Storming the Castle

Today was a national holiday in Germany, celebrating the Ascension. Seems a bit strange since not very many people go to church here. We took an afternoon trip to downtown Bielefeld to visit Sparrenburg Castle, which was originally built in the 1200s. It was mostly destroyed in WWII (except the tower, which had already been rebuilt once), but the underground structure remains. It sits right on the edge of the Teutoburg Wald, the forest against which Bielefeld is situated. Grace's favorite ride - bouncing down the stairs in the stroller. She giggles with glee. (There is a door to our building that has a ramp, but this way out is so much more fun.)

Waiting for the Stadtbahn. Even on holidays and Sundays, the wait for a train is never longer than 15 minutes. It is such a contrast to Arlington, TX, which is the largest city in the US with no public transportation. It is refreshing to see how public transportation can be done right. (Not to mention all the pedestrian walking trails in Bielefeld - another thing Arlington could learn from this place.)

Katie got a public spanking today at the Rathaus Stadtbahn Station when she ran and purposefully touched the train as it pulled away. What followed was a nice display of high volume crying for the other commuters to enjoy. Katie does not take kindly to being disciplined. (Don't think we are big on spanking - this was one of those times where she needed to have it impressed on her that what she did could have been deadly.) Thank goodness the event only caused embarassment, and no real injury.

This is Sam's permanent posture while riding any train. He's become a pro at keeping track of our stops and the numbers of the trains.

Here you can see the tower of the castle peaking out from behind the house in the foreground. We just had to climb up a hill through a residential neighborhood to get to the castle.

Isaac and yours truly on the bridge to the main part of the castle. In all the pictures today, Isaac is looking down. He was actually awake here. (Though he sleeps very comfortably in the Snugli carrier, and we get lots of "Aws" [that sound people make when they see a cute puppy] when I carry him around asleep.)

Stormin' Sam indicating his plan to climb the tower.

Katie trying to track down a dog (which she originally ID'd as a cat) on the plaza of the castle. The girl will try to pick up any dog, whether it wants it or not.
Grace having a snack in the castle plaza.

Katie and Sam on top of the tower. I stayed down with Isaac and Grace in the courtyard, enjoying the weather. Katie reported back that there was a ghost on top of the tower and it had Cinderella trapped, but when Katie tried to save her, the ghost kicked her out. Had I known all that was going to transpire, I would have carried the two little ones up to the top of the tower to see the action.

Super Sam and Supermodel Katie strike a pose on the tower.

Dave's self-portrait atop the tower. In the evening today, Dave went to the opera with other mathematicians from his research group. They saw the last opera seria written by Mozart, La Clemenza di Tito. The opera was sung in Italian, but thankfully, it was subtitled (in German!) They didn't kick Dave out, even though he was wearing jeans.