areas easy though! By now it's about 6:30 p.m.
(A little side note. Upon returning, I installed a handheld shower unit in our upstairs shower. We absolutely love this way of showering!)
Fell asleep for a while. Felt like all night. I think it was only for an hour and a half. Going to change clothes and go have a beer. We walked back to the little town square, where the fountain was, and onto the patio of an Italian cafe. The owner was an older man, who immediately went for his son, when he figured out we are American. His son was very nice, but only spoke a few words of English. Fortunately, those words were "beer", "lager", "good" and "thank you". We ordered a lager. It was wonderful. Then we ordered an Italian dessert, which had coffee or coffee powder, ice cream and some kind of liqueur. WOW! Then I had some fun trying to order a "dark" beer. By saying Guinness and the word like, with some hand gestures, he understood. It was almost a dessert quality beer. Not harsh, like Guinness. We sat and talked. While we were there, a lady rode up on a bicycle, with two attached baskets. You can tell she goes to the market, using her bike. Anyway, she sat down and drank two beers, while talking to the owner and his son. There was another table, where three Germans sat, talking with a Brazilian lady. Four older German men were at a far table, talking and downing drafts. It was a pleasant evening, with a cool breeze. Our drinks and dessert came to 19 euros ($26). All the beers came in one size...1.5 liter.
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| Brandon demonstrating how small the streets are! |
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| Fountain in the town square of Budigen |
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| The restored church in Budigen |
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| Late lunch/early dinner at the cafe. We are all fading fast! |
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| Before you puritans get all bunched up, it's mineral water! |
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| We were losing Rachel really fast! |
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| The gates in Budigen, leading out of the shopping area. Great little chocolate shop on right! The yellow star on the right is from a restaurant we looked for forever and couldn't find. Here it was closed down! |
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