Day 12-TheresaTown

The Lady of the castle overlooking her realm.

We began our day with our private breakfast.  It was actually sort of funny.  The buffet was all set up (but a little smaller) with a slate of meats and cheeses on our table, well, on an actual piece of slate!  There were two people “serving” breakfast, so in a way it felt like we were the Lord and Lady of the Castle and servants were attending to us personally.  Ah, we could get used to that…but not going to happen.

Perhaps it's best we stayed below in the Keep?  Sparse!

After breakfast, we headed out to the castle to explore inside (had to buy tokens to get in the turnstile, but it was open 24 hours a day once you had the tokens).  We were glad we waited, because Monday morning was rather dead.  We had the entire castle to ourselves (adding to that Lord and Lady notion).  It was cool seeing the structure, the building methods, the layout, etc.  The Engineer in Bill was fully engaged!

One thing we forgot from last night; when Theresa ordered some wine, she asked it if was “local” (wanting to be sure to try regional things not available at home).  The waiter said, “Yes, it’s from the vineyard right over there!” indicating over her shoulder to one of the castles vineyards.

Man that wall!!

An actual castle "facility".  Yeah, it goes just outside the wall.
Lookout below!!!

Not quite as tall of a door as I'm used to!

Theresa next to the Chapel and a couple of Towers.

One of the largest rooms, apparently for some fancy purpose!

A corner tower and the vineyard from which Theresa's wine came?

The stairs up into the huge square tower from the 14th Century.

An overlook on the whole grounds.  We stayed
in the second farthest building, on the left side.

The road down!

Theresa with her treat by her once apartment.

We next headed to Aschaffenburg, the town in which Theresa lived when she was a teenager in Germany, while her father was in the US Army.  We found the Base housing, and a parking space.  We walked along and checked out the sites, reminiscing memories, including the Bakerei (Bakery) a short walk from her apartment.  Of course, we HAD to get something, which we enjoyed all the way back.  Next we headed to the castle (Burg) in the city center.  Who knew Ashaffenburg had a castle?!!?  Well, yeah, Theresa knew.  Anyway, we parked and explored that a little, too.

Finally, we headed back to Frankfurt to drop off the car after 10+ days.  And none too soon!!  There is a liquid urea called “Ad-Blu” that reduces Nitrous-Oxide emissions in Diesels.  Well, the add light came on about day one, and we were tracking it, since at a certain point, the engine will no longer start, and shortly before that, the car will only go 5 kph (like 3 mph).  That was going to be a hard ride across country, so we were happy to make it Hertz’s problem!

Ashaffenburg Castle.  It was square, so...huge!!

Inside the courtyard of the Aschaffenburg castle.

Theresa always liked these smaller versions
(made with balsa wood and using candles to turn the paddles)

Kringle Mart in Frankfurt.

Checking in to the airport Hilton, we took a little break and headed off to the city center for the Kringle Mart, a festive plaza of Christmas related shopping, holiday treats like “glüwein” (a hot spiced wine), bratwursts (and every kind of wurst!), and assorted cookies, cakes, and chocolate covered everything!! (bananas, apples, chili peppers, etc).  We were there in time to see the tree lit for the first time, since this was Day 1 of the festival.  But what a madhouse!!!  There were people everywhere, many with mittened hands holding mugs of glüwein, or various foods, or just standing and talking.  There were tour groups that were probably off of a river cruise, elderly with walkers, and families trying to shove strollers (twin strollers at that!) through tight spaces not even single people can walk.

Pretzels covered with almost anything!

We headed back to the hotel to get a bite to eat (in the lounge) with free beer (or frei bier) for perhaps the last time in Germany (this year).  Long day tomorrow…flying home!