Pottenstein, a lovely town with a castle in a valley.

I am in great awe of castles of all sorts. And with these majestic buildings, it does not always mean that bigger is better. For me, it is the amount of detail that is put into the buildings. Or the location. There is something breathtakingly powerful about medieval castles built on top of rocky hills. They look and probably were impenetrable hundreds of years ago when armies consisted of mere hundreds and tiny thousands.

I have been out and about the last couple of days. Here, in Germany. As I will be leaving soon, to live in Gran Canaria again, for a couple of months, I am trying to see everything I can in the short time I have left. And I am really taken aback positively by a realization that even though I have lived here longer than a year, I have seen nothing. I spent the last year and a half bundled up in front of my computer, trying to make something out of my life and therefore I sacrificed one of my biggest passion. Travel and
exploration.

I only started flying around again this summer. I went to Gran Canaria to visit my aunt, to Latvia to see my friends, and to France, for a steemit wedding. I am looking forward to increasing my time spent on the go as I want to travel a lot before I am thirty. I want to see every place and I want to share my adventures with you. Maybe even do some good along the way.

So, this past week I was in a small German town called ''Pottenstein''. It is a marvelous place in Bavaria, the South part of Germany, with many amazing things to do and see. This town has serenity and adventure to offer. If you are into hiking, there are countless trails with no living soul on them. Well, maybe some small rodents and a forest animal on your way...

There are rock formations of various sizes in this area and fog covered hills. A lot of small towns around as well as hidden caves. Some go deep in the ground and feature wonderful stalagmites that have been forming for the last thousand years. And the best part is, there are affordable guided tours and activities that you can do all over the place. Remote places that you can go to on your own and without an expense. Spend some quality time thinking, meditating, and bonding with nature.

If you are looking for an escape from the busy city life, this is the way to go. There are no mountains here yet but the hills are as high as 600 m above the sea level. They are not just grassy either, there is a mix of stones, forests, and fields. This place is an enthusiast rock-climbers paradise. And yes, you will need security equipment as the rocky sides of the hills go way over 10 m high and bouldering is not really the best to practice here as you will just want to go higher.

Here are the best places to visit in Pottenstein

The sunsets here are beyond amazing as well. Everything between trees and greens seems more potent and capturing. The fog, that I had not seen laying in-between hills for years, looks like a magical shroud of despair. In the distance, and you are beyond its reach. I was only in the mood to hike a little bit on my first day here. Finding a viewing tower, I stepped upstairs with the old sneakers that I do not mind being destroyed completely. I hadn't worn these for a long time. I only pull them out when I do not want to damage my good shoes. It was a welcome thing to go out and do something wilder than staying in my four walls.

On top of that viewing tower, there were many plaques with distances on them. Hiking trails, towns, everywhere you wanted to go to was marked and you knew exactly how far you would have to go. Another alluring addition is the passers-by art. From the top of the tower, you could see names and pictures made out of white pebbles, on the ground. It was mostly names of those who had visited but there was also a unicorn, my favorite. It was created on a spot of darker land and stood out as the most eye-catching piece of them all. This was a really amazing ending to my first day in Pottenstein as after the tower I went home, took a bath and got into the bed.

I did not spend a lot of time in town. And you should know that the castle here is a simple medieval-looking structure on top of steep rocks. You can only visit it if you book your stay here as it operates as a hotel. I did not miss out on much though. Even though I did not stay in the hotel, I got to catch the best views. I got to see and snap pictures of the castle from various angles. It took my breath away, the first moment I saw this tiny town in the valley. You see, the road we took to get here was uneventful and I was not expecting much at that point. But when you get in there, from the top of the town driving down, it is everything you can wish for and so much more.

The castle has only one access point. From the three remaining sides, there are steep rocks guarding it. Climbing them without equipment would be a mad idea. Right next to the older structure there are hiking trails that lead even higher up. This is not the only castle in the area either. There is at least one more that I saw. A bigger one some 15 km from this one. I did not get to walk to it as you had to park the car and go uphill but I saw it from where we were driving at as the road curled around a rock that was holding this place. It was sitting on its own throne.

There are quite some caves here as well. Many families come here to get closer to nature, there are special camping sites here that get booked out pretty regularly. There are many family-friendly activities to do here as well. From thermal baths to fun toboggan rides with the littlest ones in your family.

There are also a lot of historical sites and museums here. For a history buff, this is the perfect place to be. From hundreds of thousands of years ago through advancement in civilizations to today and our own little piece of history. For me, the old sculpted caves were the best thing that I have seen in a long time. Ever since I was little and visited my first and only serious cave in France, I had not experienced such a surge of energy and grandeur. I can say without a doubt that I hadn't seen a more beautiful part of nature in years.

For the little ones, there is a 50 km per hour go-kart track very close to the town. Over the street, there are rodels. You can choose the safe option with the yellow sleds that are secured in the metal tracks and cannot fall over no matter what. Or you can go for the adventurous red sled that has no base security and needs to be regulated by you all the way. The red one is great if two of you are going. It picks up speed nicely and is a longer track altogether. The yellow one is perfect for children and pre-teens. I can not remember the term of an eleven-year-old to 13-year-old.

There are also self-paddling boats that you can take out on the lake right under the toboggan track and overall everything worth visiting is on the same road. Even the famous Devils cave that I raved about before is here. You can also walk everywhere and oftentimes the pedestrian tracks offer so much more than any other way of commuting. Here I found a quiet forest patch covered in moss. It was a nice place some couple of hundred meters away from the cave system with 400 steps in it. There was no one around and I am sure you could lounge naked here if you wanted to.

I was counting on having 4 days in this place but my trip was cut short as we had to return back home early. The car that had been given to be fixed was repaired and we needed to give back our temporary vehicle. It was funny, too, this little car. It was so painfully slow going uphill that every car behind us probably thought that the driver was a moron. But all the adventures only made it more fun. I loved this little trip when I got to give up control just a little bit and enjoy my own time without a fuss or worry.

Once again, I am on the road and I hope I will not have to stop for a while!
Have a great day! Today, tomorrow, and forever.
Linda