As soon as we arrived in Munchen we caught a train to Fussen, Germany, to see the Neuschwanstein Castle. It was about a 30 minute walk up to the castle grounds where we waited to take the tour of the castle.
Neuschwanstein castle was commissioned by King Ludwig II of Bavaria. King Ludwig had a love for building castles and consequently had problems with funding. Later on King Ludwig was deemed insane and sent to another palace in Bavaria. There he mysteriously died along with his doctor, both were found in the shallow waters of Lake Starnberg - their deaths still remain a mystery.
Once King Ludwig II was no longer around all construction on Neuschwanstein castle stopped. The castle's entire second story was left incomplete and has never been finished. The castle was dedicated to Richard Wagner and is also often called the swan castle because of King Ludwig's passion for swans. Swans are detailed into the carvings, paintings, and even door handles throughout the castle.
From the castle windows of Neuschwanstein is a great view of the Hohenschwangau castle, the childhood home of King Ludwig II. It was built by his father King Maximillion II of Bavaria.
Our tour guide was this cute german girl with a strong accent. Once during our tour she went off for about 30 seconds speaking German without realizing it until she finally noticed all of the confused faces from her English speaking tour group. She was so embarrassed, but it made for a good laugh.
There is a bridge just a few minutes walk from the castle which allowed us to take some great pictures. However, we were a bit nervous because of the excessive number of people on the bridge - it was packed with people trying to get good pictures of the castle.
On our walk back down from the castle we bought these powdered sugar cream cheese puff balls. They were seriously some of the tastiest treats that we have had on our trip, which is saying something.
Once down we hiked farther out for a better view and took a few more fun photos of the castle and the beautiful surroundings.
Adam snuck this one in on me before I could do anything about it, but I can't say that I was complaining, haha :)
We were also finally able to find goats to match our sheets from Sienna. What a relief.
After our adventures at Neuschwanstein we headed back to Munchen where it rained and rained and rained. Adam bought me an umbrella and we headed to the massive English gardens. There is this sweet spot in the river where we watched surfers. I am not sure what causes this perfect wave, but the surfers just sit on the edge of the river and just slide in. One guy didn't even get wet his first few goes.
Once they fall, the surfers just dive in and head down the river a little ways before climbing back out for another go. We wondered whether these guys would even be able to get up on their board if they had to start in the water instead of just sliding in.
Also in the park we found this Chinese Tower. Kind of random for a park in Munchen, but it provided a nice refuge from the rain.
On our way back we passed by a group of young moms with their little kids all decked out in rain gear. The kids were jumping in all of the puddles and loving running and splashing in the rain. I wanted to take a picture, but thought the moms might think it was weird if some stranger was taking pictures of their kids, so I refrained. However, rain boots have never looked so good.
Munchen is also the home of my new found favorite pastry. I have no idea what it is called, or even what kind of berries are in it, but it was divine.
The next day we spent a quiet morning walking through the memorial grounds of the first Nazi concentration camp in Dachau, Germany. It was a truly humbling experience as we made our way through the crematorium, bunker, and museum. We didn't take any pictures except for these two. The sign on the gate on the way into the concentration camp has these words in German, "Work will set you free."
"May the example of those who were exterminated here between 1933 - 1945 because they resisted Nazism help to unite the living for the defence of peace and freedom and in respect for their fellow men."
Check your email girl-this is just a reminder- can't wait to see you!
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