Why We Haven't Done Anything Worth Blogging About For the Past Two Months

Because it looks like this outside all the time:

I went for a walk today anyway, up the hill to the Flaggenturm. Just to get a good laugh at the view from the top. Here are some pics of the walk to the top:

The view from the top:

At least it was really pretty and snowy out. I tried to take fun artsy pictures of the tree branches:

I would kill for some sunshine!

Trifels Castle Fail

So yesterday we found several castles to visit in the area, mapped routes to all of them, then chose the one that looked the most interesting (called Trifels castle). We scouted out its opening hours and tour times and then this morning set out. When we got there we started up the trail from the parking lot to the castle and there was a sign on it that said the castle was closed due to ice and snow. I'm not sure why tour books and websites say the castle is open in the winter if it closes every time there's one inch of snow! And that's all there was on the ground - one inch of snow.

We decided to walk up the trail anyway, since we had driven 40 minutes to get there. Here's Martin looking up towards the castle:

In the castle staff's defense, the trail was quite icy. But not a problem at all for people in hiking boots or children, especially the children getting pulled along it on sleds. Here are some views of the castle from the trail:

Reading yet another sign saying it's closed:

I think this would have a really great view ... in the summer.

Enjoying our time outside of the castle walls. We'll try again in the summer!