schloss burg. ikea. last days.

yesterday, we went to Schloss burg - a castle, fairly close to the city in which we stay. it was up in a mountainous area (Miriam and Elisabeth say it is NOT a mountain, but WE say it is) and it was oh so beautiful. it also helped that the weather was gorgeous, i'm sure. as i am an american, i had never seen a castle before. so this was quite an experience!

this one has been convered into a museum, and in parts, it showed how daily life was lived while the castle was actually housing the emporer/king/whomever was running the region at the time.

one of my favorite parts of the castle, was this painting that showed the family tree. very cool.

we also went up into the guard tower, and the view was spectacular. you could see for so far, and there was a light fog setting over the area. just magnificent!

after the castle, we went to see the tallest train bridge in all of Deutschland. the time of day that we went, had the sun aligned just perfectly, so it was again, quite spectacular. (fun fact, this bridge goes over the river Wupper, there is a city that sits on the Wupper called Wuppertal, and Wuppertal has an elevated train system called the Schwebebahn.)

we took a quick stop at IKEA Düsseldorf so Elisabeth could pick up a few storage boxes.
if you know me, at all, you know that IKEA = toy store for james.
the fact that a) we were able to "drop by" for a few minutes and
b) be in a place with so many IKEA in such close proximity
makes me jealous. LOL

we had a dinner of reibekuchen, which are very much like latkhe (except they're slightly more like a pancake, then the latkhe) eaten with marmalades, quark (which i have fallen in love with), and cream cheese. very good!

after dinner, we talked, and had some of the homemade chocolate liquor. and kinda just relaxed.

since Elisabeth had to leave early this morning for a conference, this was our last evening with her, so we toasted our liquor, and thanked her profusely for her warm and wonderful hospitality. (seriously, this has been the best vacation of my life. and now i want SO badly to keep coming back!)

happily, it turned out that it didn't take as long to get to her destination as thought, so we were able to all have a nice breakfast together today, as well! hooray!

now, today, our last day, we spend packing. i'm really bummed, but also happy, because it has been such a fantastic time here! it's hard to believe that we've been here so long, it feels like just yesterday we landed in Düsseldorf, and now we're getting ready to head back to kansas. so, as tomorrow is spent 15 hours of travel (not including the time TO the airport or home) this will be my last blog for a few days, and more sadly, my last blog from Deutschland (for now!)

I finish by saying, thank you, to everyone here who made it such a fantastic, and welcoming stay! i WILL be back, and i cannot wait to see you all again!