Castles on the Rhine

Have you ever dreamed of living in a castle? We have. And our dream came true....well, for one night at least. We spent the night in Stahleck Castle which overlooks the Rhine River and rises majestically above the medieval village of Bacharach, known for over a thousand years for its wine industry. 

The enchanting road leading into Bacharach...

In the center of the village you will find this old house built in 1368. Just the kind of thing you would expect to see in a medieval city, isn't it? 

Love the detail on this door...also, the blessing by the priest on the house recorded on the chalk paint on the upper right hand side. The village priests bless every home, whether the occupants are Catholic or not...

A stroll around the village. Notice the lovely gardens and the vinyards on the hillside. We wondered how anyone could work in the vineyards without rolling down the very steep grade, but discovered that there are iron loops to anchor ropes to. We can only hope they use them!

View of the Rhine from the castle courtyard...

The castle truly "rises from the rocks". You can see how the steps are worn smooth from centuries of foot traffic.

Stahleck Castle was built around 1100. One of the most interesting facts about this castle is the tale of a secret marriage between Agnes, daughter of Konrad von Staufen and the son of Heinrich dem Löwen. The marriage was secret because the two families were feuding...well, apparently not everyone was feuding!

Schönburg Castle...

Rising like a centenal above the town of Oberwesel, Schönburg Castle dates back to sometime between 966 and 1141. It has seen many a battle, has risen and fallen especially during the Thirty Years War.

Inside the Shield Wall. You can see the archer's slits in the arched openings of the walls.

View of Oberwesel from the castle keep...

 Looking back up at the castle from the garden below. Now notice the archer slits from the outside...lots of room inside for the archer to move around, but a very small target from the enemy outside.

View from the castle's north side...

Pfalzgrafenstein Castle situated on a small island in the middle of the Rhine was built beginning in 1327, primarily for the collecting of tolls.

This is Gutenfels Castle, built after 1200. It can be seen across the Rhine from the Schloßweg (castle way) road. We didn't visit any castles on the other side of the Rhine. There are over 20 castles along this stretch of the river...we only toured five...

 
 This is Sooneck Castle a beautifully built castle with the distinction of being a "robber knight" castle. It was built as a protective castle in the 11th century, but by the mid 1200's the Lords von Hohenfels became robbers enriching themselves by robbing travelors and collecting heavy tolls.

View of the courtyard...

A bit threadbare now, but elegant furniture for the time....

I had to take a picture of the lighting!

Original crossbow

                                                          View from the top...

This is Reichenstein Castle, also belonging to a robber knight. We decided not to tour it because it is so massive it would take the better part of a day to go through it. Hopefully we will be able to go back...

                                              Entrance to Reichenstein...

Rheinstein Castle, as you can see, sits atop a crag of rock, breathtaking as if from a fairytale. This is a Princes castle built early in the 1300's. It had fallen into ruins, but was bought by Prince Friedrich Wilhelm Ludwig of Prussia and was restored by Claudius von Lassaulx and Wilhelm Kuhn from 1825-29 (hmmm, I wonder...). It was his favorite residence, and he and his Princess Louise Wilhelmine lived here until his death. It remained in their family, falling again into ruins until 1975 when it was purchased by German opera singer Hermann Hecher, who began the renovations.

View of the castle from below...

Taking a rest along the way. It was a long, steep hike! Great for defense. The enemy would be too pooped to fight by the time they got to the top.

   Above the main entrance is this crest of the Hohenzollern (a royal family) a Prussian Eagle with Helmet and King's Crown. The gothic letters read "Gott mit uns" (God with us).

Doesn't every little boy dream of being a knight sometimes? These suits of armor are parade armor. The armor height averaged about 5' 4". With all the constant wars going on in Europe, there had to be a lot of "little man syndrome" going around.

This is the Knights Hall. The stained glass windows date from the 17th century.

This is the courtyard. The vine you see here is approximately 500 years old and still produces grapes which the owner says are delicious!

                                                         View from castle ramparts...

I loved this picture of the sink in the castle kitchen!

The bedchamber of the Princess. The bed is Gothic from the late 16th century.

During our little excursion on the Rhine, we took almost 300 pictures. It is an area rich in the history of knights, princes, kings and wars. Each castle presents itself as a hallmark of times past, and as we rambled the halls and climbed the stairs we were reminded that we were walking where kings have walked.

Our Last Day in Ireland...

Anyone who knows Doug will understand his seemingly obsessive need to take pictures of deer. After 7 years in our home in Bountiful, untold gallons of Liquid Fence (a pungent smelling spray supposedly to keep deer from eating flowers and shrubs, which doesn't work all that well), hundreds of dollars of plants and hours of complaining about the deer, he still cannot resist taking a picture of a deer. We add this Irish red-tailed deer to our catalogue of photos of these beautiful creatures.  They seem to follow Doug wherever he roams! This guy was outside of our cottage with his girlfriend near by.

So for our last day in Ireland, we chose to visit the Muckross House (Theach Mhucrois in Gaelic), and the surrounding farms and gardens. It was built in 1843 for Henry Arthur Herbert and his wife Mary Balfour Herbert who was an artist of renown at that time. It is a Tudor style home with sixty five rooms.

The main entry of the house.

This was our one day of rain. It was pouring, windy and cold.

 This side of the house faces Muckross Lake, said to be the deepest lake in Ireland of which the bottom has never been found. In the 1850's, extensive renovations were done to make ready for the visit of Queen Victoria in 1861. Artwork, furniture, servants uniforms, tapestries, china, silverware and linens were all specifically commissioned for her arrival. Draperies that were especially woven in Paris still hang in the dining room.

This is the Royal Bedroom. Queen Victoria always insisted on sleeping on the ground floor as she was deathly afraid of fire. There was a special fire escape set up for her protection. The screen in the corner was woven for her visit. These types of screens were not used for changing behind as one might think, but were to protect ladies from the draft of open windows.

Doug dubbed this "The Royal Throne."

This is the entry hall of Muckross House. When there was to be a ball, all the furnishings and carpets would be removed for dancing. There is also a mounted rack (not pictured) of an Irish Elk which is extinct, found perfectly preserved in a bog on the property.

This is the kitchen. I couldn't help but think of Mrs. Patmore of Downton Abbey!

Directly in front of me is a server. I could understand why you would need footmen to serve. It was very heavy...

This is a Ladies Parlor. Often in Victorian period dramas you see small screens about a foot square on a pole near the fireplace, such as in Pride and Prejudice. I have always wondered what those were. Our guide explained it. They are actually called pole screens, and were used by the ladies when they would sit by the fire. In those times, the facial makeup of women was largely made from paraffin wax. The screens were to protect the ladies faces from the warmth of the fire, keeping their faces from "melting" so to speak and ruining their clothes and hair. It was our guides opinion that the phrase "losing face" came from this problem. I don't know if it is true, but it garnered a chuckle from everyone!

Queen Victoria only spent two nights in Muckross House. It was hoped that perhaps Herbert would receive a title by hosting the Queen but it was not to be. Not long after her visit, Prince Albert died of typhoid fever and the Queen went into mourning. Muckross House and the Herberts were forgotten in her grief.

 Muckross Farms

 There are three farm houses on the property representing three different types of housing.

This is the inside of one of the houses which has only 3 rooms. This main area, a smaller room for all of the children to sleep in and a slightly larger room for the parents to sleep in. We were given soda bread that was baked in the pot beside me over the open fire.

This is what a thatched roof looks like from the inside. The peat is cut from the bog, dried out then laid out on the beams. Afterwards thatch is layered over the sod, which repels water. This definitely gives a home an "earthy" smell!

This is called a box bed. The bottom part lifts up so during the day it's a bench to sit on, then open it, and a couple of children could sleep here!

This lady told us that in the 1930's through the 40's marriages were still arranged in Ireland. Girls would leave home and travel to America where they would live with family members. They would work hard in service to wealthy American families, make their "fortune" and then come back home. They would be married off to a farmer that needed the young woman's  money to get a good start in life. Here you see the soda bread baking over the fire

          

     Doug, Gracie and Nathaniel at the water pump.

Getting friendly with the farm animals...

Sheehan's Pub

Later that evening, we went to Sheehan's Pub at the Killarney Grand Hotel to listen to some live Irish music, an absolute must. As we were sitting there listening to the music, a little old guy in a long black coat came in the door and stood politely listening, his hat in his one hand, his fiddle case in the other. When the song ended he politely went forward and asked if he could join in. He was the hit of the night, perfectly delightful, even though he claimed "I got na bloomin vice, na moor!" That is him on the right. 

 So there you have it! I've never met friendlier nor more helpful people. In case you ever want to visit Ireland, there are just a few tips we would like to pass along. Biscuits are cookies, crackers are something you pull on that go 'pop' at parties, ice lollies are Popsicles, crisps are chips, and chips are fries. Don't be 'gobsmacked' at driving on the left side, which its best not to call the wrong side. And whatever you do, never, but never say "top o' the mornin'" to an Irishman!