CASTLEMANIA!!!

With Leni working on Tuesday, it was up to Mrs.

Biener and I to have all the fun exploring the city and surrounding areas. Leni definitely missed out (Entschuldigung). J We started off the day at 9am and set out on our adventure by first going back to the Castle in Aschaffenburg that we went to yesterday, but this time we could actually go in. The inside was remarkable, but I quickly realized that museums really aren’t my thing. I was pretty tired through from staying up til 2:30am the night before tho, and was pretty sluggish all day, so maybe that had something to do with it. Haha It was pretty cool tho. Lots of art and cool artifacts. Most of the art was about jesus which was pretty interesting. The coolest paintings to me tho were the ones of medieval battles. The medieval artifacts, swords, pikes, and early guns were pretty sweet too. The museum also holds the largest cork model musuem which was kinda cool (check out the coliseum).

After a fun time exploring the castle, we set out to

another historical site 5 minutes away that showcases the Italian side of the town. The house is modeled after an estate in Pompeii, and sadly I can’t remember what it’s called right now. Either way, it was cool seeing an Italian estate with a big open area with pillars and a bath inside, with lots of cool rooms. I felt like I was in a scene from Gladiator or something. Haha Outside the house was a private vineyard on a hill on the river, that is specifically reserved for “the biggest man” or “mayor” of Aschaffenberg. It was a cool house, but everything was written in German onside which was kinda frustrating (as compared to the castle where it had both English and german descriptions), so it wasn’t as cool as it could have been. sluggish all day, so maybe that had something to do with it. Haha It was pretty cool tho. Lots of art and cool artifacts. Most of the art was about jesus which was pretty interesting. The coolest paintings to me tho were the ones of medieval battles. The medieval artifacts, swords, pikes, and early guns were pretty sweet too.

After a busy morning, we decided to relax for a bit and get some sandwiches and coffee before heading out on our next adventure. The sandwiches we got were from an Italian sandwich shop, and were quite good, tho much smaller than the typical American portions. Eating sandwiches on the steps in the plaza with Mrs. Beiner was great. I’m not sure how Europe can get much better than this.

We drove out to a new Castle probably 25

minutes away that is located in the dense forest. The cool thing about this castle is that it’s not just located in a cool forest, it’s build in the middle of a POND and surrounded by water! Very cool. The same family has owned this private castle/mansion for over 500 years, and the family still lives in a segment of the castle today (the other half is open for tours). After taking a few pics outside the castle, we joined a group of tourists and got the guided tour through the castle. Sadly, the guy spoke German the whole time, so I couldn’t really understand. Luckily, Leni’s Mom was quietly translating/whispering what he was talking about. It was still very nice tho, and I particularly liked the room with wild game trophies from the forest, guns, swords, and art about hunting. Leni’s mom said of course I would like that room because I am a man. Haha

Our day continued as we traveled to a cute tourist town called Miltenburg. On the way we stopped at a cool garden shop where Leni ‘s Mom got her grandma a cute flower pot holder for her birthday. We had espresso there as well which was very much needed. I learned the hard way that I shouldn’t stay up too late when traveling.

Miltenburg was freakin AWESOME!!! The city is

located right on the river, and has a cool street that showcases all the shops, beerhouses, cafes, and restaurants. The whole town had a cool atmosphere, and as we sat down at “Faust” brewery, the family next to us was having some sort of scavenger hunt birthday party for the kids. Man is the beer good at that brewery. Their heff is amazing, and so was their special and brown ale. Schlappe Seppel from Aschaffenberg is also amazing and shouldn’t be left out in this blog. Anyway, for dinner, I got the white sausage this time which may have been the best sausage I’ve ever had. It was served in a broth with two big sausages, and after peeling off the skin I enjoyed it

bite by bite in a special mustard sauce that is specific for that type of sausage. It also came with a soft pretzel, which I’m noticing is pretty common in Bavaria. I was sad to leave, but I had an amazing time with Leni’s mom, and was excited to get back and hang out with Leni and her friends.

After getting back to Leni’s, Leni and I hung out for a bit then met up with some of her friends at a nice restaurant in Aschaffenberg. The two guys there were a lot of fun, and we had a good time joking around and talking about sports. The girl who was there seemed unsure of me, as if I was some wild American tourist…. Haha Either way, it was a fun night, and after a couple beers we were all friends. I even got to learn some new german words/phrases, including some new swear words. Haha

When we got back home, I stressed out for a bit as I tried to figure out my plans for the next few days. I was hoping to couchsurf in Nurnberg for 2 days, but sent out my request only the day before, and got “no” from everyone. Hmmmmm… Now what? So I looked up some hostels on hostelworld.com, but it said every hostel was booked for Wednesday night. I verified this by calling them all via skype and got shut down again and again. I could have stayed another night at Leni’s, then headed to Munich the following day, but I was determined to go to Nurnberg, so I sent out some more couchsurfing requests and went to bed having no idea what I would do the next day.

The next morning (today), I hadn’t received any couchsurfing replies back, so I made the rounds of phone calls to hostels again and got lucky and reserved my bed at A&O Hostel. I was hoping someone on couchsurfing will reply tho, as its generally more fun and a local experience, and its also free compared to the 19 euro I’ll have to pay at the hostel. :( Oh well, off to Nuremberg (Nurnberg)