Princesses and castles… and then there’s me.

Whenever people think of castles one of the things that come to mind is fairytale princesses who are waited on hand and foot, who are courted every day, wear beautiful dresses, look their skinniest and have their hair brushed one hundred times a day by someone else.

Women all over dream of being a fairytale princess, because who wouldn’t want to be courted just for being pretty and having days full of mindless work, like sitting up straight and having someone spoon-feed you?

And then there’s me, who, when someone compliments my hair, blushes because actually, I haven’t brushed my hair today or washed it in 4 days, but my split ends thank you. Or who really wears dresses because I can’t be bothered with figuring out how to match my pants with my shirt (choose one item and you’re good to go!)

Do you remember that scene from Bridesmaids when the main character is driving up to the pre-wedding party and she’s given that exquisitely refreshing lemonade? And the driveway is so long, she can’t believe it, she almost feels out of place? That’s what it was like to walk up to the entrance of the Bechyne Castle. Trees and a large patch of grass surrounded the pathway leading up to the castle, but what made this castle special was not that a butler came out to greet us, or a suited up professional tour guide, but rather, a humble, welcoming woman. Her name was Nicole and she is the daughter of the man who currently owns the castle. And several birds apparently.

“Ah, yes, those are my dad’s birds,” she said, with a tone that indicated that his bird addiction was a nuisance rather than admired. Good ol’ dad.

We were led through each room of the castle, except for the private quarters because Nicole and her family actually lived in this castle. She, her husband and her kids, lived on one side while her sister and her family lived on the other side. Together, they worked on restoring the castle and the items that belonged to it.

For Nicole, giving a tour of the castle wasn’t just for the money, but from the way she spoke about it, wondered out loud about the missing pieces of a painting with us, and introduced us to the small details of the interior, she really wanted the visitors to love the castle as much as she does.

Even though I’m not one for castles, these two castles struck a chord for me. The passion and wonder surrounding both castles is inspirational and made me want to find more castles like them. I still wouldn’t be considered a princess material though.

At the end of the tour, after seeing the delicate details put into the construction of the castle, and the mysterious paintings, and large empty rooms, she took us outside and showed us her favorite view, where you can look down the side of the castle, upon the village below that sits along the river.

View from Bechyne Castle