Days 8-10: Landstuhl & Heidelberg

Tag!

During the past few days we've gotten to tour two more castles (I should be a princess by now) and caught up with some good family friends, the Sanchez family. Genießen!

On Monday, we went to see Burg Nanstein, which was about a 15 minute walk from Eunice and Andy's place. It was built around the year 1162 under the rule of  Holy Roman Emperor Frederick I, who began its construction as additional defense for the Palatinate.

Tree carving we passed on our way up to the castle.

The next day, Eunice took us on an hour-long drive to Heidelberg. Here we got to see Heidelberg Castle, probably the most beautiful and elaborate of the three castles we've visited thus far. The oldest part of the castle was built before 1214. Since then, there has been a lot of destruction (twice due to lightning bolts) and reconstruction. You can tell the difference between older and newer structures partially by looking at the bricks; older bricks have single holes in them (a tour guide told Eunice that back in the day they used some sort of rope pulley system to lift/stack them). Apparently Hitler used to host parties in this very castle.

Pulled this photo from Google so you can get a feel for its grandiosity.

300+ steps to get to the top.

This was my favorite part of the castle because you can see through the inside, since half of it fell off.

The Old Bridge.

To finish off the day, we headed over to the Sanchez family's house for (a very, very good) dinner. I think it's been... 5 years since we've seen them? They are such a fun and kind family. Seeing them made me miss my parents even more.

That's it for now. Tschüss!

P.S. I started a coaster collection when I first got here and it's slowly starting to accumulate :)

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Days 3-7: Kaiserslautern, Germany | Brussels & Ghent, Belgium

Bonjour!!!

It's been a few days since I've posted. Brace yourselves... lots of pictures.

On Thursday, we took the train to Kaiserslautern, an area that reminded me of Carytown/downtown Richmond -- boutiques, cafes, busy sidewalks, etc.

I swear I'm a 5 year old trapped in a 20 year old's body.

Then, Belgium happened. I don't think I've ever done and seen so much in one weekend. We stayed in Brussels, the capital of both Belgium and the EU. Brussels is historically dutch-speaking, but the city has seen a major shift to French (hence the French greeting at the beginning of the post!) ever since the country's independence. You'll see a lot of road signs and street names written in both languages. 

We passed 10 Aston Martins on the way to Brussels. Such sexy cars.

Delirium Villa/Village is a popular alley of bars in Brussels. We went to Delirium Cafe, a bar known for its long beer list, standing at 2,004 different brands as recorded in the The Guinness Book of Records.

Kriek lambic, a Belgian beer made by fermenting lambic with sour Morello cherries. Best beer I've ever had.

We walked over to the Grand Place, or Grote Markt, the central square of Brussels. It is one of the city's most famous landmarks and is a UNESCO World Heritage site (second one we've seen in the past 3 days, that we know of anyway).

Now, Brussel's most famous landmark of all... Manneken Pis, a 2-foot-tall bronze statue of a boy taking a piss. The legends behind it are as silly as the statue itself. However, the Belgians take this thing very seriously. There's even a non-profit called The Friends of Manneken-Pis that reviews hundreds of costume designs submitted each year and choose only a small number to be worn by the boy statue.

Finally we got to enjoy Brussels bustling nightlife. 

Coolin' it like locals.

On our second day in Belgium, we tried some Belgian chocolate and then we trained over to Ghent. It just so happened that it was the first day of Gentse Feesten, the biggest festival in all of Europe. This year was the festival's 170th anniversary. I could tell just by the atmosphere that these people have so much love for their city and for each other.

Sunrise from our hotel window.

Cranberry pistachio dark chocolate. 

The first thing we did is bought greasy food from one of the trucks at the festival. Belgian fries topped with chili and a Bicky Burger.

Some pictures from the festival's parade...

Also in the city of Ghent is Gravensteen, a castle from the Middle Ages (built in 1180 by count Philip of Alsace). This castle was different from the last one we saw in that the castle housed many of the original torture devices used during the Middle Ages. As screwed up as it sounds, I really dig seeing that kind of stuff.

View of the fest from the top of the tower.

Newlyweds taking their wedding pictures in the castle. :)

A legit castle dungeon.........

After the castle tour, we got to experience more of the fest!

Guys have it so easy.

Jupiler: the Bud Light of Belgian beers.

Graffiti Street.

We got to listen to some amazing live music. Notice how the kids aren't holding iPads or cellphones... Ahhhh the simplicity (or maybe just normalcy) of the European lifestyle.

 The Belgian Trifecta: waffle, fries, and beer.

Some interesting things I've learned/seen today...

1. We were present for an epic part of Belgian history today. Crown Prince Philippe was sworn in as the new King of Belgium. Long live the King (I don't know if people actually say that)!!!

Stay tuned for my next post..... I think it'll be good.

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