January 2, 2012

Neuschwanstein and Hoehenschwangau Proves it Doesn't Matter if You're Crazy....

So our last stop in Germany was to see the oober famous castle of Neuschwanstein aka "Sleeping Beauty" castle or the "Chitty Chitty Bang Bang" castle.

Look familiar??

http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_Y271WpYKxhM/Skft_fV_vqI/AAAAAAAABMM/3CpvjsWszWQ/s400/Castle.jpg

Here we are in front "Sleeping Beauty's" castle at Disneyland when we went before we moved!


So yea, it's a pretty famous castle! Matt was actually the one who wanted to go originally since he read about it in a book. Crazy huh? However, it was TOTALLY worth the visit! We were hopeful for snow since it was December and cold and there was wetness in the air, just not snow :( The lack of snow did not inhibit our experience by any means though-the clouds from the rain made the castles look eery, mysterious, and beautiful! But I first need to discuss a German food that we all know (and maybe not love), the bratwurst. Now many of you know how I don't eat hot dogs, sausages, brats-basically any food that at one point in history was a mix of different organs and meat that was then shoved into an intestine (or other organ) as casing-gross. So our first night in Munich we were having a hard time finding a place to eat so we said we'd try some market street food, aka bratwursts. I knew not to try the white ones (veal head, no thanks) and I was so hungry at the time I didn't care that I was eating a brat. I did not regret this decision-it was so tasty! Way better than the ones we get in the states so when we were walking around at the different markets we tried the brats. Yup, almost every city I ate a brat. And I didn't die-craziness I know!! But we realized we didn't take ANY photos of these momentous acts and that is how we came to take these beauties in Fussen:

That's right! I take charge when eating a brat! And it was so tasty!


Just because it's a big deal I was eating them doesn't mean we should document Matt enjoying his too! Yummyyyy....


It was fairly amusing while we took these photos-a man came up to us as asked if he too could take a pic of us eating our brats. We now joke that we're soon to be the face of the Fussen Christmas market featuring brat eating. Be on the look out for our posters ok?

Now the next day, after a wonderful nights sleep at our killer hotel (http://www.schlosskrone.de/ you should stay here if you ever make it there-it was AMAZING!! free upgrade-yes please! power shades-yes! huge bed and bathroom-a European luxery!) Anyway, back to the story....after our good nights sleep, we grabbed a taxi and headed 10 mins away to see the castles. We bought our tickets on line before hand which may or may not have been helpful-there wasn't a huge line when we got there but it was 9 am. The first castle they herd you through is Hoehenschwangau, the castle Ludgwig II grew up in. Everything is original from the last occupant who died in 1911. By 1913 the castle was a museum. So all the "modern" amenities (electricity, elevator) and family heirlooms are still in place as well as all original wall and mural art! It was truly beautiful. Sadly, no photos allowed inside so you'll just have to either a)go there and see it for yourself (which I recommend!) or b) use your imagination. We finished up with that tour and had 1hr to make it up to the next castle. Now you may be thinking, why do you need so much time? Well, it's a HIKE! So we opted to take a carriage ride up which takes less time and saves you from the walk-win win right? And you get to pet some cute horses and then your gloves smell like horse the rest of the time-again, win!
Now they don't drive you right up to the castle so we still had to walk a little but it was cool since the clouds were covering the castle slightly giving it a mysterious feeling-I LOVED it! So this is what we saw as we walked up to go to the entrance.....

Spooky!



There was only 1 good spot really to take photos with the front of the castle so it was a jostling contest to get in there-we had a couple from CO (I miss it there!) take this for us, Christmas sweaters and all!

Still cloudy...but I think our sweaters really liven the scene up!


Again, no photos on the inside allowed. And you only get to see the 1/3 completed section. And you're herded like cattle. But it was still really cool! It too was left in it's original state, paintings, furniture, and all so you can see how King Ludgwig II lived, for less than 1 year in this place.

There is a bridge near by called "Mary's Bridge" that was built for Ludwig's mother, Mary, for her hikes. We decided to trek up there to get some good photos. This is what we saw on the way....

Can't beat a view of the alps, clouds, and a castle. Nice right?


It was rainy-hence the umbrella strap in the pic!



Now this bridge crosses a gorge but in the middle you get an AMAZING view of Neuschwanstein. But you have to go through THIS to get a good spot.....


The scariest bit of that bridge is it isn't incredibly stable. As in you took a step and the wood boards would move and bounce. Not that comforting to those of us who are TERRIFIED of heights and the non-stable things we the only barrier between you and the rocks at the bottom of the gorge. But what does Matt do, drag me out 3/4 of the way over since not many people are brave enough to go out that far. Most took 2 steps, freaked out, and left. I wasn't allowed to do that-dang it. That's ok, if I had been a big chicken then we wouldn't have gotten shots like these:

Full view-so pretty!


This year's Christmas card pic. We need to photo shop Joey into it! The guy taking the pic was pooing himself as well since he wasn't liking the bridge or the heights-a kindred spirit for me!


Matt took this of me-promptly leaving when we were done with the pics because I wanted the heck out of there!! It was a battle to get off that thing too! On the way off I encountered some SUPER HICK Americans-it was HILARIOUS! I'm talking trucker hats, carharts, terrible southern accents, the whole nine yards. It was magical.


So we had an amazing trip to Germany. I still want to move there even though it's 63 degrees outside right now. And yes, I'm cold. Who knew one could acclimate so quickly? How sad is that? Anyway, we plan to hit northern Germany at some point as well-we've been told about this cool event in late summer called "The Rhine in Flames" which showcases all the castles on the river at night, with torches and such. I really want to go. It sounds awesome.
Matt is off to a men's ski retreat in Switzerland in a couple weekends so that is the only foreseeable trip right now. That needs change-weekend somewhere in February? I think so...time to start researching ;)