Europe Day 8: Neuschwanstein Castle

Here's the thing, a long time ago I saw a picture of Neuschwanstein Castle and that one picture is what planned our trip. I planned the entire trip around this ONE day. To say my expectations were high would be an understatement. I prayed, literally prayed, for pretty weather on this one day. The weather had been PERFECT on our trip (which apparently in this region isn't very common?) so I was worried it was setting it up to rain the entire time on our trip to THE CASTLE! Fortunately we had clear gorgeous skies and the entire day blew my expectations out of the water! We took a train ride 2 hours southeast of Munich into the foothills of the Alps to get to the town of Hohenschwangau, Germany. The town was picturesque! as we were pulling up to the town I caught my first glimpse of the castle, I was SO excited! We grabbed a quick lunch, bought our tickets to tour the castle, and went to figure out how to get up to the castle. You had three options: walks 30 min up a steep hill, ride a bus, or take a horse drawn carriage. We opted for the carriage. What more could a girl ask for?! My excitement continues to build! We got up tot he castle and had to wait for our tour time to start. A small bit of history, the Neuschwanstein Castle was built in 1892 by King Ludwig as a place of personal refuge. At the time of his death only 17 of the 60 rooms were finished, and the King only lived there for (I think) 170 days. They told us the exact numbers on the tour but I can't totally remember. It wasn't long after his death that the castle was opened up for tourists to tour.

Back to our tour, we waited and took approximately 39277899 pictures, then went on our tour! We were in the back because of the kids so I couldn't hear everything, but we were able to see all 17 rooms that had been finished. It was really neat. After the tour we made the 20 minute hike up the hill to Mary's Bridge to get the BEST views of the castle! The bridge itself was terrifying and we were probably stupid to take the kids on it but oh well! We all made it! With some awesome pictures to show for it!

We walked back down to the town and naturally went to the towns biergarten for drink and to just take it all in! From our table we had the perfect view of the castle and I was pinching myself because I couldn't believe that I was really there! Just as we were about to leave we wandered around the corner to this lake that was one of the most beautiful lakes I have ever seen. The water was crystal clear and the background was perfect. So to basically sum up this day, it was perfect! I mean, just perfect. We have been so blessed to travel through Europe and see so many amazing things, but this day rates high up there on my list. I told Bryan I wanted to come to see what it looks like in the winter and fall now :)

 

First glimpse! The morning started off foggy but cleared up to be beautiful!!!

 

I was one excited mama!

 

My husband making me feel a smidge like a princess with our horse carriage ride :)

 

St Mary's bridge from the castle..Eek!

 

See Bryan and Kade?

 

While we were waiting on our tour, Ella was entertaining everyone! That girl loves to be the center of attention!

 

St Mary's bridge was scary but look at the view!

 

What you don't see is the death grip I had on Kade. Thnak goodness Ella was strapped tight to me!

 

 

At this point my knees were shaking uncontrollably due to fear so I felt it best to call it a day on the bridge :)

 

The yellow castle way in the background was Kind Ludwig's childhood home  castle. 

 

How many pictures can one take with the castle in the background??

These little guys have no idea how incredibly awesome all this is!!!

Europe Day 7: Prague --> Munich

On day 7, we got up EARRRRRRLY to be at the train station in time to catch our bus to Munich. The bus ride to Munich was beautiful, yet again. I could sit and stare at the German countryside FOREVER. It is just breathtaking! We arrived in Munich around lunch time and quickly found our hotel. For whatever reason I didn't expect much out of Munich. In reality, we were staying there because it was central for some side trips we wanted to take. We only had half a day to spend in Munich and in my head that was more than enough. I COULDN'T have been more wrong! I LOVED MUNICH! A lot of the city had been rebuilt after the war, but it was still so beautiful! We toured the old town and really loved the atmosphere of the city. After a while we went to this market in the center of town that had a biergarten and localy breweries switched out every few weeks. It was fun! I love being places "less touristy." There were tons of locals sitting and have beers and it was so fun! After that, we walked over to the very very touristy Hofbrauhaus and a beer and dinner there! It was fun, even though very touristy! On a side note- while we were at Hofbrauhaus I ran into an old friend from High School's parents! Such a small world! We are dinner, listened to the band, had a beer and then headed back to the hotel for the night! Tomorrow would be my most anticipated day of the trip!!

 

Breakfast and coffee outside the Prague main train station

 

Beautiful Munich

 

Kade and Ella ate approximately 93277 giant pretzels on this trip. But I don't blame them. They were DELISH!

 

No worries, we enjoyed the German beer but were totally responsible with the 3 and 1 year old tagging along with us :)

 

Touristy it may be, but we had a lot of fun at Hofbrauhaus!

 

Looks like little sister loves Rick Steve's like I do :)

 

At this point in our trip, Ella realized she had to nap where ever she could find a spot to lay down. In this case, a German beer hall filled with loud tourists :)