I'm the Queen of the Castle!

The Sunday I spent in Germany was Castle Day. A fitting way to spend the Sabbath, if you're going to eschew church in favor of sight-seeing, right? (I know, I know: I'm just trying to justify our absolutely enchanting excursion into the Bavarian countryside and Tyrolean Alps!)

Prior to my trip, I read that there are over 25,000 castles in Germany. There are indeed castles everywhere - albeit in various conditions! All that might remain of some castles may be a crumbling wall or turret. Some might be in the midst of a renovation. Others may appear museum-like (in which case, they probably are.)

Can I just say that it's a truly amazing feeling to stand beside these amazing stone and brick structures and think, that for hundreds of years, people (probably many with aching backs, stringy hair, and minus a few teeth), walked through the same gates, stepped on the same stones, and gazed up at the same sky. Their lives are far-removed from mine, but I wonder if we really aren't that different after all, beside the obvious physical disparities - like I have all my teeth, my hair is washed and brushed regularly, and at 37, I still have many healthy years left (I hope!).

I mean, did they stop to breathe in the scent of wildflowers? Did they laugh when their children laughed? Or did they wonder how they were going to accomplish in a day a series of nagging, yet necessary, tasks and then decide that maybe just getting through the day with their sanity intact would be triumph enough?

I can't help but think that yesterday's mothers understand me more than I realize. And if that's the case, I think history's princesses and paupers had to have been just as excited as I was to see all these breathtaking castles!

*Here's a funny thing that Ryan said as we were driving up and down very steep, winding, hair-pin twisting roads: "I didn't expect the roads to be so...alpine." I stared at him and responded (with perhaps more than a hint of incredulity in my voice), "Are you serious? We're in the Alps!"