Apparently castle ruins are pretty normal throughout Germany. For us though they're a new sight and provide an interesting destination. As if the town of Staufen wasn't perfect already they have a castle that sits in ruins on a hill, surrounded by a vineyard, overlooking the town.
It's a lovely walk up.
It's a lovely walk up.
UP.
There's that word again! This was a running joke while on this trip.
Everything was just a 15 minute walk up.
.JPG "Castle Staufen, Germany Black Forest laceupand walk.blogspot.com") The castle on the hill was built in 850 and given to Lord Staufin in 1111. In 1634 right in the middle of the 30 Years War it was nearly destroyed by the Swedes. Amazing that parts of it still stand. .JPG "Staufen Germany laceupandwalk.blogspot.com") |
It was so interesting to see the vineyard on the side of the hill. If we had hills in Florida the first good rain would have washed everything down. Those grapevines must have so pretty strong roots..JPG "vineyard staufen germany laceupandwalk.blogspot.com")
OK I'm not sure what to even say about this guy.
He's guarding the entrance to the path through the vineyard. A little too much fruit of the vine maybe?
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This was the view of the castle from our hotel room. So pretty.
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There was two ways to get up to the castle. The path straight up and this one that meanders back and forth up the hill. Nancy and Charlie choose to go straight up. John and I took off meandering. It was a nice walk. Steep but not too bad.
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It's unbelievable to me that you can just walk up to someplace this old. Walk around at leisure, climb the stairs, walk around the walls. No guards, no admittance fee, no cameras watching you!
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A beautiful view of the town of Stuafen from the top of the castle. I love the variety of rooftops.
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Of course I'll have to tell you about the food in Staufen. But I'll save that for another post!
Lace up and go exploring!
Check out these posts to see more of Staufen
The Legend of Faust and the Pack With the Devil - Staufen, Germany
