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!)