Better than Disney World

I can't believe it was nearly a month ago since I visited Germany with my mom and Jim! Time really does fly by!

Well, I am now picking up where I left off a couple a posts ago, in Germany. After spending a beautiful day in Munich, we took a little excursion to the border of Austria, where we visited some pretty spectacular castles. (I wanted to cross the border into Austria, just to say we did but, unfortunately, our rental car didn't have insurance outside of Germany. Oh well, next time.)

Hohenschwangau

First we took a guided tour of the Hohenschwangau Castle which was the childhood home of King Ludwig II of Bavaria and it is pretty magnificent both inside and out. it is perched atop a hill overlooking the valley, spacious court yards, fountains, the whole shebang! And inside there are nearly one hundred ornately decorated rooms to explore with fancy furniture, jeweled center pieces and winding staircases. It is really something!

Selfie with the castle

After that we rode a tram up the mountain to the famous Neuschwanstein Castle. After disembarking, we headed to a nearby bridge for an amazing view of the castle from across a small lake, and man was it high! Definitely not a place for those with qualms about heights... or claustrophobia for that matter. There had to be a hundred people crammed onto that bridge, trying to get their shot of the castle, and on a Wednesday, no less! So we got our picture, got the heck out of that mess and headed for the castle for our tour. 

Neuschwanstein was build by King Ludwig II later in his life, but, unfortunately, the King died before he could see the final product. The castle was never completed because the King was bankrupt when he died and the castle was immediately opened as a museum after his death. The castle is known for it's Cinderella-esque exterior, but the interior boasts a measly 19 completed rooms, most of which were never really used. However, the rooms that we were able to see were really beautiful, too bad they don't allow pictures inside. 

Fussen

After leaving this surreal, fantastic little world, we drove to the nearby city of Fuusen for some schnitzel before heading back to our hotel in Munich for the night. Seeing the castles was probably the highlight of my trip to Germany, besides getting to see my mom and Jim of course. For a few hours I really felt like a princess, take that Disney!


With love, from Lausanne

Mindy