Click the map to tour the Seven Kingdoms: Cochem, Marigold, Magenta, Indigo, Saffron, Rose, and Blackfly.
Feel like playing hide and seek? Take a mini-tour of Rheinfels castle in Germany. Extensive tunnels, ruins, and a gorgeous view. It’s the inspiration for the Saffron Kingdom in the #SevenKingdomsFairyTales.
Koblenz is the next stop in our Tour of theSeven Kingdoms! This fairy tale world is inspired by real castles in the Rhine and Mosel River valleys in Germany.
When you take the train, you can look up and see the fortress as the train pulls into the station. The big, hulking rock towers way up above the city of Koblenz.
We took a “crooked elevator” [Schrägaufzug] up to the youth hostel in the fortress. *Entertaining but bring exact change*
Feeling cooped up? Take a mini-tour of Ehrenbreitstein Fortress in Germany. People have been defending this rock for 5,000 years. It’s the inspiration for Magenta Kingdom in the #SevenKingdomsFairyTales.
The flat top of the fortress means there’s plenty of room for marching bands. From the air, the paths in the huge green field draw a lovely star-shape.
The real fortress is big enough for five museums and lots of gardens.
Plus the youth hostel. If you stay overnight, you wake up inside the museum. It’s a good idea to get the map the night before. 🙂 Because the museum might not be open yet!
Just for fun! Marching bands and people dressed up for Prussian Day at the Ehrenbreitstein fortress. I especially like the part with the merry-go-round. (starts at 12:00)
It’s hard to sneak up on this fortress. Everyone is watching you.
You can see the Rhine River through this peephole.
The fortress’s flat top has plenty of room for gardens.
These basalt columns weren’t made by people. They are a natural formation.
Want to stay in a fortress with your family?
Extra-high walls feel like a labyrinth!
View of the city of Koblenz from the fortress.
Secret passageway to youth hostel.
This is the “German Corner”. The smaller river is the Mosel and the big brown one in front is the Rhine.
Want to get a good view or get away in a hurry? Strike out into the hills above the Rhine.
If you like Ehrenbreitstein fortress as much as I do, you might enjoy Prince Nero’s adventures at the Christmas Fair.
This short story is an appetizer for the full-length Seven Kingdoms Fairy Tales.
And a way to spend a little more time in the Magenta Kingdom.
In earlier times, the rivers were the highways. Big and long rivers, like the Rhine River in Germany were important for delivering people and things.
[Is that why Amazon is named after a river in Brazil? I don’t know, do you?]
If you visit, you can stay at the nearby youth hostel or the YMCA hotel in another castle, high up in the village of Kaub. Down at the Rhine riverbank, you take a small ferry across to the island.
This castle is the perfect place for collecting tolls from ships bringing cargo up and down the Rhine River. If you’ve ever seen a modern tollbooth, you’ll agree that this is about the fanciest tollbooth ever!
Modern tollbooth for cars. Source: Shutterstock Royalty-free stock vector ID: 683431282
The first tolls were collected almost 800 years ago in 1257. The castle changed hands several times and new parts were added and reinforced. The Prussians finally stopped charging ships tolls here in 1866. Since 1946, the castle belongs to the state of Rhineland Pfalz in Germany.
Inside the Blackfly castle. The tall steps keep the castle dry when the Rhine River gets high from too much rain. The castle has lots of staircases, open walkways for croquet or chase scenes. Queen Ash’s office (the Kommandant used it first 🙂 gives her a good view of possible “customers”. She doesn’t want to miss a chance to collect a toll from a passing ship.
Tired of the view from your window? Take a mini-tour of an 800-year-old tollbooth. #SevenKingdomsFairyTales
Click the map to tour the Seven Kingdoms: Cochem, Marigold, Magenta, Indigo, Saffron, Rose, and Blackfly.
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