I’m very slowly blogging about my 60th birthday trip back to Germany last June.

I started the trip in Leipzig, visiting my friend Kate from the library. I’d driven across the country on Sunday, so Day 7, Monday, June 17, was my first full day in the area where I’d lived for ten years from 1996 to 2006, when my then-husband was in the Air Force Band. I was staying in the Pfälzerwald, a National Forest full of castles and hills, where we’d spent plenty of time as a family, but a bit south of where we’d actually lived.

Those ten years in Germany were some of the best of my life – but also some of the worst of my life, because it was where my marriage fell apart and my husband left me. It was where we lived when my kids were young, where we had amazing adventures as a young family, and I knew there was danger both of missing that time far too much, but also reliving the hurt of rejection from my husband.

So – I’d planned the trip trying to draw a fine line between nostalgia and making new experiences.

Mind you, Germany is a place I love with all my heart. Those forested hills are so beautiful. I like the German spirit of efficiency and practicality. And it was just a wonderful place to live. I love visiting castles. I love hiking and driving through forested hills. I even love the cool weather in the summertime. The trip really did succeed in reminding me of the things that make my heart happy about Germany.

But Monday afternoon, I did indulge in a little nostalgia – I drove past all four homes where we lived during our ten years there.

First, I drove into Kaiserslautern and bought gas (just in time). Then I decided to head toward House #4 in Sembach village – and take a look at Sembach Air Base while I was at it. That was the base (smaller than Ramstein, but nearby) where my husband was stationed and where my kids went to school and I worked at the base library. Our fourth home was five minutes from the base in the village there.

The house looks small in the picture, but it has four bedrooms upstairs, a large living room/dining room – and then that much space again in the basement – another bedroom, another kitchen, and a large family room. Oh, also a storage room. The backyard is very large, too. But that is where we lived when my husband started having an affair – so not quite as many good memories there.

And then I drove to Leithöfe, our first home in Germany. We shared a house with the landlord’s family. They were upstairs and we were downstairs.

I was shy about taking pictures of the house at Leithöfe, because I’d called their old number and left a message my first night in Germany, but then when I got some kind of message, hadn’t been able to set up the voicemail with the chip that was allowing me to make European calls. And I hadn’t tried calling again. So it felt like it would be rude to just show up at their house. So I parked in front of a hedge, invisible from the house.

That house has an amazing view out over the valley, because it’s built on the side of a hill. We used to love walking up the hill as a family.

Here’s a stealthy and not at all adequate picture of the house. (What I should have done was driven down the road toward Potzbach and taken a picture from a distance. Oh well.)

And here’s a picture of the road toward Höringen, which was the way I went to get to our second German home, in Gundersweiler.

Driving between those villages, on roads I used to travel often stirred up all the feels! Next stop was Gundersweiler.

Gundersweiler is still by far my favorite of all the homes where I’ve ever lived. It’s full of craftsmanship, lots of wood trim, a balcony upstairs, big huge windows with a wonderful view, and just a marvelous place to live.

Again, I didn’t want to be super obvious about taking pictures of the house. As at Leithöfe, I was tempted to park and take a walk up the hill, as we used to do as a family – but I felt funny if anybody saw me and wondered what I was up to, and I also was a little afraid it would make me miss my young family just a little too much. I decided my hike in a new place that morning was the right approach and I’d keep those old memories as treasures in my heart.

Here are a couple pictures of the view from that house – though not as grand because not up as high.

And they’re building something in front of the house across the narrow street – but I don’t think it will really block the view because it’s all on a hillside.

Then I drove from Gundersweiler back toward Sembach Air Base – and just marveled and marveled at how just plain gorgeous our drive to work used to be. It was a little long – a good solid half-hour (and worse if you got stuck behind a tractor) – but oh, so beautiful. And no traffic lights at all! It’s little country roads all the way, going through a few quaint villages. (There is one place where a train crosses the road, but we rarely had to stop for that.)

I think before I went to House #3, I tried to go into Winnweiler to have dinner at Max’s. But construction had the whole center of the village blocked off except for residents, and I wasn’t bold enough to try to figure out where to park and go in. I drove around Winnweiler a bit trying to figure it out, and then headed toward Alsenborn and House #3.

This place was a big come-down after the Gundersweiler home, but it was brand-new when we lived there, and we had the home on the end.

This one, alas, didn’t have much of a view and wasn’t on a hill, but you could still walk around the corner into fields and forest and go for a hike.

I liked all the flags on display – World Cup Soccer was happening during my visit.

So that was my look back at some wonderful times and wonderful homes. Lots of mixed emotions going on in my heart.

Then I headed back toward Waldhotel Heller in Elmstein. I stopped on the way at Barbarossahof (a nice hotel) for dinner. It’s right on the road to Kaiserslautern.

And that started my pattern for my week in Elmstein. I headed out after breakfast at the hotel. Spent a full day adventuring, and came back around 7 pm. The sun doesn’t go down in June until about 10 pm, so I’d go out on the balcony and read and write in my journal.

That day, the sun had finally come out, slanting and making everything golden. It was simply beautiful.

I did take a picture of the car that had taken me adventuring.

And looking out over the village as the sun went down. Pure peace.

I’m slowly but surely blogging about my 60th Birthday Trip back to Germany. Day 7 was Monday, June 17, and I set off to hike!

I already talked about the beginning of the trip, when I passed two castles, #171 Trippstadter Schloß and #172 Burg Wilenstein.

From there, it was mainly a peaceful and beautiful walk through the woods.

I did come to the Klug’sche Mühle, where I had hoped to eat for lunch, but like so many places in Germany, it was closed on Mondays. (Hey, there are lots of small family-owned restaurants, and they need rest days.) Still beautiful, though.

I think these signs mean I’d come 3.7 kilometers and had 3.4 kilometers to go. Also that it was 1 kilometer further to get to the Karlstalschlucht itself. (Schlucht is basically “gorge” – so it means Karl’s Valley Gorge and has a stream running through it.)

Of course Mühle means “mill,” so the closed restaurant was an old mill.

With swans being pretty.

And back into the woods, still heading down toward the Schlucht.

And the path did start going along the stream, crossing frequently.

There were signs of a recent storm, and the owner of the hotel had said this path was closed. But I hadn’t found any such notices online, and it turned out that they had gone quickly to work to make it passable. Though maybe that’s why I had the forest to myself. (The only people I remember seeing were some backpackers at Burg Wilenstein.)

Just so incredibly peaceful! Here’s a short video clip to give you a peaceful moment.

A giant rock next to the path had this plaque. It was commemorating a visit to the valley on August 9, 1862, by King Ludwig I of Bayern, Grandduke Ludwig III of Hessen, and Hildegarde of Austria – with more titles in there (She was also Princess of Austria?) that I’m not sure about translating. Anyway, some royalty enjoyed this spot.

And lots more hiking along the stream. With my heart bursting for the joy of it.

I was now fully in the gorge. This is looking back up at the sides of the gorge.

Lots of these wooden bridges, making my way up the valley. It wasn’t a wide valley, so I imagine they had to put the path on whichever side had the most room at each spot.

Then finally I got a glimpse of the pavilion whose image serves as a symbol for the trail.

Of course, I had to hang out on the pavilion for a bit. Have I mentioned what a beautiful place this was? Always with the sound of rushing water.

The path started back up out of the gorge on the other side of the pavilion.

But of course it was beautiful to look back.

Okay, by the pictures, I was still by the stream for quite some time.

(Believe it or not, I did greatly pare this down from the number of pictures I took.)

I hope this gives you a feel for walking by a stream in a thick green forest on a pleasantly cloudy day, with the temperature about 70 degrees.

The markers still told me I was on the Spazierwanderweg Karlstalschlucht, and here the path did start to go up again, to then loop me back to Trippstadt. (German trails are so well-marked!)

Here I’m looking back down at the stream. It wasn’t a strenuous climb, but it was a climb.

Most of the rest of the hike was along a ridge. I could see a road pretty far below for part of it.

And at about this point – about ten minutes away from my car at the very end of the hike – I got caught in the rain. At first I thought I could wait it out, but it became a downpour.

Fortunately, I was wearing my rain jacket. But when I did get back to my car, it was pretty drenched.

And I had to take one picture back in Trippstadt. I had parked near the Bücherei, the Library – and here’s a sign for the Summer Reading Program!

So – that was my amazing, beautiful, peaceful, and inspiring walk through the Pfälzerwald!

And it made me remember the many, many times I’d walked in the forest in Germany when we lived there 1996 to 2006. And made me remember that walking in a German forest is something that makes my heart happy. Yes, even if I get caught in the rain. Just a beautiful time and a beautiful day.

I’m writing about my 60th birthday trip back to Germany after 18 years away. I’m up to Day 7, which was Monday, June 17.

It began with a yummy and leisurely breakfast at Waldhotel Heller. I was the only guest that first morning, and I remember I had plenty of wonderful Brötchen, just like old times, plus some yogurt. Then I still had time to plan out my route.

The night before, I’d looked up my favorite restaurants, especially castle restaurants, but they all seemed to be closed on Mondays and Tuesdays. (I later learned – when it was too late – that one of my favorites, Altenbaumburg, was closed on Wednesdays and Thursdays. Oh well! Next time!) So I decided to start Monday with enjoying the Pfälzerwald by doing some hiking through the forest. On the Pfälzerwald website I found what was supposed to be one of the prettiest trails, to the Karlstalschlucht. And it passed two castles! So I could add to my castle count as well as going on a beautiful hike through the woods.

The drive was half the fun! I was on the edge of the village, so I drove through the whole village of Iggelbach, then on a very narrow forest road, then to good old B48 (which heads north all the way to two of the places we’d lived in Germany), then to the village of Trippstadt.

And the path began at my Castle #171, the Trippstadter Schloß. (To count as a castle, it must have a name, be over 100 years old, be a castle or a palace or a fortification, and I have to touch it. I’d never touched this one before, so it was number 171.)

I had a little trouble finding the trailhead, but that was a nice excuse for roaming the grounds.

You can see it was a cloudy day, but it was nice and cool, which I appreciated after we’d had some heat in Virginia.

At last I found markers for the Spazierwanderweg Karlstalschlucht, which basically means Fun-hiking-trail Karl’s-Valley-Gorge, and is 5.1 km long in a loop trail. A longer loop was marked in green for the Rundwanderweg Karlstalschlucht.

It took me a little wandering around at the back of the property of the Trippstadter Schloß.

Here was confirmation that, yes, I was to go through the gate.

The start of the trail went along a wide meadow, downhill toward a forested area.

I passed a few sculptures by the trail.

And it was just lovely to absorb that I was back in beautiful Germany, walking through the countryside.

I came to a small village, or maybe just an Ort.

These guys were interested in me walking by.

And then I started going a little deeper into the woods.

Then, much to my delight, I found Castle #172, Burg Wilenstein!

I couldn’t go inside, but I could roam all over the grounds.

According to the brochure, you can use the castle for classes and seminars, and it’s even got lodging inside. But it was all closed up that day and I just enjoyed exploring the outside.

One of my favorite things about castles is the shapes juxtaposed against their backdrops. I love doors leading to nowhere like this.

Looking off the edge in the back, you can see there’s thick forest.

And more wonderful shapes.

So that was the beginning of my hike. From there, it was on to the Karlstalschlucht – which I’ll cover in the next post.

I’m still blogging about my epic 60th birthday trip to Germany last June. Day 6, Sunday, June 16, was the halfway point, and the day I’d chosen to drive across Germany from Leipzig to the Kaiserslautern area – to at last revisit the places I’d lived with my family eighteen years before.

I decided to take the southern route, slightly longer, but that way I wouldn’t have to drive through Frankfurt and wouldn’t be driving the same route I’d taken to get to Leipzig – and see more of Germany.

Alas! I couldn’t take pictures while I was driving, but it was an amazing and wonderful drive. I felt very much the savvy traveler, because I’d planned to do that on a Sunday when I knew there wouldn’t be trucks on the road. I believe it’s a law in Germany – and sure enough, in the six hour drive, I only passed about a dozen trucks, instead of the constant stream of them the other days. Also, most of the Autobahns along the way had three lanes, unlike the two-lane ones between Kaiserslautern and Frankfurt, so that was a little less stressful driving. On the two-lane Autobahns, when you pass, you have to look way back for approaching BMWs, but if there are three lanes, I do most of my passing in the middle lane and stay out of their way anyway.

Another plus was that I saw how Dave had set up his GPS and tried it on my rental car and sure enough! I could put the GPS map on the car screen and that was much much better than hearing the directions but having to check the little phone to look at the map. (It wasn’t until the 9th day of my trip, however, that I discovered the display also included the current speed limit in the bottom right corner, which was very helpful. Anyway, I managed not to get a ticket.) [Yes, large sections of the Autobahn do not have speed limits, but many sections do – if it’s within city limits, for example. And often there are speed cameras soon after the speed limit goes down. The only tickets I ever got in Germany happened that way on the Autobahn.]

I was a little concerned about getting to my “Waldhotel” by a reasonable time. I’d booked it through Travelocity, which said the hotel management would send instructions for checking in, but never got any such. Well, it turned out to be an old hotel with the owners living on the premises, so I needn’t have worried.

I’d picked a place in the Pfälzerwald south of where we used to live, essentially a national forest with lots and lots of unspoiled forest and hiking and lots of castles.

Somewhere around Heilbronn, as I was coming down the mountains toward the Rhein Valley, I got a big deja vu moment, sure that we’d driven that exact road coming home from family vacations many years before. Of course, I’d gotten the same feeling at the rest stops where I’d stopped.

But then driving into the forest – it felt like coming home! The little villages felt so familiar, and then the Pfälzerwald forest.

Waldhotel Heller was on the far end of the Village of Iggelsbach – or at least I had to drive through the whole village to get to it.

When I first moved to Germany, driving in villages stressed me out because with the narrow roads, you need to be ready to pull over to one side if someone’s coming the other way. Now it filled me with nostalgia and happiness that I know how to drive in German villages. At last, I found my hotel.

The decor could have used some updating, but it was run by a friendly couple with their dog, the breakfasts were wonderful, the price was excellent, and I absolutely loved the balcony.

After putting my stuff in the room, I tried to find a restaurant and gas – and failed utterly. (Although the hotel had signs for a restaurant, the owners had retired their restaurant and limited it to serving breakfast.) I passed what looked like a restaurant, but didn’t really see a place to park (remember those narrow roads?) and no cars parked in front of it, so I wasn’t sure it was open. And then I found a gas station that was self-service and couldn’t get it to work. So I decided to drive into Kaiserslautern the next day where I could get gas for sure. And I’d had enough driving, so I went back to my hotel room and had a Kind bar for dinner. I decided for the rest of the week, I’d set off in the morning and have lunch and dinner out and about and come back to my hotel room for some balcony time. Since the sun didn’t go down until about 10 pm, that plan ended up working perfectly.

And so I started off that night with some wonderful balcony time, reading and journaling. I took a short video, and it still amazes me how completely quiet it was at 8 pm on a Sunday night. Some birds were chirping, and then I heard some church bells ringing across the valley. It was so beautiful and so peaceful, and I was ready for the Remembering and Savoring part of my trip.

This past June, I took a trip back to Germany in honor of my 60th birthday, and I’m slowly blogging about the wonderful trip.

Day 5 was Saturday, June 15, and Kate’s husband Dave drove Kate and me to another castle, Burg Mildenstein, my personal Castle #170. This post will be mainly pictures. Once again, I was completely delighted to get to roam around a castle.

These castles in the Schlösserland had been renovated wonderfully to appeal to visitors, with plenty of museum-like exhibits, and lots of kid-friendly features.

Here’s a outline of the history of the castle. Funny how there’s an English heading, but the main text is in German. Makes me wonder if I just didn’t see the part that had it translated into English. Still, you can see that this castle’s history goes back to 1046.

One of those kid-friendly features:

Detail on the ceiling was beautiful.

The rooms were definitely fun to roam through.

I always get a kick out of old doorways that make me feel tall.

And the view from a castle is always special.

One of the special things going on that day was an exhibit of work by an East German photographer, who took portraits of people in East German villages during the Communist regime. They had his pictures displayed in a few different places in the castle, and they were breathtaking.

Castle doorways can be so inviting.

We climbed the castle tower.

Of course the view from the top was wonderful.

But sometime we had to come down.

The inside was essentially a well-curated medieval museum. (We followed a numbered self-guided tour for all of this.)

Have I mentioned that weather in Germany in June is wonderful? We had a breezy, sunshiny, beautiful day.

So perhaps that gives an idea of why I love going to castles so much!

After that, we tried to find another castle that wasn’t too far away, but Google Maps let us down when there was a road closed. We couldn’t figure out where to park or where the castle actually was. But we had fun driving around the countryside, regardless.

And we got back in the afternoon in time for Kate to walk Riley the Wonder Dog, the sweetest dog ever. (He has since passed away. He was getting old, but his heart was devoted always to Kate.)

That night, I had the privilege of going along with Kate and Dave to a dinner party with a delightful group of English-speaking expats, from various countries. They’ve got a wonderful international community there. (Plus the food was amazing. I don’t think I’ve ever had a pavlova before, but it turns out they’re an exquisite dessert.)

One funny thing was that after eating, the ladies were talking at one end of the table and the men at another. They got to talking about a horror story of someone whose rental car broke down in another European country on vacation and fighting about payment. Which led to another story… and eventually someone declared that as a woman, you should never travel alone in Europe.

Well, when I heard that, I bit my tongue and smiled to myself. Whenever I’d gotten nervous about my German vacation and jaunting all around the country on my own, I reminded myself that Germany was home for ten years. It’s not a scary place! It’s somewhere where I’m very used to adventuring. If I were ever in trouble, almost all Germans speak English, but even if not, I can get by with my rudimentary German. Germans are invariably helpful – and I just reminded myself – this place has been my home.

[I also keep forgetting to pass on to Kate and Dave the tip we were given early on: Sign up for ADAC, the German Auto Club. It’s good all over Europe. One time, our car broke down a good hour from home, and it covered a tow truck to get us back. And they have discounts like the American Auto Club, and it’s one more way to feel peace of mind wherever you travel in Europe.]

Though I have to admit, I did envy Kate and Dave their wonderful international friends. (There were some lovely accents among them.) Yes, we had friends from the military base, but those were mostly American, and I loved the international perspectives in this group.

So – that rounded out the first part of my trip, in Leipzig with Kate. It was a truly wonderful way to start my German adventure and ease back into Europe. The next day, I was ready to set out on my solo adventure!

June 14, 2024, my 60th birthday, began with a trip to a castle (my 169th!), and then Kate and I went back to her apartment in Leipzig for a bit of a rest and time for Kate to walk Riley the Wonder Dog.

That evening, as part of the International Bachfest, I had gotten tickets for Kate and me to attend a Bach Choral Cantatas Concert in the Nikolaikirche, one of the churches where Bach served.

So we walked into the city center. I was still taking pictures of the wonderful old buildings.

Kate took me to a nice place for my birthday dinner. I was taken with the Cherry Blossom Tonic.

After dinner, the evening light on the buildings was even more lovely.

And we arrived at the Nikolaikirche with the October 1989 monument out front.

Inside, well, we didn’t have the greatest seats as far as seeing the performers.

And I’m very glad there wasn’t a fire while we were there.

But what a beautiful church!

Here’s the similar balcony across from us.

But despite the seats, Oh! The music!

The performers were the Amsterdam Baroque Choir and Orchestra. All the words of the cantatas were listed in the program, in German – but translated into English as well.

Something I didn’t realize would happen was that each cantata begins and ends with congregational singing. I saw several people with big song books with the music and words and the program referenced that book. However, it turned out there was a pattern, and the congregational part matched the words of the stanzas printed in the program, so I could sing in German – or in one case, in English.

The first cantata was Christ Lag in Todes Banden, BWV 4.2, “Christ lay in the snares of death.” This cantata is mainly about Christ’s resurrection, and was full of joyful praise – and amazing singing.

The second cantata was Nun Danket Alle Gott, BWV 192 – “Now Thank We All Our God”! Yes, this is exactly my favorite Thanksgiving hymn that I sing every year at Thanksgiving. It was funny – the English translation in the program didn’t match the hymn as we English speakers actually sing it – but I sang the hymn I know when it was time for the congregational singing.

This cantata was a bit shorter, and the congregational singing didn’t cover all the verses, but I did love hearing a soaring soprano voice singing in German what I knew to mean, “O may this bounteous God through all our life be near us. With ever joyful hearts and blessed peace to cheer us. And keep us in his grace, and guide us when perplexed, and keep us from all ills, in this world and the next.”

The third cantata was Was Gott Tut, Das Ist Wohlgetan, BWV 100, “Whatever God deals is dealt bountifully.” I thought all the words of this one were especially perfect for my 60th birthday and not being quite sure what life is going to hold for me next. Some of the lines that really touched me (and remember, they’re sung to amazingly beautiful music):

Whatever God deals is dealt bountifully:
his will remains just;
however he runs my affairs,
I will hold still before him.
He is my God,
who in time of trouble
well knows how to uphold me;
therefore I will just let him rule.

Whatever God deals is dealt bountifully:
he is my light, my life
who can grant me nothing evil;
I will surrender myself to him
in joy and sorrow!
The time will come
when it shall openly appear
how faithful is his intent.

And the fourth and final cantata was Sleepers Awake! Well, actually, it was Wachet Auf, Ruft Uns die Stimme, BWV 140, “Awake! We Are Called by the Voice.” I don’t know the words to this cantata, but I am very familiar with the tune, as the brass quintet my ex-husband performed with had an arrangement of the piece. I love its haunting melody, and hearing that melody with the words simply wrenched my heart.

This cantata is about the parable of the Ten Virgins, telling the listener to be ready, because the bridegroom (Jesus) is coming. There are a couple of astonishingly beautiful duets with a soprano and a bass as a conversation between “the soul” and Jesus. Here’s one such exchange:

Soul: When are you coming, my salvation?
Jesus: I am coming, your portion.
Soul: I am waiting with burning oil.
Soul and Jesus: Open/ I open the hall for the heavenly feast.
Soul: Come, Jesus!
Jesus: Come, lovely soul!

And the cantata goes on to joy and praise.

No eye has ever seen,
no ear has ever heard
such joy.

And I left the concert with songs in my heart. Such a beautiful day!

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!