Today we woke up bright and early and got ourselves ready to go. Our Hostel had a simple breakfast of rolls, nutella or jam, OJ and hot chocolate. We gathered our things and sat on the terrace waiting for our travel companions to pick us up. We got better wifi down here and the mountains in the morning light were refreshing and gorgeous. The birds were singing. I knew it was going to be a beautiful day.
When B&B picked us up, they cryptically said they had noticed a "flomart" that they needed to take us to. We were excited to see whatever it was, but Dusty said that first we needed to drive up the canyon quickly to check out a waterfall. (This boy and his waterfalls) It really did only take us about five minutes.
Whatever is in the water makes it have this icy- clay looking quality. It is lovely.
Here is a look at the mountains from the "flomart", or flea market, as it turns out. Can you see that castle on the hill? That is where we went today. But first. The flea market was very fun! We found lots of things we wanted to take home with us, but what we finally decided on were some wooden bookends with globes on them, and Dusty got a few pairs of cufflinks. We also found a Bavarian mug.
We drove up to the little tourist village at the base of the mountain. There are two castles located here-- Hohenschwangau and Neuschwanstein. The first is lower down and also the first one we toured. "Mad King Ludwig" lived here after his father did and watched his dream castle be built higher up on the mountain.
There is an alpine lake the children can wade in. It is crystal clear. And freezing.
We didn't spend much time here at the village. We parked the van and then left B&B at the lake while we toured Hohenschwangau (they had already seen it). We purchased our tickets at the centrally located ticket office which gave us a reserved time to be at the entrance up the hill.
There is a short climb up to the castle. While we waited for our time to pop up on the screen, we wandered around the garden.
The castle was very interesting. Not too gaudy or large. The castle had secret doors, a unique reading chair, and completely separate floors for the King and Queen. We learned more about King Ludwig and his interests and eccentricities. He was a little before his time in beliefs and mores.
After the castle, we met up with the family and got into line for the shuttle bus that would take us up to Mary's Bridge. We didn't have to wait long and the shuttle was worth every penny. We zoomed up the mountain side and got off in a little shady area. From here, we walked up a little path to the bridge.
The bridge was narrow and loaded with people. We had to jostle our way through the main pack who wouldn't go far onto the bridge (some people seemed very terrified) and then we had a better view of the Neuschwanstein castle.
It was a high bridge. I give the people that. This is looking straight downward.
The view of the castle is to the north. It was slightly marred for us due to the scaffolding surrounding parts of the castle. In case you haven't put it together yet, this is the building that inspired Disney's Princess castle. Only a small part of it has been finished inside. Ludwig mysteriously died in a lake when he was very young and therefore it was shut up and never completed.
After we were done with the balancing act on the bridge, we walked back down the path, but this time continued on down to see Neuschwanstein up closer.
There was an amazing lookout over looking toward Hohenswangau Castle.-- sure some good real estate that Ludwig picked out.
We deliberately chose not to see the inside of Neuschwanstein (gasp!). After reading online that it's a rushed tour, packed with people, we opted to opt out. We had already seen many great castles; it wasn't sad for us at all.
After seeing the courtyard, we walked down the steep road to the tourist village. We passed lots of horse manure (you can also ride a carriage up to the castle) and heavily breathing people wondering how much farther they had to go. I imagine it takes about 30-45 minutes to walk up depending on how fit you are. It took us about 20 just to walk down.
Just so you know, you can reserve your tickets online in advance if you choose to tour the castles. The entire mountainside was packed and it was only May.
After finally getting back to the van, we loaded up and drove back into Fussen. We found a little underground grocery store to buy sandwich making supplies. We made us little lunches while we drove to Linderhof, Germany. On the way, we crossed into Austria for a bit and passed this gorgeous lake (sorry, I can't remember the name). The water was this incredible murky turquoise color.
Linderhof is another one of King Ludwig's castles. This one is much smaller and more intimate. He lived here most often out of all of his residences. It's not hard to understand why. Dusty and I, plus Ben, bought tickets to tour the palace.
You walk past beautiful fields and ponds full of swans on your way to the castle. Then as you arrive you see this stunning garden of fountains and flowers.
Dusty and Becky survey the scene. Dusty also has a sweet little baby in his arms.
Just like the other castles, we had to wait for our reserved number to pop up before we could go the main gate and scan our ticket. But that's no problem when there are so many unique elements to see on the exterior of the palace, or nooks and crannies to explore in the garden.
Quite the little house huh? I admit, it would be fun to drive up to this everyday. . . .
Finally it was time for our English-speaking tour. The guide was fantastic! And we embarked on our journey through room after room of opulent decor. Seriously, it was like gold "threw-up" all over the walls, ceilings, and furniture. I have no better way of saying it. It was incredibly ornate. The sad thing is that he didn't share it with anybody. Only the King and his servants ever lived here. The way he lived was also bizarre. He was nocturnal most of the time and would talk to portraits hanging around the house.
The most remembered things of ours? The dining table that could be lowered to the kitchen, spread with food, and hoisted back up, and the large master suite with a view of the Fountain of Neptune.
Here is Dusty pondering the fact that when we return home we won't have a dining table that arises up to us laden with food. Looks like he's pretty bummed. Or maybe he's just worn out.
Every half hour the main fountain erupts showering the gold goddess with tiny sparkles of water. It really is something to see. Also on the grounds is a man made "grotto"; an underground cave filled with water that acted as a setting for Ludwig to listen to his music, specifically Wagner. Cool, but kind of creepy.
Our time at the castles had been splendid. We got some ice cream at the shop and hit the road. B&B were kind enough to drive us to Munich on their way home. They had tried to find a hotel in Munich but everything was completely booked up and they weren't willing to pay over 400 euros for a room. So we said our goodbyes, hoping that it wouldn't be another two years before we saw them again.
They dropped us off at our hostel near the train station. The area seemed a little sketchy, (but turned out okay so you don't have to worry). People were everywhere and acting crazy! When we checked in, the girl at the counter asked us, "so what team are you guys cheering for?" Ummmm. . . what do you mean? It turns out that the Finals soccer game of the region was being held in Munich that night! It's bigger than the Super Bowl! And we didn't have a cozy little hotel here because all of the hotels had been far too expensive (guess we now know why). We were staying in a young, vibrant hostel; which tonight was out of control! Masses of cheering fans in front of super screens.
So we checked into our dorm room, which thankfully was up a few flights and tucked away from the commotion. There were three sets of bunkbeds. Dusty took the top of one bed, and I took the bottom of another. It turns out we were staying with four other Irish guys who had come to watch the game.
Dusty wanted to go and watch some of the game, but stayed with me because I was feeling under-the-weather and was not too keen on the idea of being possibly left alone with crazy drunk guys.
When B&B picked us up, they cryptically said they had noticed a "flomart" that they needed to take us to. We were excited to see whatever it was, but Dusty said that first we needed to drive up the canyon quickly to check out a waterfall. (This boy and his waterfalls) It really did only take us about five minutes.
Whatever is in the water makes it have this icy- clay looking quality. It is lovely.
Here is a look at the mountains from the "flomart", or flea market, as it turns out. Can you see that castle on the hill? That is where we went today. But first. The flea market was very fun! We found lots of things we wanted to take home with us, but what we finally decided on were some wooden bookends with globes on them, and Dusty got a few pairs of cufflinks. We also found a Bavarian mug.
We drove up to the little tourist village at the base of the mountain. There are two castles located here-- Hohenschwangau and Neuschwanstein. The first is lower down and also the first one we toured. "Mad King Ludwig" lived here after his father did and watched his dream castle be built higher up on the mountain.
There is an alpine lake the children can wade in. It is crystal clear. And freezing.
We didn't spend much time here at the village. We parked the van and then left B&B at the lake while we toured Hohenschwangau (they had already seen it). We purchased our tickets at the centrally located ticket office which gave us a reserved time to be at the entrance up the hill.
There is a short climb up to the castle. While we waited for our time to pop up on the screen, we wandered around the garden.
The castle was very interesting. Not too gaudy or large. The castle had secret doors, a unique reading chair, and completely separate floors for the King and Queen. We learned more about King Ludwig and his interests and eccentricities. He was a little before his time in beliefs and mores.
After the castle, we met up with the family and got into line for the shuttle bus that would take us up to Mary's Bridge. We didn't have to wait long and the shuttle was worth every penny. We zoomed up the mountain side and got off in a little shady area. From here, we walked up a little path to the bridge.
The bridge was narrow and loaded with people. We had to jostle our way through the main pack who wouldn't go far onto the bridge (some people seemed very terrified) and then we had a better view of the Neuschwanstein castle.
It was a high bridge. I give the people that. This is looking straight downward.
The view of the castle is to the north. It was slightly marred for us due to the scaffolding surrounding parts of the castle. In case you haven't put it together yet, this is the building that inspired Disney's Princess castle. Only a small part of it has been finished inside. Ludwig mysteriously died in a lake when he was very young and therefore it was shut up and never completed.
After we were done with the balancing act on the bridge, we walked back down the path, but this time continued on down to see Neuschwanstein up closer.
There was an amazing lookout over looking toward Hohenswangau Castle.-- sure some good real estate that Ludwig picked out.
We deliberately chose not to see the inside of Neuschwanstein (gasp!). After reading online that it's a rushed tour, packed with people, we opted to opt out. We had already seen many great castles; it wasn't sad for us at all.
After seeing the courtyard, we walked down the steep road to the tourist village. We passed lots of horse manure (you can also ride a carriage up to the castle) and heavily breathing people wondering how much farther they had to go. I imagine it takes about 30-45 minutes to walk up depending on how fit you are. It took us about 20 just to walk down.
Just so you know, you can reserve your tickets online in advance if you choose to tour the castles. The entire mountainside was packed and it was only May.
After finally getting back to the van, we loaded up and drove back into Fussen. We found a little underground grocery store to buy sandwich making supplies. We made us little lunches while we drove to Linderhof, Germany. On the way, we crossed into Austria for a bit and passed this gorgeous lake (sorry, I can't remember the name). The water was this incredible murky turquoise color.
Linderhof is another one of King Ludwig's castles. This one is much smaller and more intimate. He lived here most often out of all of his residences. It's not hard to understand why. Dusty and I, plus Ben, bought tickets to tour the palace.
You walk past beautiful fields and ponds full of swans on your way to the castle. Then as you arrive you see this stunning garden of fountains and flowers.
Dusty and Becky survey the scene. Dusty also has a sweet little baby in his arms.
Just like the other castles, we had to wait for our reserved number to pop up before we could go the main gate and scan our ticket. But that's no problem when there are so many unique elements to see on the exterior of the palace, or nooks and crannies to explore in the garden.
Quite the little house huh? I admit, it would be fun to drive up to this everyday. . . .
Finally it was time for our English-speaking tour. The guide was fantastic! And we embarked on our journey through room after room of opulent decor. Seriously, it was like gold "threw-up" all over the walls, ceilings, and furniture. I have no better way of saying it. It was incredibly ornate. The sad thing is that he didn't share it with anybody. Only the King and his servants ever lived here. The way he lived was also bizarre. He was nocturnal most of the time and would talk to portraits hanging around the house.
The most remembered things of ours? The dining table that could be lowered to the kitchen, spread with food, and hoisted back up, and the large master suite with a view of the Fountain of Neptune.
Here is Dusty pondering the fact that when we return home we won't have a dining table that arises up to us laden with food. Looks like he's pretty bummed. Or maybe he's just worn out.
Every half hour the main fountain erupts showering the gold goddess with tiny sparkles of water. It really is something to see. Also on the grounds is a man made "grotto"; an underground cave filled with water that acted as a setting for Ludwig to listen to his music, specifically Wagner. Cool, but kind of creepy.
Our time at the castles had been splendid. We got some ice cream at the shop and hit the road. B&B were kind enough to drive us to Munich on their way home. They had tried to find a hotel in Munich but everything was completely booked up and they weren't willing to pay over 400 euros for a room. So we said our goodbyes, hoping that it wouldn't be another two years before we saw them again.
They dropped us off at our hostel near the train station. The area seemed a little sketchy, (but turned out okay so you don't have to worry). People were everywhere and acting crazy! When we checked in, the girl at the counter asked us, "so what team are you guys cheering for?" Ummmm. . . what do you mean? It turns out that the Finals soccer game of the region was being held in Munich that night! It's bigger than the Super Bowl! And we didn't have a cozy little hotel here because all of the hotels had been far too expensive (guess we now know why). We were staying in a young, vibrant hostel; which tonight was out of control! Masses of cheering fans in front of super screens.
I forgot to take a photo. This one is from their website and gives you an idea of the rooms.
Dusty wanted to go and watch some of the game, but stayed with me because I was feeling under-the-weather and was not too keen on the idea of being possibly left alone with crazy drunk guys.
We did attempt to face time our parents in the lobby. We got connected, but the screaming and cheering was so loud we literally could not hear them, and had to scream over the noise. We bagged it and went back up to the room.
We had remembered to bring our ear plugs and by about 11:30 decided to try to sleep. So far Munich was not what we had expected it to be. :)
1 comment:
Holy beautiful countryside!!!! Oh my goodness!! What fun pictures!!! I'm glad that Becky and Ben could hang out with you so much...I didn't realize that they went with you to so many places. Also, I will pout when the Europe posts stop.. :)
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