Erlenbach, Germany (Berwarstein Castle)

Once everyone loaded back up on the bus in Annweiler, all full from chestnut bratwurst and neuer wein, we headed for the village of Erlenbach for a guided tour of the Berwarstein Castle.  By this point, however, our little ones were about toured out and my daughter was very upset at the fact the castles we were seeing were not the "princess" castles from Walt Disney.  Oiy.

The castle was really interesting though (and I think if we would have gone here first they would have enjoyed it more).  You can read more about the history of it HERE.  

What makes this castle unique is that is it privately owned and lived in!  Therefore, you definitely have to have a guided tour to get in.  The tour takes you through the main core of the castle, the knight's hall, and down through it's secret passages...

The tour was really neat but hard to follow (we had to wait for the English translation from our own guide while wrangling two tired, restless kiddos).  As our group went downstairs to go through the secret passageways we found an exit and veered off.  We let the kids play outside until it was time to load up and go home!

After a very fun and exciting day sightseeing we were happy to get back on the bus to head "home!"  This was a perfect beginning to what we hope will be a very memorable European experience!