Burgruine Hunting.....Trip 1

So when we only have a normal two day weekend to kill, we still want to explore and check out the world we live in! That led us to Burgruine Hunting (aka.....castle ruin hunting). So on this specific trip we headed out to search for 4 different ruins but only ended up discovering 3! However, it was an amazing adventure and definitely worth the trip!

So we headed from Rose Barracks towards Burgruine Donaustauf near Regensburg, Germany! This place was so crazy beautiful. We had to find parking and then walk up but when we came to the entrance, we were pleasantly surprised by the most gorgeous cemetery. I know that may sound crazy but I love seeing cemeteries! I love how much emotion and love are present at them!

After spending probably far too long walking through the cemetery.......we walked up to the castle ruins......which were far from disappointing!

They were beautiful.....and the sights from up there were something that you couldn't get from anywhere else!

After Burgruine Donaustauf, we headed to Burgruine Laaber. Burgruine Laaber is just north west of Burgruine Donaustauf. This ruins actually were semi-disappointing. It seems to be more of a hall/pavilion for events. However, there was a free bathroom there, and as anyone travelling in Europe knows, those are few and far between!

The views from the actual ruins were pretty, though. There just wasn't much to see as far as ruins go. There is VERY little left of the actual castle and it is more modern and up to date architecture than expected.

After Burgruine Laaber, we headed towards Kallmünz. This was WAY more interesting than Burgruine Laaber! When we first got into the town we parked down by the river and that was so beautiful. There were people having picnics, playing in the open field, fishing, and just enjoying their time.

We walked around a little bit and then found the entrance to the trail leading up to the castle. HOLY MOLY.....it was a LOT of stairs and steep slopes but well worth it when we finally got to the top! The views were beautiful and the ruins were pretty cool too.

The only thing that I found sad was that, even though many of the remaining walls were blocked off to tourist traffic, there were people allowing their children to climb over the barriers and climb on them anyway. Some even joining their children. I found this highly disrespectful, but I go to use it as a teaching experience with my children. I explained to them that not everyone follows the rules and that just because someone else does something they shouldn't, it doesn't mean it is okay for them to do it.

Once we got to the other side of the ruins, we found a cool sculpture and we found that there was another path up to the castle, other than the stair one we took. So that one may be easier for older or handicap individuals. However, we took our crazy path back down, to throw in a little exercise! :)

We had planned originally to check out one more ruin but by the time we left Kallmünz, we were all exhausted and ready to head home. So that was the end of our day. It was such a fun and exciting day. We discovered some hidden treasures that were such an adventure.

Even though not all the places we visited were what we thought they were going to be, it was worth making the memories and experiencing the places that we got to see! Until next post......get out and explore the world we live in! (Feel free to share a pic of your most recent adventure in the comments!)

The Devil's Bridge and Bastei Bridge

Our trip to Berlin was on a 4-day weekend and we absolutely loved spending Friday, Saturday, and Sunday in Berlin. We headed home on Monday early in the morning because we wanted to make stops at The Devil's Bridge and Bastei Bridge on the way home. So, we headed towards The Devil's Bridge first thing Monday morning.....

It took us about 2 hours to get to the parking area to start our short walk through the woods to The Devil's Bridge. It was a short walk and very easy, could definitely be done with a stroller. When you first get to the opening and see the bridge, it is just so beautiful.

Then, we walked around to the bridge and got to check it out a little bit up close. You are NOT allowed to walk on the bridge because it is so old and they don't want the bridge to be damaged but I would definitely say that you should still take the time to check it out.

It is worth the time and effort to see how beautiful it is. There are hikes that you can take all around the woods there as well and if we would have more time, we probably would have taken a couple.

You can go to both sides of the bridge and check it out from both sides, as well. We only checked out one side but on the other side I did happen to get a pic or two of the statue and other rock formations. It is just a really pretty bridge and worth the time to check it out.

After the Devil's Bridge, we headed to Bastei Bridge. We heard many things about Bastei Bridge and how beautiful it is and what a great place to check out and see in person. It took us about 2-2 1/2 hours to get there from the Devil's Bridge. We ended up getting kind of lost and couldn't find the bridge for a while but eventually we found it. There is a hotel RIGHT at the top of the stairs where you head down to the bridge. I think it may have been easier (and a whole lot less stressful) to put the hotel into our GPS to find the bridge itself. The name of the hotel is Radeberger Bastei - Hotel Gastronomie Natur.

So we headed down the stairs to the bridge! There are a LOT of stairs......this is definitely not something you could do with a stroller nor something that a person with a wheelchair could do. So please keep that in mind for those of you who may not care for stairs. There are probably around 300 stairs, at least.

The bridge is beautiful and there are a few different places that you can see it from before you actually walk on the bridge itself. The views are so gorgeous. I loved to see the vastness of the rocks and foliage.

This bridge you can actually walk on and see the sights from. While we did walk on the bridge, we didn't go all the way to the end to explore like we would have liked to. It was SO busy and there were SO many people on the bridge, that we decided that we would just go back closer to winter when it wasn't so overwhelmed with tourists. This bridge goes out and dead ends. It doesn't really lead to a road on the other side or anything.

My favorite part was the cool views that we got to see from the bridge and through the rocks on the other side of the bridge. Since we live in Germany, we plan to go back in a few months and make it all the way to the other end of the bridge to explore and back.

While I plan our next trip........Take time out of your busy schedules and EXPLORE the world you live in!