April 2, Tuesday
Got up early for our big castle day. Had continental breakfast in our quaint hotel dining room. Eggs, fruit, meat and lots of wonderful German bread. Dad met a cop from Baku Azerbaijan who brought his wife to Trier for medical treatment. He spoke no German and very little English so he was struggling to talk with people. We helped him figure out how to use the strange hotel shower controls which should make his grumpy wife happier. After breakfast we took about a one hour train ride from Trier to Moselkern, a cute village that seemed deserted since the train station was closed and there were no people on the streets. We had a walk of about 2.5 miles to the castle but we stopped halfway for a coffee and Apple cake refresher. The walk from the hotel to the castle was through thick forest and mountainous terrain that reminded me of Colorado. Very pretty. The green color and moss covered rocks and hillside made me feel like I was walking in Middle Earth. Then we broke into a clearing and the castle loomed over us! Wow! We were allowed to visit rooms filled with furniture, weapons, chinaware and family jewelry. We also took the tour which told of the lives of some of the family members that had inhabited the castle over the past 33 generations or 800 years. The timespan of history here is hard for Americans to grasp, I think. We asked about a bus ride back to the train station but were told that there was none. Silly tourists. So we walked back through the forest (with another stop and snack up at the hotel). After riding the train back to Trier we tried to take a bus to the Trier riverside for dinner but our driver didn't stop where we wanted and instead got on the road to Luxemburg! We hastily got off but then had to wait 45 cold minutes for the return bus to Trier. We were tired, cold and hungry so we ate at a Chinese restaurant near our hotel. Decent but not great food. Chris and I then tried to see an American movie but they had dubbed them all into German. So we went back to the hotel to write up the day's events and contact friends and family back home. I don't think I'll ever forget Castle Eltz! A truly magical place.