European Vacation - Required Elements

 Allen and Kyra have come to accept that no matter where we vacation there will be two things they always do on a vacation.

1.  We will visit a castle.
2.  We will visit a cathedral/really big church.

It is inescapable.  As loving parents we do give them a break though.  Usually we only visit the biggest castle and the most renown cathedral.  After a while all the stained glass begins to blur and  so much historical furniture one can look at.

Mallorca's castle was an interesting short visit.  The castle was circular in shape.  Thus the courtyard was circular.  I found it quite pretty.  From the top of the castle we had some lovely views of the capital city of Palma and the Mediterranean Sea.

Options for cathedral/church visits abound.  We visited the cathedral called La Seu. It was built over almost a four hundred year period beginning in the early 1200s and finished in the 1600s.

It was surprising to encounter such a large cathedral on an island in the middle of the Mediterranean Sea.  We couldn't imagine that there was such a significant population on the island of Mallorca to support such a massive building.  And yet there it was and as cathedrals are a required element, we visited it.

Tomorrow - optional elements of a European vacation...

Vianden Castle

As I was searching for an internet link to more information on Vianden Castle, I learned something.  I've been spelling it wrong.  I've been leaving out the first "n."  The town is Vianden and the castle is called Vianden.

Vianden castle was constructed between the 11th and 14th centuries.  Over the centuries it was neglected and poor construction gave way to gravity.  It was given to the state of Luxembourg in 1977 and reconstruction efforts were begun.  So what you see on the tour (or in photos) is new built on old.

For the price of admission, one gets to walk around the castle - there aren't any tours.  We have learned to invest a few more euros and buy a guide book in English as most of the placards are in German and French  with a smattering of English here and there.

Most of the rooms were large and unfurnished.  This allowed us to appreciate the construction style and just imagine how many people it would take to fill such a room.

The colorful photo is of the upper chapel.  There was a small altar and statue of the chapel's patron saint - I forgot who the patron saint is and my guidebook is hiding.  The middle of the chapel was open to the lower chapel below.  The lower chapel was very plain - no furniture and no finishing just the cut rock.

As we moved from the historically older parts of the castle to the newer parts, rooms became more finished and we began to see furnishings as well.

This is a family dining room with period tapestries and wood furnishings.

My favorite room was a large open room with trefoil shaped windows.  It was open to the outside, kind of like a very large porch.  The fresh air of the morning was lovely and the whole effect of light and the views from each window was wonderful.  I turned my camera this way and that, zoomed and unzoomed but really couldn't take a photo that I thought really captured the room.

This was my best attempt and I don't think it is very good.  Hopefully it hints at the size and scope of the room and the views out the windows.

I'd love to go for a return visit and just sit in one of these windows and read for a while.

Chair-lift

Viaden castle sits high on a steep hillside.  There are a few options for how to get to the castle.
1.  Drive up and park in a nearby parking lot
2.  Walk up a steep and winding road
3.  Take the chair-lift and then walk through the wooded hillside to the castle.

You can see from the photos which option we selected.  That is Kyle and Kyra at the bottom of the photo to the right.

The chair-lift was a pleasant way to enjoy the morning and views of Viaden and the castle.













The chair-lift took us to the hill top next to the castle.  This meant that we enjoyed a short hike down and back up to the castle hill top.

Along the way Allen complained that his legs and feet hurt from his cross-country training.  However, he was the one who ignored the gently sloping path in favor of the steeper paths that were more direct.

After our castle tour (tomorrow's blog will be the castle) we climbed back down and up to the chair-lift and rode it back down into the valley.  Overall I'd say it was far more enjoyable than driving or walking the entire distance.