Right under our nose

I mentioned quite a while ago that we wanted to explore Burg Nanstein. Since it is located in the nearby town of Lanstuhl, it would only make sense that we would check it out soon upon moving here, right? Not so. We had to live here at least a year and a half before seeing it! And can I tell you how many times we have driven past this location??? Hundreds.

This castle was built in 1162, and is associated with the Sickingen family. Nanstein is known for an elaborate siege during the Knight's Revolt in 1523. Restoration work continues throughout the castle as we saw new buildings, ladders, etc. scattered around. This is not really the tourist season, so we were lucky that it was open! Many attractions are closed November -March or April because of the poor weather.

We basically spent part of the afternoon exploring the rooms of the castle. I like trying to guess a room's purpose and look for little holes along the walls. These were often used to throw things out onto enemies (tar, rubbish, boiling water, etc). Dungeons and privy's (toilet) are also fun to find, too. There were not many people out exploring on a gloomy Sunday afternoon. That tends to be the day for walking here in Deutschland. Stores are closed-not much else to do!

Logan has to have a snack while we are out. Somebody had the grand idea of bringing small boxes of Smarties. These are not the sweet/tart discs that I enjoyed when I was young. These are miniature, brightly colored chocolate pieces-very similar to M&M@s, but slightly fruity. Very yummy, in my opinion.






Lots of fun arches and architecture.






The "tween" uniform. Hoodie from "store of the moment", skinny leg jeans and Convers@e shoes.

The view of Landstuhl below.
Crazy for taking kids out on a gloomy Sunday afternoon instead of enjoying naps? Probably.