Today was a day of castles-Mom and Grandpa's favorite thing to see in Germany!!!

Our first stop was Runkel Castle.  This castle was built beginning in 1159 and it sits high above the Lahn River. 

   entrance to the castle complex

   castle courtyard

  the inside of the castle is a museum of weapons and tools from the middle ages

    the original section of the castle was destroyed in 1634 and is now a fun ruin to explore

view of the Lahn river from the castle ruins

The next castle we visited was the Braunfels Schloss.  We had planned on taking the tour of the interior of this castle, but then we found out it was going to be a 60 minute tour in German-not exactly something that I was interested in!!  Mom and Grandpa explored the castle courtyard a little bit while Grandma and I rested on a bench.  Since we didn't get to/have to take the tour that meant we had time for an ice cream cone before dinner!!