Following our adventures in Kassel we continued our trek on the Fairy Tale Road. We had a quest to find the famous Sleeping Beauty Castle – Dornröschenschloss in Sababurg. I didn’t find much online, but we had an address so we set out through the German countryside, using our trusty Bordcomputer as our guide. After an hour or so we saw the castle but couldn’t figure out how to get to it! We finally found a parking lot (empty) and hiked up to the castle doors (locked). Hmmm, after a quick search around the side we decided the castle was closed for the day and wouldn’t be able to go inside. Luckily there was a zoo nearby so we decided to punt on the castle and explore the zoo! Once we got inside the zoo, we learned that the castle is pretty much closed, despite the information online to the contrary. However, since we’re always willing to make lemons from lemonade, we instead found the oldest (always with the superlative) wildlife refuges in Europe! We entered the zoo, fed everyone a little wurst, and started exploring. One entire section was like a petting zoo, which allows visitors to be up close to penguins, goats, pigs, bunnies, and more! The kids loved it! Of course they also had a playground which we had to try out! We continued to explore and found the grounds to be massive! One of the funniest moments of the trip came when Erik warned Charlie to bypass HUGE pile of animal droppings. Not one second later Charlie stepped right in it!  Erik flipped out “Charlie – what the H#@* You stepped right in a pile of S#@t!” The rest of us just burst out laughing and couldn’t stop! (No – this picture was not staged!)

The zoo was interesting but it was getting really warm and we needed to be on our way! We found our way back to the car and set out on the next leg of our journey, Rapunzel’s Tower. Found in Trendelburg, Germany and originally built in 1301 this castle was small but fascinating! Check out this link for more information: https://www.burg-hotel-trendelburg.com/en/the_castle/rapunzels-tower/

The castle is actually a hotel and the site for many weddings. We just wanted to take a peek so we paid a few euros to climb the tower. As many other German experiences we were on our own for this tour – told to remove the “security rope” ourselves and head on up!

The inside of the tower seemed as old as the outside! We went up the tiny (and frankly sketchy) steps to the top of the tower. Even the Lover-of-all-steep-staircases (Erik) was a little nervous with Charlie! The top of the tower awarded us with beautiful views of the Hessian countryside! Totally worth the climb! We even found a dragon fountain for our friend Mabry!

We climbed back in the car and headed to our next house! During our drive we were contacted by our hosts in Kassel, who found Katie’s diary somewhere in their house. They were so kind to mail it to our friends Frank and Britte in Berlin!

We found our next pit stop in the countryside of Germany near Emmerthal. We were met by Ria who made us feel as if we had arrived at our Grandpa and Grandma’s house. She was so warm and welcoming that we felt right at home! The kids were thrilled to see a pool in the backyard and I felt right at home with over 100 chickens!

The home was perfect for a few night’s stay! From this house we were able to explore the town of Hameln, better known to you and I as Hamelin. Hameln in best known for the story of the Pied Piper, but we soon realized what a charming town we found. We ate a lovely breakfast at a small cafe (all good breakfasts include Coca-Cola)!  Then we headed to the Rattenfänger Museum. This was a fascinating place as it told the history of this part of Germany as well as the story of the Pied Piper. There was a small theater with an ultra modern performance of the story. It was quite a unique experience – like Wall-e meets bad animatronics and do some performance art. One interesting thing I learned was that the Pied Piper is based on a true historical account in which over 130 children disappeared from a small village. The story took on new meaning with the different artifacts and historical evidence we saw! We continued through the museum as it led us through history, including the middle ages, WWI, and WWII. We even found a display on gymnastics!

After the museum we ate lunch at the Rattenfänger House which has been there since 1602. They even have a house drink “Rat Poison” but we decided to stick with the water! Dessert was fun though! We continued to explore the city of Hameln, which was the perfect combination of contemporary stores and history. We even happened upon a wedding which was occurring at the Wedding House (Hochzeitshaus), found in the center of the town. The Wedding House has a series of bells and a darling mechanical puppet show. The show is displayed 3 times per day and we happened to be walking by at the perfect time! Everyone loved it! After our fun day in Hameln we headed back to Ria’s house, but not before we stopped for dinner. We were all hungry and couldn’t decide so we stopped at the first available place – King’s Döner. Germany has a large Turkish population and with that comes Döner Kebab! Döner is on almost every corner but no Lillas had any until this meal! Erik and Liz enjoyed the döner while the kids feasted on pizza and calzone! The best part of the meal was how excited the King’s Döner employees were to have us. Sam even tried some Turkish soda (Uludag) and it was – interesting. All in all, a great experience!

That evening we caught up on our laundry and everyone helped hang the clothes from the line. We actually had quite fun and it was great for the kids to see how blessed we are to have a large washer and dryer at home! Then it was time for swimming! It was FREEZING but that wasn’t going to stop the kids! They lasted about 10 minutes but had huge smiles on their faces the whole time!

The next morning we picked cherries, played some dog soccer, and enjoyed the beautiful weather! We said good-bye to our new friends and headed to Hanover!