Beaufort, Luxembourg

May 5, 2008 ~

Later that same day after Vianden, we drove south in Luxembourg, not really knowing exactly where we were headed, but figuring we'd explore anyhow. Along the way, we saw a sign pointing west that read, "Burg Beaufort." So we turned and followed this narrow, winding road through the forest, (which describes 95% of the backroads in Europe), until we came to these castle ruins.

Burg Beaufort, a 12th century castle.

The mystery of this castle is that it is basically ruins... that have been preserved. Ruins... that have received TLC. So that is hasn't necessarily been restored. But sort of have... (I know, that doesn't make any sense at all, does it!)

The first thing we saw was the tower with the prison below it...

deep in the ground.

We were utterly fascinated by the chains still attached to the walls!
Up in the tower, we read our "tour by brochure" and found that the guards shot the cannons and arrows through these holes.

Then we walked up the stone pathway to the front door. See that "shelf" above the door? Our brochure read that they kept a bucket of hot tar sitting precariously so that the gaurds could pour this over any unwelcome visitors. Phew! I doubt that people dropped in unannounced very often!

Zae and Kyler.

These two climbed practically every possible area that could be climbed!

These ruins were so fun! There is much left to the imagination in these ruins. Our minds filled in where the floors should be, the sounds of princes, princesses, knights, butlers, horses...

...and a torture chamber?!

The boys, including LeRoy and Kyler, were intrigued by this little concept!

Ick! It must be a boy thing.

Eli in the mask that they would put on a person's head and then raise them in the air.

Eli trying to figure out this contraption that looked like a stretching ladder.

Kyler climbing the ruins.

And Zae following suit.

Then again, who was following who?

So we explored to our heart's content. At last we headed home to get comfy in our beds and get a good night's sleep... so we could go exploring some more the next day!

I hope, oh how I hope, that I'm not stalling out anyone's computer with all these pictures or taking too much of your time with all the commentary. But can you tell I'm on a roll? I'm finally catching up and none too soon, either! I can't wait to tell you about our trip to Berlin and Poland!