The next leg of our trip was one of the more anticipated parts for Nicole and I. It was our trip to and tour of Neuschwanstein and Hohenschwangau Castles. We were so excited because we have seen countless pictures of the Neuschwanstein castle, but believe me once you see it you realize the pictures just don't do it justice. Since both of the castles are pretty much across from each other you can by tickets and tours to both which was nice. We toured the Hohenschwangau Castle first and it was very beautiful and filled with many gifts to King Maximilian II of Bavaria.
Once we were done at Hohenschwangau we headed down the road and began our journey to Neuschwanstein Castle. Nicole and I opted to take a bus up and it was super crowded and well I can't really go into it here but lets just say it was filled with a lot of tourist from other countries east of Europe. The bus dropped us of short of the castle so we could go out on Marienbrücke (Mary's Bridge). Unfortunately it was way too crowded for me so I decided to opt out. Shane and Buffy went out and got some great pictures of the castle from bridge.
The tour of the castle was incredible, unfortunately you are prohibited to take pictures inside but it was very over the top. As a matter of fact there is a cave in the castle. That is right a cave, it was completely unexpected and very weird. Come to find out that King Ludwig died before the castle was ever finished. I encourage you to read about what led up to his disappearance and death in a Munich lake. Lets just say the lake was shallow and the King was a great swimmer. Nevertheless the Castles were amazing and the view from the mountain was just crazy awesome.
After a long day of touring and walking it was time to head to our hotel which was in Garmisch-Partenkirchen. Our drive to Garmisch was incredible to say the least. We got to drive pretty much through the Bavarian Alps. It was breathtaking, and something I had never imagined in a million years I would be seeing. Before we reached our hotel I was able to grab some shots of the Partnach River. Thanks for stopping off Shane.
We did finally reach our hotel, and by now my neck was pretty sore by all my rubbernecking. The hotel was called Hotel Forsthaus and it was super nice and very American friendly since it caters to a lot of vacationing military families stationed in Germany. Our room was very cozy and breakfast was included which is rare at German hotels. Now the late night German TV was another story.
The next morning we headed to one of my favorite places in all of Germany, Zugsptize. Zugspitze is the highest point in all of Germany (2,962 metres (9,718 ft). It also has an incredible view of the Bavarian Alps and the city valleys below. So as we arrived I wasn't worried much about the trip up to the summit until I was waiting for the tram to pick us up and take us up and up and up some more.
I was nervous and excited at the same time and was wondering if my shorts and short sleeve shirt would be warm enough at 9,718 ft. As we headed up I was fine until I did what I swore I wasn't going to do. Look down. Yeah I know, don't look down and you will be fine right. Well I couldn't help it and I am glad i did because it was amazing.
When we reached the top it wasn't as cold and I thought so the shorts were fine. I did notice the air is much thinner and it made my walk up the steps to the lodge a little harder than I thought. Once we got outside and were able to see the mountains it seemed like a painting you would see on a wall but never in real life. We wanted to be able to walk in the snow and hang out on the slopes so we took another short tram down to where people, in the winter months, would normally be skiing. Once down there we were greeted to about four feet of snow in spots. This was crazy to consider but we are up about 10,000 ft. As we walked around you realize how small you are compared to the mountain tops. We did have some fun while we were up there and enjoyed playing in the snow.
After wading through the snow we decided to head back up to the main building. When we got up there it gave us a very beautiful vantage of the small towns below. After buying some souvenirs we headed back down and it was certainly not as scary as going up that is for sure.
This concludes part two of our Germany trip. When you see us next we will wondering the streets of Frankfurt and eating a hamburger big enough to feed a family a ten.
1 comment:
I am enjoying these vacation tours, they are almost as good as going myself. Find me a book on those castles they look great.
Post a Comment