Twenty years ago, when our son Matthew was just 3 years old, Val and I took him on a European vacation to Germany, Austria, and Slovenia. We were already living near Amsterdam as American expats and had made a few trips to various European cities, but we were eager to discover more. My parents- and sister-in-law flew in from Seattle to join us.
We planned to pass first through Germany, stopping in Heidelburg and Füssen to see German castles. Then we hoped to journey on through Austria to visit the castle and other sights of Salzburg. We’d round off our trip by venturing further east, into Slovenia, for yet another castle visit in the city of Bled.
The Castle Course
Why our fascination with castles? First you have to understand that our son Matthew has always had a theatrical streak. Raised on Disney, with a penchant for dressing up and always pretending to be someone else, he had, by just three years old, made quite a name for himself as the family entertainer. He could do impressions of any barnyard animal combined with any emotional expression, and neither ‘tired cow,’ nor ‘angry chicken’ were beyond his theatrical skill. But his most favorite part of all to play was that of a ‘brave knight.’ His castle-tent from IKEA provided him with hours of entertainment while wearing his knight costume of cloth chain-mail, and cape. Even during our weekly bike trips to the grocers, he’d slip into that role. Matthew would sit on the front child-seat of my bike, imagining himself to be riding a horse, and together we’d sing Chicago’s famous ballad ‘The Glory of Love’:
“Like a knight in shining armor, From a long time ago, Just in time I’ll save the day, Take you to my castle far away…”
His father and I wanted to make his childhood dreams come true by showing him some REAL castles–fairytale ones–in Germany, Austria, and Slovenia. We adults were also excited to see some honest-to-goodness castles first-hand, and enjoy a much needed escape to a European fantasyland.
Heidelburg and Füssen, Germany
In Heidelburg we encountered a well-maintained castle in pinkish stone. Originally built in the 13th century, and still partly in ruin, this glorious structure sits atop the main hill in Heidelberg. It had been rebuilt and restored numerous times following destruction by lightning, fires, and wars. ‘Sir Matthew’ eagerly explored the corridors, steps, and look-out points.
Next we ventured down to Füssen, the German town with an illustrious castle, very near the Austrian border. With a bag of groceries for dinner, we settled into our bungalow apartment. We had mistakenly bought ‘schinken’ for dinner, thinking it was chicken. The fact that it was ham made our chicken fricasee a bit more interesting!
Out on the hills surrounding the town, we found ample room to run and breathe after the long car-ride. Matthew and I, seeing mountains of Austria in the distance, ran into the hills hand-in-hand, joyfully singing: “The Hills are Alive with the Sound of Music!” We could hardly contain our wonder.
Not long after our arrival in Füssen, heavy clouds moved in and it began to rain. Soon hail stones pelted our roof and car. As we stared out onto the small patio of our bungalow, we could see the hail stones, large as golf balls, and spiky too! It was as if a million knights hurled their mace-heads at us from some heavenly fortress. The damage sustained by our rental vehicle was distressing, but thankfully, none of us was hurt. Matthew, in fact, was quite entertained.
In Füssen we visited the world-famous Neuschwanstein, reportedly the inspiration for Disney’s iconic Sleeping Beauty castle. Its patron, the German King Ludwig II, was a great fan of the operas of Wagner, and drew much inspiration from them to use in the castle’s design. Matthew was enthralled by the towering turrets and dramatic mural-covered interiors of the place. The fantasy began as soon as he entered the gate, sliding him instantly again into the role of ‘brave knight.’ His grandparents bought him a cardboard knight’s helmet with matching wooden sword and shield in the castle’s gift shop, which he wore for the rest of the trip.
Salzburg, Austria
Next we drove into the area of Salzburg in northwestern Austria, where we quickly settled our baggage into a chalet apartment in the town of Mondsee. We hefted our bags up to the third floor via the tiled staircases inside, which were cheerfully lined with colorful baskets and flowers. There we found a comfortable accommodation with white plastered walls and intricately carved wooden beams. The beds were neatly made up with crisp white sheets, and old daguerrotype photographs of peasants in traditional dress lined the walls. Out on the shaded balcony, the pristine view of majestic mountains demanded our attention. Rows of them, in receding shades of blue towered over the valley. Equipped only with a film camera, we pieced together our own type of panorama shot to try to capture their grandeur (the lines in the photo show where the prints overlap):
Soon we were off to the Salzburg Castle. Set on the hill that overlooks Salzburg, this castle is less than an hour’s drive from Mondsee. Salzburg is a picturesque and regal town, more rustic than Vienna, but certainly maintaining its own glory. As one of the largest cities of Austria, it boasts a large fortress-castle and beautiful baroque architecture in the surrounding town. Furthermore, it is the birthplace of Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart! Mozart’s childhood home is easy to find, given the many signs and swarms of tourists. The hillside castle, though, was our main focus.
After a short hike up the castle hill, we arrived at the main gate and stepped inside. The ground of the courtyard was stony and uneven. A small slope veered up to the left, and Sir Matthew, clad in his helmet and weaponry, stepped up to the highest point. Overcome with emotion and fervor, he began to sing in his three-year-old voice for all to hear:
“Like a knight in shining armor, From a long time ago, Just in time I’ll save the day, Take you to my castle far away…”
A small crowd of tourists–mostly middle-aged Americans–gathered around and listened intently. As Matthew concluded, the crowd burst into applause. They were astonished by his boldness, without the least hint of stage fright. His imagination stunned them too; it had now transported them into another world–the world of knights. Several took his picture, but I regrettably did not. However, the image is indelibly inscribed on my mind.
Mondsee, Austria
After a good deal of schnitzel, and a hurried visit to the Mirabell palace gardens, we returned to our chalet in Mondsee for some rest and light evening entertainment. We stepped out onto the balcony to sit around the outdoor table and watch the sun go down behind the mountains. Soon someone grabbed the set of dice we had brought in order to play a favorite game called ‘George.’ This game requires repeated rolls of multiple dice, like Yahtzee, to determine the player’s points. The game was going well, and we were having a good time, until we began to roll too vigorously, and lost a die off the balcony. A few minutes later, another followed. There wasn’t any point in going after them; by then it was dark, and they had probably fallen deep into the geranium planter below. After a few more dice were lost, we ran out of reserves, and the game was over!
Later in the week we took time to explore the Austrian nature surrounding us. Paddle-boating and swimming in the beautiful and clean Mondsee lake, hiking in the hills, and wading in the nearby stream provided great hours of recreation. Families lined the banks of the lake with cheerful presence, and the warm afternoon paddling on the mid-sized lake warmed and tanned our skins after a dark Dutch winter.
Bled, Slovenia
Eventually we made our way to Slovenia where we found the lakeside town of Bled. Lake Bled is a remarkable emerald green color, which gives it a mysterious look. With an island-church in the middle, this jewel-colored lake is flanked by cliffs and a fortress castle that overlooks them. I can imagine what a remote residence this place must have been in its medeival past, but these days, tourists are warmly encouraged to enjoy the castle and lake, along with shopping and restaurants.
Arriving at the castle, our group found some interesting re-creations of castle life from centuries past. Several small shops there in the courtyard sold authentic oils, soaps, and tinctures that might have been used in the time of the knights. We found a small printing shop where a kindly older man, dressed in the robes of a medieval scribe, demonstrated how printing was done in days of yore. He printed Matthew’s Slovenian name, ‘Matej,’ on a little card for us using the castle press.
This trip fulfilled all our hopes, expectations, and knightly dreams. If you ever decide to travel to any of these places, looking for castles as we did, I offer these few words of advice: bring a German dictionary if you don’t speak fluently, insure your rental car for hailstorms, bring a game that doesn’t involve dice, and take digital pictures at every opportunity. But most importantly, bring a child along with a strong imagination for your best source of entertainment. We did, and what a difference it made!
