This is something that would never ever happen in the U.S. We might accidentally find a park we hadn't seen before, or a new neighborhood, or a grain elevator (Brian loves those), but never a castle. It was one of those days when it felt pretty awesome to be living in Europe.
We saw the signs for Marienburg Castle as we rode along, but I thought it must have been far away because we didn't actually see the castle. On the way back, BAM, it was there on the hill in front of us. We had been riding under it for about half an hour without seeing it at all. This was not like some German castles, which look like overgrown bank buildings. This was a storybook, princess-in-a-tower sort of a castle, and worth the extra mileage to ride over and check it out.
Marienburg Castle was built starting in 1858. It was a gift from the last king of Hannover, George V, to his wife Queen Marie for her 39th birthday. (Do they make red bows big enough to put on a castle?)
At this point in history, the House of Hanover was no longer tied to the British throne, and in 1866 the Prussians took over and got rid of the royalty anyway. George and Marie spent only one summer there before the Prussians arrived, and construction was not even finished by then. After the invasion, they went into exile in Austria.
Brian and I have a lot in common with George and Marie. Brian built the cigar lounge in the basement of our house in Saint Paul, but only got to use it for one winter before we moved to Hannover. True, there was no invasion of foreign armies. But like the cigar lounge, the castle remains largely uninhabited, used only for guided tours and special events. Our self-imposed exile in a foreign, German-speaking land currently has no end date.
What might we discover by accident on the next bike ride? Probably a new grain elevator, or maybe some more war memorials. If we are lucky, maybe a hidden Biergarten. There won't be any bike rides for a little while, though. Tomorrow we are heading to Krakow!
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