The first stop of our 2008 winter European tour was a bit unusual.  Tim and I flew into Frankfurt, which is a huge European hub of travel.  That’s not important in itself, but we were fortunate enough to have a German friend of ours pick us up at the airport and drive us to his hometown – Braunfels, Germany.

Braunfels is a small town of about 11,000 people that’s located northwest of Frankfurt.  Honestly, I was so damn jetlagged I don’t remember too much about this place.

I remember we stayed in our friend’s grandmother’s bazillion year old farm house in the cutest town ever.  Bazillion is an approximation, but it was so neat.  We have no history in America folks, none at all.

I remember we went to the medieval town, and it was adorably decked out in Christmas decorations from the recent holiday.  It reminded me of the town in Beauty and the Beast.

I remember having fancy cake for tea time, and then passing out and sleeping through dinner even though I was told I should “stay up to beat the jet lag” (I didn’t beat it).

Mostly, I remember touring Braunfels Castle.  It’s perhaps the most important tourist destination in Braunfels, and somehow I have 0 good pictures of it.  Blame aforementioned jet lag.  I will provide a rare not-taken-by-me google picture so you can see how cute it is.

So we’re there at this castle for a guided tour, and I’m yawning like a crazy person.  This may or may not have offended the German tour guide, who was very proud of his castle.  Also, this tour guide seemed to hate Americans and made lots of comments about how silly Americans were.

“Did you know that there is more than one Braunfels in the world!  The silly Americans have their own version of Braunfels… NEW Braunfels… in TEXAS of all places!  That Braunfels is not authentic and does not have such an amazing castle like our Braunfels!”

At the time, I thought this guy really likes Braunfels.

Flash forward about three years, and Tim and I move to Austin.  We quickly discover New Braunfels (about 1.5 hours south of Austin) and the world comes full circle.  There may not be a castle, but we have Schittlerbahn.

Well played, America.

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