For 18 years, ever since I moved away from Germany, I was always a little wistful on my birthday that I couldn’t visit a castle. You see, I was the one person in the family who never got tired of castles, so on Mother’s Day and on my birthday, I could always get them to go with me to dinner at one of our favorite castle restaurants or explore a new castle we hadn’t seen before.
On June 14, 2024, my 60th birthday, I got to go to a castle again!
I’d checked out some castles not far from Leipzig before I left. Nowadays, they have a website called Schloesserland Sachsen! In fact, the region of Saxony has made their castles and palaces family-oriented tourist attractions. This is very different from the castles in the Rheinland-Pfalz, as you’ll see in the later part of my trip. But when I went to these, I was envious for the sake of my kids. Not that they were exactly bored with the castles we visited when they were small, but the ones we saw in Saxony had activities and fun things especially for kids to enjoy. And there were historical displays for everyone, with English captions as well as German.
Anyway, on the morning of my birthday, I drove Kate (who still doesn’t drive on the Autobahn. It’s so much fun, Kate!) to one of the closest castles, Schloss Rochlitz, my personal Castle #169.
Much to my dismay, I forgot to bring my good camera, so I took far fewer pictures than usual, but maybe that helped me take in the fact that I was at a castle again.
I love the way castles always have a beautiful view.
And we got to climb the tower.
We did get rained on a tiny bit. But I love these passages either way.
And remember how I said there were fun things for kids? I had to try the jousting video game.
These lit-up ghosts were positioned around the castle for kids to find. A fun way to look a an old dungeon!
And I always have to show how BIG and tall I am by posing in a castle doorway.
After roaming the castle to my heart’s content, we had lunch at a little restaurant just outside the castle. Altogether, it was exactly what my heart desired to start off my 60th birthday!