We spent our time in the morning resting / freshening up before we headed out at 10:45 to catch a train to Bielefeld. Maybe I’m just not paying attention to the scenery at home, but it feels like Germany is much greener. Being that green is my favorite color, I appreciate it.
When we got to Bielefeld, we found ourselves in the middle of a carnival. There were all kinds of typical carnival sights to see, like ferris wheels, spinning contraptions I usually refer to as “X-Treme Merry Go Rounds” (I don’t know what they’re actually called), and numerous places to eat food of all sorts. Nothing much struck me except a hot dog stand with american flag designs all over it (which I regrettably didn’t take a picture of) and a neat drink stand of sorts with a medieval, high-fantasy motif.
But we had no time to dabble in the carnival. (That’s a lie, but just go with it.) We had a castle to siege—The Sparrenburg, Bielefeld’s landmark—and a big hill to climb. I’m no stranger to walking up hills, and it was no less difficult walking up this one than any other respectable hill. I must have gotten stronger since my summer camp days, though, because I wasn’t completely knocked-the-hell-out by the time we got to the top. I was, however, tired enough to stop and admire the castle from the outside.
And so, we breached the castle walls by walking into the wide open front entrance. It was completely serene inside, and awoke my usually dormant desire to wander and look at things. Look at things I did, and many a picture did I take.
Just outside The Sparrenberg’s entrance, to the right. 
On top of Schuster Bastion. 
The courtyard / visitor center, just inside the inner walls. 
The view from St Mary’s Bastion. 
The view of the bridge to the front entrance, from St Mary’s Bastion. 
Looking up at the central tower from behind. 
Inside the courtyard, looking out to the right. 
A statue of Friedrich Wilhelm, Elector of Brandenburg. Lighting is hard.
Then we started our tour, the guide unsuspecting of our scheme to take over the castle. We first looked at a very old well not too far behind the central tower, originally 60 meters deep if I recall correctly (partially filled with debris from hostile occupation and time). After some more looking around the edge of the inner walls, we descended into the catacombs, which dated back to the 1600s.
Unfortunately, it was here the guide got wise on our plans, and put us in the soldier’s disciplinary prison, a fairly small featureless room with a lumpy floor and no light besides an electric light installed on the wall in the modern day (which was operated by a switch outside and out of reach, might I add!).
We were promptly let out because I’ve been lying to you all this time, we were never actually sieging anything, as far as you know. Emerging out of the impressively cold catacombs (so cold you could see your breath!) and into the sun once again, we made our way to climb the central tower. After our gracious hosts paid for everyone’s access, we made our way to the central tower’s entrance, but not before I took a picture of some flowers.
The climb to the top of the central tower, as to be expected for a 37 meter tall tower, was a long one, with three different flavors of staircase; metal, wooden, and metal spiral.
Getting to the top however, was worth it; from there, we had a view of all of Bielefeld, just as the brochure boasts.
Misc. scenery from atop the central tower.
After coming down from the tower and leaving The Sparrenburg, we went on a quest for the fabled “spaghetti ice-cream,” something I initially thought was going to be spaghetti noodles hanging off a vanilla ice-cream cone. I was wrong, but not disappointed.
We intended to go out to a bar after returning to Paderborn by train, but most of us didn’t feel up to it, including me. An eventful day, and one that went by quickly, even despite all the walking.