Every Day Is A Winding Road . . .

Every day is another day trip. Saturday morning, as every morning, we try to get everyone dressed, fed, and repack the backpack and stroller with everything we might need for the day's events (which, let's be honest, could be anything). We try to do it on time. Saturday we met most of the students at the train station to catch a commuter rail out to Leobendorf. Once we got there, we had a forty five minute hike up the hill to see this castle:

These are some pictures of Burg Kreuzenstein (click to enlarge). When we last went in 2002, Will was napping and I stayed in the hot bus to keep him asleep. This time Rob stayed out with Joss, who was asleep in his stroller. On the tour, we got separated from half of the students, and they turned out to be the advanced German speakers. The guide was nice enough and even funny, but his accent was pretty thick Wienerish, and so none of us could really tell what was going on. The kids were not much help.
What we did understand was that we were only supposed to take pictures outside the castle. But everyone on the tour was sneaking pictures, taking video while standing behind someone else, or even using flash when he moved into another room. I didn't -- I figured I'd do well to keep track of the three kids and I know that at least one of the students will be eager to share the contraband.
It was a neat castle, filled with all kinds of historical items, though many were not original to this castle, but brought by a collector of medieval goods in the 19th century. There were enough suits of armor and sharp metal objects to keep Will and Sebastian satisfied, and a great library where Maddie assured us she'd never leave. All the kids were properly grossed out by the primitive plumbing. Sebastian was appalled that there was no microwave; I pointed out an oven and told him they kept a fire going in it; he said "but they'll burn the food!"