Vacation to King Ludwig's castles (part 2)

We slept hard that first night, probably because of all the walking and climbing up stairs. We met at 9:00 for our complimentary breakfast in Das Frühstückzimmer (the breakfast room). Oh, the choices(!): Pastries, rolls, plenty of condiments, cheeses, sliced meats, boiled eggs, cereal, granola, fresh fruit, yogurt, fruit and vegetable juices, milk, buttermilk, hot chocolate (it came in a pitcher already made!), and the biggest block of butter I've ever seen! It was definitely the best hotel breakfast I've ever had. And a great way to get some energy stored up for our day!
We left the hotel and drove about 10 minutes away to a parking area for castle tours. We bought tickets for Neuschwanstein and Hohenschwangau Castles then walked up the long staircase to Hohenschwangau Castle.
It has been enjoyable to read history and learn of the people and places we are to visit. It gives the places we visit more meaning. Hohenschwangau was the main residence of King Ludwig while growing up. His father built it on ruins of an older castle originally built in the 11th century. The courtyards are beautiful, and have beautiful views. There aren't a lot of pictures from the inside because nobody is allowed to take photos. Somehow my camera was placed on a non-flash museum setting and pictures ended up on its memory... Funnily, my camera snapped a picture of a bedroom and also randomly captured Christina and Matt in the full-length mirror.
The kitchens were built in separate buildings to prevent damage in case of fire (which we have learned on other castle tours must have happened more frequently than initially thought). While this wasn't the most ornate castle of the two, this tour was more informative and interesting. The views out of the windows were beautiful!
After the tour was over, we had about 45 minutes until our scheduled tour at Neuschwanstein Castle started. There are a few choices to get up the mountain: walk, ride a tour bus, or ride in a horse-drawn carriage. Of course we chose the most touristy, fun option!
It was a longer ride up than expected (which made us glad we didn't walk because we might not have made it in time) and we shared it with a cute German family.
Neuschwanstein was everything I expected it to be--just like a fairy tale! Even the view of it from the trail on the way up was breathtaking! King Ludwig was also known as the Swan King, and there are many swan carvings, paintings, stained glass windows, and other accessories decorating both castles. In part of the tour we were taken through a sort of hallway that had the bare rock of the mountain on one side, and a swan window on the other. I wish I could have gotten a picture of King Ludwig's bed. It took 14 carpenters 10 years to finish it. Amazing woodwork! But I did get a picture of the piano! King Ludwig loved Richard Wagner and built stages for him to perform his operas. There are also many murals on the walls depicting his more famous opera, "Tristan and Isolde" (also made into a movie a couple of years ago).
The throne room was outrageously decorated. Unfortunately, King Ludwig died before a throne was ever constructed, and the room has remained without. I did manage to get a picture of the gaudy chandelier!
When our tour was over, we realized, much to our chagrin, that it had started pouring. I'd really wanted to walk back down and enjoy the natural beauty of Bavaria, but we took the now-covered carriage back down.
We spent the rest of the evening at the hotel restaurant and in our room. I studied my German and read a book, Jer watched movies on the mini-DVD player, Matt read Christina's paperback, and Christina wrote stories on her laptop. It had been a great day. Jer and I ventured out for a little while to drive around, but as it was raining so hard, we turned back to the hotel, defeated. Es goss in Strömen.

Vacation to King Ludwig's castles (part 1)

Because of Jeremiah's weird work schedule, it ended up that he would get 3 days off in a row, work 2, then another 3 off. So, he put in for leave (vacation) for those 2 work days. It was really nice because he got 8 days off for the price of 2! We've been trying to decide for a while what we wanted to do. It's really hard to decide because there are so many countries and cultures within driving distance, and I want to go everywhere! I put the poll on my blog, and the Black Forest won. Unfortunately, while at first we did plan to go there, we weren't able to get all Jer's family history information in time. We would really like to plan a Black Forest trip with specific genealogy or point-of-contact information for the Scheuffele line. Jer has been in contact with his relatives, and we are collecting information for our future trip. We are really excited to go, so if there are any Scheuffeles out there with any info, please let me know!
Our friend, Matt, also took time off work so we could make it a group vacation (including Matt's wife, Christina). Somehow it fell to me to be in charge of the itinerary, which was fine but I was a little overwhelmed by it at first because we are all so new here; I had no idea where to go or what to see/do when we got there.
(By the way, you can click on any picture to see a bigger image of it)
It was decided we would go to Neuschwanstein castle in Bavaria, the biggest state in Germany. The main reason we weren't leaving the country was because nobody had an international driver's license (separate from the German driver's license). We've heard horror stories about what will happen if caught by local government without one. We planned our vacation for 3 days and 2 nights. We set out Monday morning, June 1. First stop, the birthplace of Albert Einstein: Ulm.
We arrived after a few hours of driving. I hadn't really known much about Ulm until I mapped out our trip and tried to find cool things to do along the route. Ulm turned out to be a great place!
We rolled in to Das Schiefes Haus first. Translated, this means The Crooked House, or The Leaning House. It was built on the River Blau in the 14th century and more levels were added over many years. Eventually its leaning frame had to be reinforced. This part of the Altstadt (or, old town) was beautiful! Imagine a cobble-stone arched bridge. Weeping willows growing from the banks of the small river, shading the paths. Water swirling lazily through the middle of town. Blossoms on the fresh breeze. Charming corner cafés with cheeses, pastries, and schnitzel. I write it down this way not to impress, but because when I close my eyes, this is how I remember it.
After visiting the Schiefes Haus, we walked to Ulm Münster. It took several hundred years to build this Lutheran church--it is the tallest church in the world (530 feet)! We went inside and learned we could climb to the top for only 4€ each! The man at the ticket counter pointed to an old, thick wooden door behind us where we were supposed to enter. I opened the door and a centuries-old, narrow, winding staircase beckoned. The steps were shaped like wedges--skinny as they wrapped around the center pillar and getting wider as they connected to the outer cylindrical wall. This was going to be a single-file excursion with no stopping because we could hear people below/behind us! It was dizzying! There were a couple of places to stop: the church has 3 tiers. I took pictures of the courtyard below from each one. By the time we got to the 2nd tier, it was already quite a feat! The architecture was incredible! This is a picture of the last staircase to the top (it's very narrow and was a longer climb than anticipated). I got an awesome picture of the city from the 3rd tier! You can see the curvature of the earth from such a high altitude:
We climbed a total of 768 steps to the top. We enjoyed the view for about 10 minutes (it was a really small space, and very crowded!) until we began our descent. Of course going down is easier on the heart, but that's it. It seemed like the same steps over and over, spiraling down, down, down. It wouldn't have been so bad if it were just the vertigo, but my eyes started playing tricks on me. My depth perception was all but gone, and because my brain couldn't process correctly, I was taking twice as long to get down as I did going up. Jer passed me so I could have something else to see besides steps. It helped. He also said it was harder being in front.
We all (Matt and Christina included) made it to the bottom in one piece, though our legs were shaking uncontrollably. Now, I'm not horribly out of shape (I even ran 2 km today), but stairs are much different than walking or running. After we sat for a minute, we toured the tabernacle of the church. The meticulous detail to everything inside, even the floor, always amazes me! After we walked outside, we leaned against the building and stretched our calves. A group of people came out and started laughing, knowing all too well why.
Once we left the church, we walked to an ice cream shop and sat outside finally able to relax. Once we finished our ice cream cones, we walked back to the car and drove back onto the autobahn.
It was another 1½ hours before we reached our final destination, Füssen, Germany. We arrived at our hotel and unpacked the car. The rooms are different: Instead of a queen bed, each person has his own mattress with a separate duvet. After checking in, we headed into the town to window and souvenir shop. We found a restaurant for dinner, and an ice cream parlor for dessert. (Ice cream parlors here are as common as Starbucks or McDonald's in the States). We returned to the hotel and relished in the beautiful view of the Alps from our room's balcony. Der erste Tag unserem Urlaub war fantastisch!

Cochem

Last Saturday we went on a guided tour of Cochem. A friend of ours couldn't go, so offered her ticket to Jeremiah. I took Jer to the meeting place on base, expecting to go home, do laundry, and otherwise get ready for our vacation (which I will blog about in my next post), but when we met the tour-guide, she said there was extra room on the bus for me! I hadn't really dressed for the occasion--I was in flip-flops and no jacket or hoodie--but our other friends arrived with an extra hoodie, so I decided to go for it. (The weather has been pleasant, but it gets really cool at night). It was a long bus ride to get there. It's only about 150 km (93 miles) away, but on a charter bus it's always much slower. We are also used to travelling very fast on the autobahn, so it seemed slower still. None of us could stand to look out of the windows.

When we arrived there was some kind of classic auto show. The cars were cool, but we didn't have time to really look at them cause we were scheduled for a river cruise.
The boat was very relaxing. Almost nobody stayed below deck, but preferred to be up top basking in the warm sun and appreciating the picturesque landscape. The weather was great and the views were beautiful. It's hard to tell from the photo, but the hills were so steep it's difficult to imagine anyone actually working on them. The vineyard had little "cars" on a rail that would take the workers to the top. It reminded me of the defenestration of Mrs. Deagle in the movie "Gremlins".
I snapped a lot of pictures from the boat. This is my favorite one of the castle.
After the boat tour we took a bus up to the castle. This was the coolest castle we've seen up to this point. It's fun to not only tour, but also to learn the history of the castles and the kings/rulers.
The courtyard was so beautiful! The castle walls were adorned with red roses trailing around the entire courtyard!
The tour inside was pretty fun. Some of the art was...interesting. On the dining room table there was a centerpiece statue of a naked man bent over backwards (I did not include that picture just in case it would offend...). We laughed trying to imagine having company over and eating as if there were nothing there pointing at us.
Besides seeing the cool rooms, furniture, and art, we learned that it was very expensive to be a knight. Only the wealthy or well-off men could afford it because the armor was so expensive. There was one knight that was over 7 feet tall and his armor was on display.
They also had a hunting room. The boar on the wall weighed over 400 lbs! I just can't imagine being a taxidermist. It grosses me out.
We learned that the people were allowed 400 liters of wine/day. They said the alcohol content was not as strong as it is today, but I can still imagine that if they drank their allotment they'd be pretty tipsy! The doors had extra large metal plates that made a V down to the keyhole, made so that any drunk could get the key in the hole.
On the way back down the castle ramp there was a guy playing guitar. I love classical guitar, so we gave him some change and listened to him sing his soft melodies. The bus stopped for one last view from above before heading home. Although my feet hurt by the end of the day, it was worth the trip. Wir mögen gern das Schloß.

Frankenstein (Frahnk-in-shtine)

Jeremiah has been working long hours at night on an ever-changing schedule. Needless to say, it's been hard on me, especially since I'm still adjusting to living here. He got a day off on Wednesday and was eager to spend it with me on an excursion to Frankenstein!
We found the old castle ruins high on a hill, but had no idea how to get to them. So, we parked at the base of the hill and wandered around. It was soon apparent that it would be a hike to the top! I was in a really good mood and excited to try out the trail. It led us past a church and cemetery, then made a Z to the top.
The trail was really cool! When the trees opened up, we could see the view of the little town. The trees became more dense as we climbed further, as if they were closing in on us. It's interesting to look at the picture (to the left)--it's like someone drew a line where the light ends and the darkness begins.
I snapped a panoramic picture to try to show how beautiful the view from the path was. (In the panoramic pic above/right,--the castle is at the top left, church is in the middle [its spire is barely seen], and cemetery is bottom/middle). As we got closer to the top we could see, along the trail, where the old walls used to be.
The hike wasn't too strenuous and we soon made it to the top! The view was breathtaking! I love the old castles here. It's been really fun for Jer and me to discuss how the layout might have been when the castle was functioning. Es hat Spaß gemacht!


view from the top----->