My husband didn't really get the theme and complained that a safari suggests Africa, not Europe. I told him that was not true. If you look up the dictionary meaning of safari, it can mean "a long and adventurous journey or expedition" in general (Dictionary.com). Well, our time here in Germany has definitely been an adventurous journey!
As part of our "Royal Safari" birthday celebration, we went to Burg Eltz. Burg Eltz is a medieval castle that is still owned by the very same family that lived there in the 12th Century! It is in the Moselle Valley (one of our favorite wine regions) and is surrounded by a river. Also, for Rick Steves' fans, it is his favorite castle. http://www.ricksteves.com/plan/destinations/germany/rhine.htm
To get to the castle, you can either take a shuttle or take a lovely 30 minute (or so) hike through a beautiful forest. We opted for the hike, and "we" included grandparents, the boys, Izzy, and Jaeger. It was manageable but the it was not really optimal with a (nice) single umbrella stroller and probably would have been too narrow of a trail for our double jogging stroller. We would have been better off using carriers for the boys and just collapsing and carrying the stroller (but then someone would have had to carry Izzy - she prefers not to have to walk - she is a princess, after all, and prefers to ride in the boys' stroller).
By the time we got there, fed the boys, used restrooms, had a snack, etc., we didn't have much time to enjoy the castle or the grounds. That was a shame. You could spend the entire day at the castle and surrounding area. There were children playing in the shallow river that runs next to/below the hill from the castle (imagine playing in a river with an amazing castle in the background), there is a cafe overlooking the river and right next to the castle where you could just take in the scenery while getting a bite to eat, and of course, there is the castle tour itself. We did take the tour - you should allow at least an hour or so to do the tour and look around the museum (preferably closer to two hours), which was very interesting.
Also, I would have loved to explore the forest area more (there were some other trails that we could have checked out). If you want to hang out by/in the river, you need to either be comfortable leaving your stroller on top of the hill, or be prepared to take everything and everyone down a hill and many steps.
Anyway, even with limited time, it was a great experience. Hopefully, we can make it to more castles before we leave (in just three months)!
Below, our very own Princes:
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