This second instalment of castle hopping reached over two countries. So exciting. 🙂 You can see day one here, if you haven’t yet.

Maastricht in the Netherlands was our first destination. This is a pretty amazing place, with cobbled streets and beautiful old buildings. You must be getting tired of the words ‘cobbled streets’ and ‘old buildings’. I’m sorry, but I absolutely live for the architecture (specifically Baroque and Gothic, but all of antique Europe makes me hyperventilate). And then, castles and or churches / cathedrals. But you already know that and I’m getting ahead of myself again.

The beginning.

This is what happens when I tell Jan he never smiles for selfies:

We walked around in Maastricht, found a nice little park, saw a statue of a musketeer, ate some waffles (which I don’t have photos of, but they were stuffed with chocolate. No, you didn’t read that right. The WAFFLES were STUFFED with CHOCOLATE) and found a fort with a moat. A real, water-filled moat. Day. Made.

The photo order is a little wonky. The car park was underneath this adorable town plain, which is surrounded by some awesome buildings. So we took photos of a cathedral, but didn’t immediately go inside, because they had a sermon in progress when we got there. From there, we saw some other sights and churches, reasoning that we had to go back to that town plain anyway to get the car and would then see the first cathedral. Cathedral in question:

From Maastricht, we drove to Köningswinter, a stunning town on the Rhine bank. This place is a tourist hub, with that authentic European feel. We couldn’t spend too long in the town though, because it’s a tourist hub with an authentic European feel – and the accompanying mass of tourists – plus, we were on our way to the castle.

Schloss Drachenburg is a mixture of a villa, a castle and a palace – or so I’m told. It’s also one of the most amazing castles I’ve ever seen (only Dover trumps it). Like basically all castles / big buildings in North Rhine Westphalia, Drachenburg was partially destroyed during the war, but was restored to look like it originally did.

With the castle being so high on a hilltop, the climb was tiring. We could have taken a tram, but we figured we want the exercise. I blame these friggen step-counters on our phones and the competitive tinge in my marriage.

Anyway.

This place stole my breath and I consequently died. The end.

I want to mention the image above. Not because it’s particularly special or anything, it’s just that so many people ask what sets Germany apart in terms of building style. This. Tudor or Tudor-inspired. You’ll see this style pretty much everywhere, but especially in the Aldstadt (Old City) of any place you visit.

Folks, this place is magical. It’s really like stepping into a fairy tale. We’ll definitely be taking back some friends and family to witness it!

Have a good one,

Yolandie