On Sunday, Eli and I drove to see the Lichtenstein "Fairytale" Castle. The drive gave us time to talk.
Come to find out, Eli finds it easy to meet young women. From his stories, I can understand why young women are drawn to Eli. Eli is kind, easy going, and has a fun-loving, good nature. He chalked up his good luck to the fact that he is comfortable conversing and is good at planning adventures. Currently, he has been texting with a young Italian woman, and consequently, has been studying Italian so that he can converse with her more easily when he travels to Italy to meet her.
I was surprised to hear that keeping a relationship has been more challenging for my dear Eli. Eli told me about the girlfriend I had last known about, the one in London. He told me that she was beautiful and he did not want things to end. He related that she went back to a past boyfriend who lived locally. He related all this kindly and calmly, with the lingering, resigned longing of unrequited love.
He told me about the most recent girlfriend who he had gone on fun adventures with. She had just ended their relationship a week ago. Eli was evidently still feeling raw about this. When he suggested it was his fault, he hung his head low. When he suggested it was his fault because he was excessively silly and played practical jokes, he looked up at me and smirked. I wondered if he likes this part of himself and does not really want to change. I said: "Maybe you need to be with someone who appreciates you as you are."
We arrived at the Lichtenstein Castle. The place was indeed fairytale-like, like something from a bygone era with knights and chivalry, or motes and cannons.
I noticed that the various buildings included different architectural styles. I wondered if there had been damage to the castle structures during WWII and then rebuilding that lasted through a variety of decades. Wikipedia conferred that the castle was damaged during WWII, and that there were restoration efforts, beginning immediately following the war, and continuing (at various times, I imagine, when funds allowed) up to 2002. While we were there, closed sections made me wonder if the castle is once again going through restoration, or maybe, it is just under reparative maintenance.
Walking up to the castle, tourists are welcomed by a protective bronze knight. My camera did not pick up the gorgeous details or how impressively large it was.
Eli said that he especially likes this castle because "It's smaller and less touristy" than Neuschwanstein Castle - the castle in southern Germany that a lot of people want to see, the one that Disney's Sleeping Beauty castle was modeled after.
There may have been fewer tourists here, but there was a swarm of bugs that engulfed Eli's head (at the end of that last video, above).
It was impressive that this stone castle was built on the precipice of a boulder with a very steep drop. Like most castles, I imagine the site was chosen because it would be difficult to get to, and easier to spot enemies approaching from afar.
I got some interesting pictures and videos looking out though windows in the stone wall...
...and out through the back gate...
Peaking through windows into closed rooms, we saw cannons...
...and a dining room...
Eli and I missed the tour of the inside of the castle and did not want to wait for the next one, so we walked around the outside of the castle...
...through a modern ropes course that (obviously) had been added to the wooded property...
The course went on and on. It was a more expansive ropes course than I had ever seen...
Before we left, I of course wanted to use a toilet. The toilet was stunning. Of course, I took a video (below). Flush and enjoy...
Next: the last week in Stuttgart...