Germany 15: The small town of Celle and castles near the Rhine

   Celle was a town recommended by my German friend from Denmark as an old town worth visiting.  After taking the ferry back to the mainland, I drove two hours to Celle and spent two nights in the town.  The architecture throughout the town was beautiful.  It also had an excellent castle, surrounded by a park.

  On the west side of town, there appeared to be a festival, with many pop up tents.  There was also a small band playing music.  I tried to look up festivals running in the town, but was unable to find anything.  It is possible that it is a regular weekend thing.  

  At a local coffee shop, I ordered the apple strudel.  I expected the small piece of pastry.  Instead, they gave me a bowl with ice cream and whipped cream and apple slices, along with the pastry.  Like with the two massive mugs of coffee in Dresden, I was forced to down it all.  II had to defend my honor and reputation.

  My final German destination was at a castle hotel in Oberwesel, a five hour drive south of Celle.  Again I had a wonderful view from my room.  The weather was beginning to heat up.  By my last day there, the temperature was up to 93.  

  On my first real day, I drove out to see castles in the area.  The first stop of the day was Eltz Castle.  The parking lot was about a fifteen minute walk away, with incredible views looking down to the castle.

The view from my room.

  The castle had a 12 Euro entrance fee.  I walked through a small treasury room.  People were gathered in a courtyard, awaiting a tour of the inner castle.  A woman told us that there would be an English tour shortly.  What she neglected to mention, was that when the woman appeared to start the English tour, she would announce that there would only be room for thirty five people.  The first woman had us wait on the exact opposite side, and when the large parties bum rushed the woman, I ended up as the 36th person, and they would not allow me in.  

  After having waited in the heat for quite a while thus far, I decided that I had no interest in waiting.  I walked back to the ticket office and inquired about a possible refund.  They were nice enough to refund 10 euros.  My next stop was Thurant Castle.  This castle was more my style.  There were only a handful of people, so I mostly had the place to myself.  The buildings were amazing, and you could even climb to the top of the tower.