Eisenach - Wartburg Castle

Welcome to eastern Germany, again. For the last time. You wouldn't know it, except there are parts of the city surrounding this lovely place that are graffiti riddled and slum-ish. Unfortunately, though the German government would love to see a seemless transition... it's still obvious in areas. But all negative things aside, we came to see this lovely castle. While I wouldn't consider it the most beautiful of castles we've seen or would see later on this trip, it certainly bears history. This is the castle where Martin Luther translated the Bible from Latin to many dialects in German. While Martin Luther himself is often (not a fan) of people, he does contribute to the spread and development of Christianity... and we Christians find this important... of course!

Here is the facade. It looks misshapen and pieced together on the sides... but I think it adds charm.

My parents in front of the castle

Steve, Ray & Kay in front of the castle

Here's that six-er shot!

Steve at the Martin Luther room in the castle

Outside the castle and some surroundings...

And the favorite... this was perhaps our favorite meal of the entire trip with our family. Not only was it authentic German, but it was delicious and afforable! The center of the menu board displays what all of the men ordered at our table: The Thuringer bratwurst with sauerkraut and bread. My mom & I had the tomato soup (amazing...best I've ever had with olive/sundried tomato bread) and Kay had proscuitto with toast and pickled veggies. Just before we left, we noticed that they erased the sausage meal from the board. Since it was a holiday week, there were few restaurants open... they ran out! We managed to get there at a good time while the options weren't so limited. Anyhow, we were delighted to have stopped in here. Had there been more restaurants open, we may not have. Last time we were there, Ray & I ate outrageously priced, not-so-good food.

I'm taking the photo on this one... and here's the happy clan eating at a German restaurant!

Next stop, Nürnberg!