A long day yesterday, and I must have looked like a tired old dog this morning, with my tail dragging in the dirt. That's how I felt.
After breakfast, Jan and I headed up the hill to Kronach Castle. 'Oh look, a castle'. But this is no ordinary castle, Angie had left a little gift pack in our room yesterday, and one of the items in it was a pair of tickets to the castle tour. So up we went. And up. Up, Up, Up, and more up. Up the cobblestone road to the top, then up to the right, then up past the square observation tower, then up past the prison, then up to the base of the castle walls, then up the steps. Then up more steps, then up another cobblestone path, then up through the castle gates, then up another path to a courtyard. Then up the stairs to the castle walls.
To this point, all I saw was cobblestones as the path was steep and I was looking down most of the time, counting my steps. But at the top of the walls, OHMYGOD what a view! We were early, arriving as it opened, and there was no crowd anyway, so we had an unobstructed opportunity to see the castle and its surroundings. The sky was blue, the breeze gentle and warm, the sun bright, a perfect day to see the world unfold below us.
You will see from the pictures Jan selected below, the scenery was worth the hike. We wandered the walls for quite a while, taking pictures and videos, and got the tour that Angie had bought for us. It was in English, for just the two of us, and the guide told us all the legends and lore of the area and the time of the castle. As always for Europe so far, the tales centered around religious conflicts, Catholic Kronach versus the surrounding Protestants, and the invading Swedes, stories of seiges and wars and blood. One story was kind of charming and whimsical, involving an old tough female rabbit. Seems that the city was beseiged by somebody and the inhabitants were down to nothing left to eat. The invaders couldn't get into the castle, it is 'the only castle in Europe' to have remained impregnable throughout its history, but the inhabitants couldn't get out to get food. They were nearly ready to give up, so they let the old pet rabbit loose on the castle walls to go forage grass, and the invaders saw it and said - 'Wow, if they let their animals loose like that they must have lots of food' so they gave up the seige and went away. Such are legends, a bit of a stretch, but the legend endures anyway. They have a word for it, 'Hasenkoo' is how it sounds, and it means 'tough old female rabbit', and it is a term of endearment used for Kronach women to this day. A charming tale, made more charming when told to us by Angie, and also by our guide within the castle walls. But don't call Jan a 'hasenkoo'.
Down we came from the castle at 1:00pm, we met Angie at the hotel and went for lunch. More beer and wurst and good stuff, then a hike around town with Angie as our guide, then we piled into her car and visited the Gym where she works as a fitness instructor. A lovely place, very well equipped and much larger than the postage-stamp sized facility of the boat. She toured us all around, including the spa facilities, then back into the car and off to the house that she shares with her mother, Silvia.
Introductions, a tour of their lovely house which has so many little additions and flourishes that they have made to it that it is truly a 'home' now and not just a house. Silvia had made a lovely cake for our visit, and we had that with coffee while chattering up a storm. Silvia has a good command of English, much better than the German that Jan and I have, though she is a bit shy to use it. Practice improves most things, and by the end of the day our German and her English was much more fluid. Angie was her buoyant self throughout, and facilitated everything. She must have felt a bit strange however, surrounded and outnumbered by three parents, all with well-meant advice for her. Poor Angie, but she was a good sport.
Later, after the dinner hour and with the cake settled, and after Angie and her mom made the train reservations for tomorrow, the four of us went to 'downtown Kronach' for dinner. More food, more beer and wine, much more chatter and laughing, more stories, then we were done and Angie and her mom walked us home to the hotel a couple of blocks away. Hugs and goodnights, and Jan and I up to the four-poster bed and to sleep.
Tomorrow we leave, heading north to Brussels, and sad to go after a delightful visit in an enchanted town with lovely people.
