Glorious sunshine with a few clouds, crisp 55-65 degree temperatures & the trees' leaves beginning to turn, a day perfect for another castle tour. Rick Steves recommended the Marksburg Castle, on the Rhine, which has never been destroyed, as one of his favorites. We all agreed--it was great! The castle itself sits high above the river, a white edifice of power. The view from it is incredible, & the tour was excellent even though it was in German with English handouts.
Some interesting facts from the tour: One, people back then slept sitting up, hence the short beds. They believed lying down could bring on death! Two, the toilets's waste just dropped down an outside wall of the castle, so that meant there was hole where invaders might enter. That's why the toilet doors locked from the outside, leaving the one inside locked in. Three: When men were caught cheating on their wives, they were made to wear a big metal mask & be led around on a leash, crawling on all fours & being called pigs.
Dave & I had seen this castle on our Tauck riverboat cruise a few years ago & thought it was great. Karl pronounced it the best castle so far. High praise from a teenager I think!
We saw the kitchen, torture chamber, armor room, chapel, the keep, & bedroom. The kitchen was large, & the guide said 60-70 people would be in it at any given time since it was the warmest place in the entire castle. They even slept there. Here are a few kitchen shots. Notice the big wine press.
They drank only beer & wine (with lower alcohol content than today), not water, because they knew it caused sickness. Most of the water came from cisterns & was truly contaminated. Even the children drank alcoholic drinks. Everyone had their own stone cup which they carried around with them at all times.
This is a picture of the armor room:
As we left, I took this picture of Dana, Jessie & Karl with the Rhine in the background.
And Dave took this one of Jessie & me.
We left the castle & went into the town below it, Braubach, where we ate at a small charming restaurant. My schnitzel came with a fried egg on top & was delicious. The menu was varied. Dana & Jessie had a curry dish, & Karl & Dave had spaghetti. All got thumbs up.
All of a sudden, just before our salads arrived, a band came playing & marching by, right in front of the restaurant windows. As luck would have it, today was the once a year Wine Fest, & all the adults in the parade who weren't playing music were carrying open bottles of wine & pouring it into spectators' glasses. Darn, I didn't have a glass.....but I did have a camera. I hope all these photos give you a sense of the fun & humor there was all around the town. Oom papa bands, period costumes, tractors pulling floats, children in costumes, lots of gaiety----a serendipitous moment for the 6 of us indeed.
After the parade, we went into the local tea & coffee shop & had our infamous sugar/caffeine fix. I think the whole town was there, trying to get a table. One man was sitting alone at a table for 6-8, so we asked if the other seats were taken, & he said yes. That led to one of the serving ladies giving him the what for about saving seats. Dana was translating for us, & it was a little embarrassing but we sat down at his table anyway. His wife soon arrived & squeezed in, & before long, Dana had struck up a conversation with her. Small world story---when she heard that we were from San Francisco, she just beamed & told us their daughter lives in Portland, Oregon, & how much she likes the western United States. Their friends arrived just as we were finishing up our food, so it worked out very well. While waiting in line for the coffee shop WC (water closet), I met a friendly lady who was from the Netherlands & spoke English. She & her husband have lived in the village of Braubach for 5 years after leaving the Netherlands, & they love the place. It was a beautiful setting with jovial, welcoming residents.
Walking back to the car, we came upon a yard sale, & Dana found the cutest set of egg cups which fit inside a big mother hen. It's hand painted pottery, & tomorrow at breakfast, we'll give them a try. Then Dave & I will pick up our Hertz car only a few blocks from the house & head off for Belgium. More later if there's internet at the hotel we booked in Aaken, Netherlands.
THOUGHT OF THE DAY: Don't mess with the German serving lady in her tea shop!
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