Our last full day in Munich started out simply enough. We grabbed the train and headed out to see some castles! We chose to visit one of the most famous castles of Bavaria, Neuschwanstein, and its neighbor, Hohenschwangau. One was built by King Maximillian II and the other by the Fairy Tale King, King Ludwig II. I'm sure you can tell who was responsible for which, based on those descriptions alone.
They were both pretty cool castles, but unfortunately no photos allowed :( However, my sneaky self managed to get some of Hohenschwangau with Eric as a blocker.
The German Alps! The pictures don't quite do it justice when you're traveling 60mph on a train. And Schwangau's May Pole.
Hohenschwangau up on its hill, a view of the little town of Schwangau, and courtyard decorations.
It's a pretty sweet view of the countryside, and some closer-ups of Hohenschwangau.
Countryside, Carissa and I, and the kitchens--which interestingly enough were actually separate from the castle. How would you like to have the job of bringing the food from the kitchens to the main dining room? Only a couple sets of stairs and the outside to contend with, no big deal.
The entrance symbol reminded us of the Soviet crosswalk sign. A wheelchair fit for a king inside Hohenschwangau (these are my stolen pictures), but it rather reminds me of FDR for some reason. A writing desk, which is actually the most ornate writing desk I've ever seen, and it's rather tall. Were you supposed to write while standing? And weren't people shorter back then? These are the wonderings of my mind.
I liked the stars on the ceiling and then the ornate-ness of the queen's bedroom. Our guide called it Asian but I would definitely venture to say its more Middle-Eastern. And of course in the King's quarters he has paintings of naked ladies on the wall.
Jagerhaus for some of my crazy friends, and a view of the entire Hohenschwangau buildings. And then we have Neuschwanstein! It's got a little more curb appeal than its neighbor across the small valley. And it is also the castle that inspired Walt Disney.
Carissa and I and the castle! Looking down into the ravine. For a castle that was supposed to be leisurely, it definitely would be easily defensible because of the outcropping of rock it's on.
The countryside view from Neuschwanstein, and a lady who was determined to get a selfie of herself and the entrance to the castle. I got a good giggle out of it. She clearly needs a selfie stick. And here's the front entrance of the castle!
It's a pretty cool castle but still unfinished. King Ludwig II only lived in the castle for 180ish days before dying so it's not fully furnished. Our guides also told us that the castle was intended to be a solitary one. King Ludwig had the whole castle built but didn't want anyone to be there with him. Imagine all of this to yourself... I for one would scare myself silly, but no, not King Ludwig II. He built a Throne Room for himself, a cave with colored lights for himself, a ball room for himself. No one else could share these spaces with him, but apparently he reluctantly agreed to having a few servants. They just weren't to bother him.
Me with Mary's Bridge behind us. Mary's Bridge gives you some different views of the castle but alas it was blocked off because of the ice and snow and we didn't want to die while trying to reach it. But we were happy we made the trip! One last look back at Neuschwanstein.
Then it was back on the train and back to Munich! Where we went to the #1rated restaurant from TripAdvisor. It was a delicious Greek restaurant! So we had some octopus (I can't get enough of octopus after Spain), Augustiner beer, and delicious dessert.
We had tiramisu, chocolate mousse, and a creme brûlée!
The next day I reworked some of the same route from our walking tour of Munich since I had some time to spare by myself. It was interesting to see that I remembered much of the directions and where everything was, and then I tried to get some of the pictures I was unable to get the first time around.
A sports store with a high picture of the World Cup Champions! Still hard to believe I got to go to the World Cup and saw Germany play against the USA. Then we have a lion, that its said, if you rub the ball at the bottom of the shield, you'll get luck in love, job, etc. There's four lions total but you can only rub up to 3 at a time, else you're considered greedy and have the opposite of luck in each of the categories. And last a picture of where the Nazi memorial for the Putz (sp?) used to be. You can see where the wreaths used to hag from the darkened squares.
more images of the "great" Bavarian war heroes. And tried to get a picture of the Juliet statue without people but this time found other people that wanted to fondle her.
The glockenspiel was beautiful in the Munich sunshine! So I watched it go off for a second time.
There was also a little celebration that looked like the beginning of Mardi Gras? Maybe?
For my last German meal, I indulged in some more of the beer I came to like the most, Augustiner. and then had some venison goulash that was... interesting. It wasn't bad, but it wasn't my favorite either.
And that was the end of my time in Munich. I then travelled to the airport to catch my flight to Paris. I was somewhat worried given the turmoil and events that had happened only a few days prior, but all went well. I met up with some mutual friends of one of my coworkers in Cincinnati and they showed me a fabulous time! I met at the girl's apartment where she had some friends come over, and thankfully they were al super nice and knew how to speak English really well, so I fit right in! (remind me to try to learn French). We ended up going out to experience the Paris nightlife so it was a fabulous evening in Paris and a great way to spend my last night in Europe. Thanks to Helena, Nadia, Bapt, and Thomas for showing me a great time!
But now I am back stateside and trying to recover--easier said than done. I was in Dallas earlier this week and am currently in St. Louis to visit one of my favorite P&Gers, Samantha. After this I plan on staying in Cincinnati until my next trip which will be to Abu Dhabi! I'm pretty excited about that. I'll get to cross off my 6th continent! Woot! So until then, ciao! :)
