Germany Day 3 - A Castle in Italy

Today we went to Italy. The day started off slow, jet lag is killing me and I couldn't get to sleep last night or get up this morning. Christian and Camille are the only ones who don't have trouble getting up and Christian of course wanted to take off on his bike the second he woke up. By the time I was up and having breakfast, he was home, covered in mud, and regaling us with tales of that morning's adventures. According to him he found the swimming lake where naked older Germans were bathing. He did wheelies and jumps around it and the men gave him thumbs up and the women yelled at him to slow down. 

 

James and Camille enjoy the morning

It was noon by the time we left, heading for the Brenner pass between Austria and Italy. The going was slow at first, due to construction and traffic. But the pass itself was beautiful. It was impossible to capture on camera, but we drove through a steep pass with houses and fields on the mountain sides. 

 

Our drive

Having spent more time in this car, my conclusion is that while this is a very fun car to drive, it fails in the passenger department. We have a BMW M60i which is very fast and has different modes, Christian is always asking for us to put it in sports mode which makes the exhaust pop. It also has a HUD, a heads up display, which only the driver can see. It projects an image that appears to rest on the front of the car and it shows the speed limit, any upcoming change to the speed limit, and your current speed. I thought it would be distracting but it is actually very helpful. 

 

Can you see the HUD?

The car's downside is primarily for the passengers. While it is a big car for these incredibly narrow roads, it is rather small inside. There was no room for our luggage and even when it is just us, everyone in the car feels squished. There is never enough room for our knees. What little storage there is, is small and inconvenient. More and more I think that our minivan might be the perfect car for comfort, it seems to have been designed by people who care about passengers and have thought about what it is actually like to travel. 

 C

       Christian in Italy. He wanted to take this picture for his Nana Dori, who is Italian. 

Anyway, it was only an hour and a half to our destination, a castle in Italy called Burg Reifenstein. We arrived to find a Ren Faire happening at the same time in the field below the castle. Our first attempt to head in didn't go too well, due to our own planning, anxiety, and attitudes. I thought for a minute that we'd just turn around and head all the way home. But we prayed, took a quick trip to a supermarket for snacks and the bathroom, and went back again. God redeemed the day!

The Castle from the road

 

The castle we came to see

These little shrines were all over the place

The Ren Faire was comprised of a large group of people who were living on site. There was a fighting demonstration when we arrived with different groups of soldiers wielding various weapons. I was particularly interested in the movements of the pike men, but we didn't stay to watch them. The ascent to the castle was steeper than anticipated and all gravel. We made it a third of the way up before giving up on the wheelchair so James took Camille back down and settled her in the barn where all the knights were eating.  

 

The tents in the field between two castles

The Ren Faire as seen from the castle (Will's picture)

Ladies of the castle

A battle

The outside gate

The castle itself is absolutely amazing. It was built in the 1100s and has been well preserved from the 1500s. One woman who worked there chatted with me about where I was from and then showed me around the kitchen and bathroom. She spoke English well but needed some help with words like "firewood" and "fridge". The castle kept things cool by putting them into small cupboards in the stone walls. Her daughter, who spoke better English, said that they made their own clothes. They wore cotton underneath and a woolen or linen outer dress.  

 

Castle walls

The entrance to the castle garden

The courtyard

The courtyard and well from above

The castle garden

The garden

The castle stove

There was one room which just contained very large boxes. The American tourists who were there too thought it was a prison, I thought it might have been for storage. But James said he read about it and this was where the squires slept, all together. The boxes were their beds and piling in together kept them warm in this unheated room. Another room was decorated with antlers, badgers, pictures, and small reliefs. Even the hallways had faded but still visible paintings, symbols, and heraldry.

The squires' chamber

 

Castle decorations

Swords are always good decoration (Will's picture)

Heraldry

I love these vines

The most impressive room was a large bedroom. Every inch of it was decorated, the walls, ceilings, even the heating area had decorations carved into them. There were window seats built in to the windows on one side which overlooked the enclosed hill. From this room we could see into another room in the castle, one which looked like it was normally open to visitors but was inaccessible today. 

 

                                                             The bedroom

 

The bedroom

Bear rug (Will's picture)

The beds

Window seat

James at the outside gate

The outer wall

After the castle we went down to the field to see the Faire. The demonstrations were over but we wandered around the vendors and ate some delicious meat cooked by men dressed as monks. Will and Jon bought necklaces which symbolized Thor and Loki (can you guess which boy has which one?), and we also found a man who was selling alcohol in very cool bottles. He let us (James and Will) try a couple things, including a chili liquor which was very strong. He also talked about his time in Canada, various accents of English speakers, and American politics. James navigated the latter rather well. He was very nice and I wish we'd bought more from him, if only because I'd love to have those bottles. 

Lunch break

 

Jon in the stocks

Such a cool display

Chili liquor (Will's picture)

From there we headed further into Italy, seeking a place to eat. It is Sunday so all the stores were closed but we were able to find a very nice restaurant with outdoor seating. There was a fountain there that said it was drinkable water. A couple young men came up for drinks but we didn't dare. The food was delicious and exactly what we wanted. James says that just being in Italy has lowered his blood pressure tremendously. 

At the Italian restaurant

Will waiting for dinner

     Jon and Christian. The boys ordered some amazing fruit juice from a North African fruit that we'd never heard of. 

James is only truly able to relax in Italy

The drinking fountain. We didn't dare

Camille's salmon

Will's pizza

The bathroom sink. Is that a Minotaur?

After dinner we wandered a bit and admired a church and the local architecture before finding some gelato. It was a small shop advertising homemade gelato and it was the best I've ever had. It still isn't quite like real ice cream, but it was delicious!

 

Boys head towards the church

The streets of Italy

Italian palace

The men of the Friday Family

Gelato!

I couldn't keep my eyes open on the drive home, but once we arrived I woke up again. I don't know how to be tired when I need to be! It was after 10 when we got back, but James and Christian went out on a nighttime ride. Christian loves that bike and it was hard for him to be away from riding it for so long. Hopefully tomorrow he'll have more opportunities.