(Singen, Germany)

A landscape that I’ve seen often glossed across the pages of travel magazines is a view from Mägdeberg Castle. It’s one of those abstract destinations in the back of the mind that makes one think, ‘it would be nice to visit there one day’ but never really defining when that day would be. When J suggested we visit this castle, I didn’t know it was THIS castle until we got to the ruins and walked around and I took this photo, which is a view of a nearby fort on a hill. Then, I realized where I was.

These set of hills with castle ruins is called the The Hohentwiel. Mägdeberg Castle is one of the castles that make up this group and was built in 914 A.D. using stones from the surrounding area. At this time, there was no one ruler unifying Germany, but a bunch of regional kings ruling their own towns.

This part of Germany is near the Swiss border and is characterized by rolling, green hills dotted with new and ancient villages. The Swiss Alps loom as watchful guards in the distance. The ruins of the castle sit on top of a steep hilltop, which is an ancient cinder cone. This provided a strategic spot for the ruler to guard his territory. What’s different about this site is that there are other cinder cones near this castle that each feature their own fort on top and they really stick out against the backdrop of the relatively flat landscape.

The castle itself is mostly in ruin but you can walk in and explore the center. It’s now become a park ground and makes an ideal picnic spot. We visited here late afternoon on New Year’s Eve and as we made our way down to the parking lot, we passed many people walking up with coolers and picnic items… the perfect spot to watch the fireworks at midnight from all directions.

When we looked in the direction of Zurich, Switzerland, we saw way in the distance what looked like a broadcast antenna that looked familiar. When I zoomed in with my camera, through the haze, I was able to pick up this image.

After Grant and I decided it wasn’t what we thought it was, I noticed another tower in the background. Straining my camera’s zoom capacity, I was able to take this photo, and sure enough, I think this is the tower on Uetliberg mountain overlooking Zurich (one of the first cities we sojourned in on this trip). If felt like we came full circle.

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