Friday, March 30, 2012

Rhine River Castle Hunting

These are the castles along the Rhine River. They were taken from the car in the late evening the same day that we visited Schloss Stolzenfels and Burg Lahneck so some are not of the best quality. We missed a few along the way or weren't able to get a good shot but I was excited at the number of castles we were able to see in one day. Now I have a reference to look back on and decide which we want to go back and visit up close.

Burg Katz

Burg Maus

Burg Reichenstein

Burg Rheinstein

Burg Leibenstein (Hostile Brothers)

Sterrenberg Castle (Hostile Brothers)

Both Hostile Brothers


Sooneck






Fortress Rheinfels

Gutenfels

Klopp Castle

Marksburg Castle

Mäuseturm (Mouse Tower)

Pfalzgrafenstein

Ruin Furstenberg

Schönburg

Stahleck Castle
  
For more information about these beautiful castles I found this website super helpful.

View my previous posts of other Rhine River Castles we have visted up close.

Tuesday, March 27, 2012

Burg Lahneck

Directly across the river from Schloss Stolzenfels is Burg Lahneck. It wasn't open for the season yet when we visited so we weren't able to tour the entire grounds but we got to see the outside of the castle and the gorgeous view. This was the other castle that was in my calendar.




Schloss Stolzenfels viewed from Burg Lahneck




The restaurant outside the castle










Who knew when I bought this calendar that I'd get to see the castle in real life some day? I feel so lucky :)

Monday, March 26, 2012

The Easter Bunny

I had the opportunity last week to take pictures of the Easter Bunny (wink, wink)...







What does the Easter Bunny bring to your home?

Smokers

I know some people feel really strongly about smoking but this seems a LITTLE harsh... 





the smoking area is ON the tracks? 


LOL

Tuesday, March 20, 2012

The Spring Chicken



I'm about to lose all credibility, but here it is...


Have you heard of the Spring Chicken? According to my daughter's favorite show the Spring Chicken comes to announce the beginning of Spring, but if it doesn't see a blooming flower it won't get warm! That's why we planted some seeds and cared for them so that on March 20th the chicken would announce the first day of Spring!  Well that didn't go so well. I guess my mom didn't pass her green thumb down to me but luckily, I still had the flowering plant I got as a thank you from the flower shop. I'm going to make sure the Spring Chicken sees it because we definitely need some warm weather around here! 



I sure hope he saw that!!




Here are some other spring folklore myths....


Question: According to folklore, you can stand a raw egg on its end on the equinox. Is this true?
Answer: One spring, a few minutes before the vernal equinox, several Almanac editors tried this trick. For a full workday, 17 out of 24 eggs stood standing. Three days later, we tried this trick again and found similar results. Perhaps 3 days after the equinox was still too near. Try this yourself and let us know what happens!


Have you seen the pictures circulating around facebook of brooms balancing and eggs standing on end? Supposedly it's because of some alignment during the equinox but you can really balance those items any time during the year. It's rare anyone tries though. http://www.snopes.com/science/equinox.asp





One swallow does not make a spring.
Bluebirds are a sign of spring; warm weather and gentle south breezes they bring.
In spring, no one thinks of the snow that fell last year.
Spring-time sweet!
The whole Earth smiles, thy coming to greet.
Don’t say that spring has come until you can put your foot on nine daisies. (I did this one too!!)



Happy first day of spring everyone!!