Museum Escape in Passau

" I'm out of here." Theo gives a big sigh of relief. Hours spent walking through a museum that never seems to end is not on Theo's top ten list of things to do in Passau, Germany. Sure, it's an old historic town near a bunch of rivers. (This is Theo's down and dirty summary of our afternoon experience.) But can we leave now? Haven't you guys had enough?

"Look around you," I say to my frustrated cat. "Look. The river. The town. This place definitely does not look like New Jersey."

He scoffs. 

Dan has an idea. He whispers into my ear. "Snack. I think the kid needs a snack."

We have this portable bowl that expands. It's handy for situations like this. Open the ziplock bag. Pour in a bunch of dried cat food, ahem, healthy dried cat food and make a peace offering of sorts. We're standing on a bridge that connects this museum (a used to be castle) with the rest of the town. We have a super magnificent view, the kind you want to stare at so you can re-imagine it later when you're back home in the states.

Theo expectedly chomps on his snack. The bowl is clean. Finally, the kid looks up. Dan hoists him on top of the wall that lines the bridge for a better view. 

"Well, Theo? What do you think?"

Is that a nod? A smile. A look of approval?

"How do you even begin to capture this?" as I ignore Theo's enigmatic response. I decide to take a video.

Everyone counsels to be in the moment. Appreciate what is around you. I glance back at the used to be castle. 

And, before I realize it, Theo is glancing back, too. Is he changing his mind? Maybe stopping at the Veste Oberhaus wasn't such a bad idea? 

Theo begins walking along the top of the wall. One slip and . . .

Dan grabs my arm. "Let the kid be. He's not going to fall off this wall. He's being a cat."

When seconds later Theo jumps down, I know it's time to go. We start walking down the bridge towards the spot where we'll meet a small shuttle bus and get back to town. He'll probably be asleep before we arrive back at the hotel. Life is good.

Chuck Has Almost Run-In With Castle Ghosts

 

            Chuck had had enough.
That is the only way to explain what happened next.
Here we were--in the oldest of places--our bellies filled with the most delicious pastries--and about to embark down a deliciously narrow stone street to see not one, but two ancient castles, when Chuck . . .
Well, let me start from the beginning.
Erice.  When you arrive and spend some time here, you feel like this place has been around forever.  Ancient city.  It looks old.  And you almost begin to believe that you really can walk down a narrow street, slip into a deserted alleyway, or slide under an archway and somehow you’ll be transported to another place and another time.  
If such a thing is possible, it will happen here in Erice.
We left Maria Grammatico’s excellent pasticceria and mosied on down to where the center of the city ends, to where you can gaze over the mountain to the magnificent vistas below--to where still sit--in all their splendor--two castles--two feudal style castles: Pepoli Castle and Venus Castle.  

The Pepoli Castle, with its distinctive medieval characteristics, was built on a foundation dating back to Arab times.  It was a feudal stronghold in its day, and we hold onto that fact even though today it’s an hotel. 
The Venus Castle was built on the ruins of the ancient Temple of Venus and dates from the Norman period.  
Both castles are striking in appearance.  These are not Hollywood reproductions of what castles should look like--they are real castles and they have all the structural and decorative details that make a castle a castle:  You can immediately spot the inner and outer courtyards.  There is a knight’s house and the proverbial guard tower and keep.  There is, of course, the outer wall with the gatehouse that one must pass through to get inside.  The outerwall has a notched battlement.  There is a ramp wall that cuts across the length of the castle and was built to protect the inner courtyard if the gatehouse was ever breached.  

All castles, of course have their coat of arms in plain sight.  These two castles also sport gothic windows and a hoard for authenticity.  

Chuck took one glance at the castles and it was clear by the way he continued to stare, that he wanted to go into the castles.  And why not?  Cats love to sniff around, and as I mentioned before, their keen sense of smell is invaluable in a time like this.  Chuck would be able to sniff, sniff, sniff and learn the entire history of the castle.  
All the stories of all the people who lived in the castle would be his.  
It would be like reading a novel.  
So who could blame him?
That’s when it happened.
Without uttering a MEOW, Chuck took off . . . his oversized belly swaying under him . . . in the direction of Venus Castle, and I followed.
         He disappeared almost immediately into an elongated alley that seemed like a tunnel.

“Chuck,” I called out.
But when the kid sets his mind to something, nothing can dissuade him.
Within minutes I was out of breath, but I continued to run after him.  I could see him up ahead, making a beeline for the castle.  And then he stopped.  
He was just feet away from the gatehouse. There was nothing stopping him from strutting inside. But something had stopped him.
Finally I caught up to him.
“Chuck.”I whisked him into my arms and stared hard into his whiskered face.
His eyes said it all. He’d seen something.
“What? What was it?”
But just as impetuously as it began, his need to see the castle dissipated like so much smoke in the wind.  
A ghost?  Had the rascal cat actually seen a ghost lurking about?
What else could it have been that sent the fear of God in him?
I’d never know.  

         As we slowly made our way down the mountain from Erice, Chuck refused to talk about it, meow about it, give any hint that he’d seen anything out of the ordinary.  

“Why did you change your mind about going into that castle,” I asked him one more time.  

He shook his head.   

“Chuck, did you see something.  A ghost?”

He shook his head.

But I didn’t believe him.  Not for a minute.

        Log onto www.katelutter.com to read more adventures about Chuck.
        My paranormal romance, Wild Point Island, is now available in ebook and mass market paperback from Amazon.com and Barnes and Noble.com.