Day 30!

Today I got up a little later and had some breakfast before me and Mrs Kirste headed off on an excursion. Both places we went to were about an hours drive or so from Esslingen. First up we went to this placed called the Nebelhöhle (fog caves). To get here we had to wind up a really scenic forest road and walk in a little bit. Once there we bought our entrance tickets and headed in. On the way down you could tell how the place got its name.. there was a fine mist coming out of the caves.. kinda eeire but cool nonetheless.

Once inside you got to walk yourself around the main chambers of the caves (no ropes or barriers or nothing.. kinda different to what im used to!). There wer lotsa nice stalagtites and stalagmites, and it was (at first) pleasantly cool. However soon it was too cold (I think caves are always around 9-10°).. I hadnt felt cold in quite a while, and had thought id been missing it a bit... But nope!! Ugh... Sweden winter is gonna be something else!! Lets hope I make it :)!

In one part you could walk through some naoorow gaps and up some old as stairs and here and there to a chamber that was used ages ago to house an important revoltuionary for a while so he wasnt captured.. I sure wouldnt have wanted to stay there!! But better than the alternative huh! Near the end of the accessable caves was this weird set up which I later discovered was a stage for a theater! That would be some setting for a show! Would be quite cool to attend one.

Anyway, I took a bunch of photos, got all covered in icky-soft-rocky stuff, and we made our way out. After a quick icecream we hopped back into the car and off to castle lichterstein (not lichteNstein). This place got its name from the awesome old 'white jurassic' rocks on the surface around the area. These are naturally light, white coloured (licht mean light, and stein means stone..lichterstein.. go figure :)!). Earlier it housed the knights of Lichterstein, and a while later was also used as a summer home and hunting base by the owners and friends. This castle was well up there with Neuschwanstein, as you could walk around all the buildings and old wall, you had a spectacular view, there were far less tourists, and the castle was equally dramatic and cool (altho alot smaller).

I took a tour which had a bunch of interesting information. The dining rooms and bedrooms and stuff were impressive, but nothing on Neuschwanstein and Hohenzollern. (altho the owners actually looked like normal people :) some looked quite good). But the highlight was the armoury, and the hunters room. The armoury had a big selection of weapons and suits of armour and helmets which was really interesting to look around. Im not hardout into that stuff or anything but it was really cool none the less. The helmets were just like in the movies, but real :), and the suits of armour too!

The hunters room was totally great! It had an awesome atmpsphere to it, and was basically alot of seats along the walls with benches. There was an oven on one side and at the front was a raised section with a table for two and a place where you could sit and recall hunting stories to the others. There were trophies on the walls, and painted on the walls were nice designs, and some german drinking slogans :). There was a massive collection of glasses, mugs, steins etc.. but also a MASSIVE!! horn that was used to drink out of.. (oh my..), and this HUGE glass for champagne. It was 1.93 meters tall, held 3 bottles of champagne, and required 3 people to use. One to hold the glass, one to drink, and one to hold the drinker :).

We then ascended to the next story which had some cool stuff and gifts and paintings around the place. There were paintings of the dude who I photographed the statue of in the Old Castle in Stuttgart, and a bunch of other important historical characters. Allied tanks shelled the castle in WW II, so they left some of the stuff in its damaged state which was quite dramatic! Anyways.. we walked back to the car (saw the cutest dog on the way!) and then it was back home.

Dinner was this DELICIOUS feast of roasted capsicums filled with mince and rice, pastries stuffed with spinach and probably feta, fresh rolls, and a great potatoe salad... Oh man!! *droool*. They sure know how to eat over here!! :D

Later in the evening me Arnulf Björn and Heidi all played some poker. I ended up winning again after a while, but it was a fun game. After that Björn and Heidi went upstairs and me and Arnulf went down the main Berkheim street to a little festival that was taking place called the Maisenfest (Maisen is a nickname for people from Berkheim :D). Here there was food, drink and a little music. We walked around for a while, met a few of Arnulfs school mates. Stuffed around with the camera and pxt phone for a while :), and then when we found out we couldnt go for a ride on the cool street train thingy-ma-bob, we went home around 11ish.

I went online briefly and saw Kouji and had a chat, then went to bed :)

Its getting late so I wont write up today now.. Ill have a bit of free time tomorrow so can do it then.

Bye!