A Castle near Kassel

This is the land of Grimm's fairy tales, and when you visit the local castles you can really feel it! I half expected to see a princess with her pointed, veiled hat riding off with her handsome prince on a white steed!

I'll take this over Neuschwanstein any day, having now visited both. We were all alone at this castle, and there wasn't a tourist gift shop around for miles. This is the way to experience Germany, I think. Although we played tourist for the first week, the past week has been with family and friends, and we've had the chance to experience small-town life in Germany and to visit non-touristy, but at least as fascinating, and history-rich sights.

This afternoon we'll head to Berlin with Laura's family (whom we absolutely adore!), and then on Monday morning we'll take Tom to the airport for his flight back to Seattle. Then Elisabeth and I will continue on to Heidelbeg (perhaps with Laura's sister, who has a break from the university), Würzburg, and finally to Nurnberg to visit my dear friend Thomas (and I will finally get to meet his wife, who I have spoken to on the phone quite a few times, and who I ike a lot) and to have a mini Blogger meet-up (Christina and Blythe... can't wait!) before getting on the train and heading for Frankfurt for another Blogger meet-up (Jen, J, Geoffrey and...?) and (sob, sob) getting on the plane to Seattle.