Burg Lichtenberg

I've read that there are over 20,000 castles/ruins here in Germany so I wanted to get started on seeing some. Many are closed for the winter season (until March),  so we will continue our castle touring in a couple of months. Anyways, Burg Lichtenberg is a short and easy drive from us (thanks to the GPS), and we could wander around the grounds at our leisure.  

The castle had great views of the surrounding countryside

The castle was built around 1200, and faced plundering and fires during the French Revolution which destroyed most of the interior. It has since been restored, and now houses a restaurant, hostel, and 3 museums.

While we were wandering around the grounds, Corey stumbled upon a room in one of the castle towers   that was full of musicians- we found out that they meet together every so often to jam. The group consisted of Germans, young and old, with various woodwind and brass instruments. They invited us in to listen/play after Corey explained that I was a piano teacher. They let us know that today's group featured two men from Syria playing a native tune on a drum and stringed instrument called an oud, and everyone else was to improvise to their song. It was a neat experience, and reminded me of my days at the Purple Piano of fellow musicians just gathering together to share their love of music.

Trier Christmas Market

We decided to take a trip to a Christmas market in the city of Trier, as we had heard that it was one of the bigger ones to visit.  After about an hour drive, we arrived in the city and easily found parking in a pay-to-park lot near the Electoral Palace. I'm sure the garden and property is beautiful in the warmer months, but this time of year I was too cold to explore! Also nearby was the Aula Palatine (the Basilica of Constantine) that was interesting to see (sadly I did not get any pictures of this..). 

The Electoral Palace

The downtown area is more modern,  but also included some traditional German architecture 

We walked a short distance and followed the crowd into the Christmas market area, which was full of vendors selling gluhwein (spiced hot wine), hot cocoa, bratwurst, ornaments, holy and mistletoe, gingerbread, and much more- so much to see! The crowd was a little overwhelming but we found a less crowded area to stand and eat some food, in front of the Cathedral of Saint Peter. I ate mini Nutella pancakes with marzipan, and Corey opted for the flammkuchen.  

enjoying some gluhwein

vendors

making our way through the crowd toward the Cathedral

In front of the Cathedral we listened to some musicians playing Christmas Carols, and did some people watching. Soon it was too cold to explore anymore, and our paid parking spot was about to expire! Overall, I enjoyed the Trier market but I am excited to see others next year. 

The Cathedral of Saint Peter

a giant German Christmas pyramid 

a fancy manhole cover :)

Heidelberg Castle

Happy New Year! The sightseeing Smiths have been very busy in 2015… first and foremost, we had a sweet baby boy who makes our life complete. Second, we moved from Okinawa, Japan, to Ramstein, Germany. This was a big move for us; it was our first move as a married couple and we both learned a lot about what to do and what not to do during this time. But, that is another post for another day. Anyways, I'm starting off the new year with trying to keep up with some of our travels now that we are in Europe. I'm going to start with the first city we visited: Heidelberg, Germany.

The Castle overlooks old downtown Heidelberg

Heidelberg is about an hour drive away via the autobahn, through countryside and vineyards- but on this day it was foggy and the views were not that great (it has literally rained or stayed overcast every single day since we've been here). We were destined for Heidelberg Castle. It being a Sunday, I didn't realize that most shops/restaurants would be closed so I guess we lucked out that the castle stayed open to tourists. We bought tickets to walk around the grounds but didn't know you had to buy a separate ticket to go inside! Oh well, we will save that for another trip, I suppose.

the Castle was built around 1214 for Louis I, and later expanded by Rupert III

a little excited to be here?

 Every street we walked down was so picturesque- what a beautiful old town

a view from the top

After visiting the castle, we decided to walk around the downtown area and find something to eat.  We found an Irish Pub that was open (and looked stroller friendly). It was not too busy and a had nice pub atmosphere with decent food. After lunch I had the most amazing gelato i've ever tasted- mine was cappuccino flavor, Corey went with the zimt (cinnamon). We plan to return to Heidelberg in the warmer months and explore a little more!