Castle Hopping

This week, I want to speak to you about something near and dear to my heart: castle hopping. As you can probably guess from the name, castle hopping involves going to visit the castles in different towns. This is a great activity to do on any European vacation, or if you live in Europe, you can take a road trip for a day, a week, or an afternoon. 

I started this activity in 2014, when I lived in Marburg, Germany, for my semester abroad. I would travel on the trains, trying to make it to every town on the train pass. In each town, I would walk around for a bit, and came to find out that most of the present-day towns have ancient castles. This is where my love for castle hopping started. It was my goal to see the castle of every town (and to stop at the tourist center to get a hat pin for my collection, to remind me where I have been). 

Castle hopping became a favorite activity of mine, because I got to see something the U.S. doesn’t have. I wonder if native Europeans take castles for granted, like they are just another building. I feel like for residents of the United States, or at least me, that castles are something grand and unique, no matter how renovated, run down, or touristy they are. 

Each castle is unique. Each has a different design and a different layout. Some have gardens, some have moats, some are built on water ( I haven’t been to one of those yet, but it’s on my list.). Each castle has something different that makes it special, and I love getting to discover this for each castle. 

Where are the castles in Germany? Well, the truth is, almost everywhere. For a while I thought they were just in the bigger towns, but after my bike ride last weekend and this weekend, I am also finding castles in smaller neighborhoods or quarters of the city. 

For example, this weekend we went biking by Essen Kettwig, a small quarter of Essen, but more rural. We were biking along the roads and hills, enjoying the scenery, when a sign for a castle popped up. We turned down the lane and followed it to the castle. This was called Castle Linnep. It was virtually in the middle of nowhere, not overlooking any city, just there. I did not expect a castle to be there. We explored the outside, (more like took a quick photo and ran), because we did not know if we were allowed in due to the Coronavirus restrictions.

As we were getting ready to leave, we saw a giant reddish-orange building through the trees in the distance. It was a dome shaped building, and we had never seen anything so triangular in such a bright color. As you may know, I have a sense of adventure that gets to me, and I had to see it. So we biked until we got to the dome, and it turned out that it was a Catholic Church- St. Christophrous, near Ratingen. To me it looked like a church that belonged in Star Wars or some outer-space movie. It was very different. 

We continued on our bike ride and made it back to our starting point. We were about to pack up the bikes in the Jeep and head for home, when a fancier driveway caught my eye. It was located just behind the parking lot. It turns out this was another castle! 

We hiked to the top of the hill with our bikes (we were feeling too lazy to ride them), and were surprised to find the most beautiful gardens we had ever seen by the castle. There were cherry trees that were blooming, a giant water pond or pool with a bunch of fountains (although it was drained. It would have looked so beautiful if it was filled and running). We were allowed to walk around the outside of the castle, and saw some of the most beautiful castle buttresses that supported the castle.  It was one of my most favorite castles I have seen here in Germany, called Castle Landsberg. It is also near Ratingen. 

Just think! Two castles we almost missed seeing if we did not explore our surroundings. We would have missed some beautiful sights. 

Lesson: There are great sites to see all around, no matter if around your house or across the world. It is up to you to get out there and find the things that make that place special, things you have never seen before. 

I push you to keep in mind the restrictions due to the Coronavirus, but to still try to get out and go for a walk or to explore the outdoors somewhere. I am eager to see where you end up, even if it is just a walk around the block! Send me a message of where you explored, and a photo if you have one! You don’t have to go to someplace special (I know not every place has castles), but try to find out something new about the location around you, even if you have lived there for years. Maybe there’s a tree growing in your backyard that you never noticed. Or maybe the house on the end of the block has a cute mailbox. Whatever it is, get out there and explore!

“WE SHALL NOT CEASE FROM EXPLORATION, AND THE END OF ALL OUR EXPLORING WILL BE TO ARRIVE WHERE WE STARTED AND KNOW THE PLACE FOR THE FIRST TIME.” –     T. S. ELIOT