Beyond Riedenburg

We ventured a little ways out of our small town home to see some more sights.  On Monday we visited the Befreiungshalle (Hall of Liberation) in Kelheim, Germany.  It is a monument, built by King Ludwig I of Bavaria, to German Independence and victory over Napoleon.  The kids climbed all the steps up to the entrance and then the additional 165 steps up a tiny winding staircase to get to the upper level. Whew!

That afternoon we visited Burg Prunn just outside Riedenburg, our thirdCastle #3 castle if we are keeping track.  It is a stunning fortress castle up on a cliff above the region.  We got a private tour, as we were the only people there for the last tour on a Monday.  This was good since the kids were a little restless learning about Jesuits and life in the 1600’s (most of which we didn’t understand anyway).  The next day when we were preparing to go out, they complained, “Do we have to go to another castle?”

“Nope” we told them.  We went to the Tropfsteinhöhle Schulerloch, a cave in the rocky cliffs of Riedenburg.  The parking lot was at the bottom of the hill, so we had to hike about a kilometer up to the cave opening.  This is a European phenomenon that I don’t understand.  Can’t you build a road up the hill and put the parking lot closer to the actual destination?  Throughout the hike to the cave, the kids referred to it as the “bat cave,” although we learned that the bats only live there in the winter, so they were again disappointed.  Although the sound & light show in the middle of the tour was pretty cool.

Tuesday night we decided to do something for the kids, so we ate dinner at the Fuchsgarten, an open-air beer garden in Riedenburg.  They have a Playing at the Fuchsgartenplayground for the kids, as well as a petting zoo with goats, pigs, a donkey, and a pony.  They loved it!  They even made friends with some other local kids and spoke German the whole time.  We ordered them käsespatzle and told them it was like German mac & cheese.  They disagreed and didn’t eat much of it.  Oh well, you can’t win them all!

Check out more pictures of our excursions here.

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