The Journey into the New: Castles in the Sky

One of the reasons I've always wanted to visit Germany is the castles. During high school, I kinda went through a HUGE princess kick (everything I decorated with was pink, sparkly, and had the word princess on it somewhere...), and I would look at pictures of these amazing castles in Germany and dream of the day that I would get married at one of them. I snapped out of said princess kick about three days into my freshman year of college (thank goodness...a wedding at a castle would have been expensive!). But though the dreams of being a princess have long dissipated, the dreams of visiting castles has not. So, imagine my excitement when I learned that, not only would I have the opportunity to see some of the most amazing castles in the world, but that I'd be living about 15 minutes from one!
Burg Nanstein isn't exactly the most spectacular or amazing castle, it's not very big and is mostly in ruins. However, when Nana mentioned that she would love the chance to see a castle while they were here, and the weather being too unpredictable to plan a trip too far away, we decided to check it out. The fifteen minute drive turned into a 45 minute one as we drove past the tiny road up to the castle again and again, but we finally figured it out and made our way up the narrow, winding drive. It was a pretty cold day to begin with, and being up at the top of a hill with nothing to buffer the wind made it even colder, but we bundled up and were able to walk around the castle and enjoy spectacular panoramic views of the area that we now call home. Daniel had a blast going up and down the stairs with Nana and Papa, running around in the main courtyard area, and exploring all around the ruins. His favorite part was finding sticks and rocks to throw. It was the perfect "starter castle", and made me very excited for the castles we'll get to explore in the future!

Daniel climbing up the stairs with Nana and Papa