We began our trip late on Friday night because we knew the roads would be packed....this entire region and possible more all went on Summer Holiday as of this week...and we were right!! After two long stou's (traffic jams) we decided to go and meet some friends down by their home for dinner! We dined on some delicious schnitzel, cheese spatzle, and a couple of other local dishes our friends insisted we try. Ok, I admit, I was too chicken to eat the raw meat dish..but I did try out the dish that was basically lard smeared on bread with lots of raw onions on top! This particular region seemed to love raw onions!
After dinner (around 10 pm) we were back on road and arrived in Munich (without ANY traffic) around midnight! We checked in to the "oh-so-german" Marriott and settled into bed!
Saturday was "Castle Day"! After sleeping in and enjoying some Starbucks coffee and pastries in the room, we hopped in the car and headed south. Today was the day to see Neuschwanstein Castle! This is the castle that Disney World modeled their castle after! It's a majestic sight for sure! Just seeing a WHITE castle was something unique, and then one so comparatively NEW was just cool. We spoiled the girls a little and decided to take the horse buggy up the hill! The exciting part for me...we actually TOURED this!! I will never forget the King's Bedroom! There were so many wood carvings around that room - it took 14 woodworkers 4 years to complete it! Yep...King Ludwig was a nut case alright:) So amazing to think that this was only 1 of 3 castles he built--and he never even stayed in or enjoyed this castle. In fact, our tour started in the very room where he was told by the government that they were taking away his throne because they considered him crazy. The next day he was mysterious found drowned...hmmmmmmm govts. never change do they:)!!
Unfortunatley Chloe was not the best during the tour. She's being a tad difficult these days and her little 3-year-old attitude shone brightly on this day!! My arms were exhausted from carrying her through the entire tour and then we had to hike down the hill. Let's just say that she had a meltdown...many strangers had to wonder about my parenting as I stuck to my guns about "walk or piggy-back ride" and "no, you won't get ice cream now"...eiyiyi, that was one long walk down! BUT...we survivied, we stuck to our guns and she promptly fell asleep when we got to the car!!
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| Tim and the Girls on an observation deck right before we entered the castle |
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| The view you see when you arrive and leave - it was a foggy/rainy day but it's still majestic |
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| Our Horse-Drawn Carriage:) |
We had nothing else on our agenda for the day so we slowly worked our way home. Our navigation system has become our best friend over here ---we would not be traveling like this without it!! It lead us to a neat little Biergarten right on a large lake! We enjoyed some Bavarian Sausages (large white ones that you peel first), a gigantic Bavarian pretzel, and some most wonderful potato soup!! While sitting there, we enjoyed watching some wind surfers on the lake and the girls found...you guessed it....a carousel to ride!!! Then, out of nowhere, a traditional German band began to play. We walked around the corner and found them standing on the lawn next to the adjoining hotel. The girls had a blast watching them and dancing - and we had fun watching the locals work their way to the hotel for some apparent event that evening!
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| The girls enjoying the music from the German Band |
Eventually we decided that this too shall end, so we hopped back in the car and headed back to Munich. We asked the girls if they were ok to go out a little when we returned to see some sites but they politely declined. They just wanted to play in the hotel room! Do you remember those days as a kid??? So, we respected their decision and just hung out---and watched Chitty Chitty Bang Bang on our English TV (thank you SlingBox)!!
The next day was Munich day! Stop one: Hauptbahnhof...I'd never seen a large train station before so that was sorta neat. AND, we found some yummy breakfast and coffee! Stop two: Marienplatz to see the Glockenspiel dance at Noon! The girls thought that was super cool. Stop three: Rickshaw Ride---why walk when one can be pulled by a cute little guy riding his bike???? Super fun - and we got a few sightseeing tidbits on the way (and we watched surfers on the river!!) Stop four: English Garden - Chinese Tower Biergarten. This was our main destination for the day. This place was packed because there's a brass band that plays on Sundays. There was also a little "try out circus tricks" thing going on in the kids area so we spent much time spinning plates, juggling, and getting our faces painted. It was now lunchtime so we dined on some sausages, fries, another gigantic pretzel and a wineshorla. Ironic coincidence: we sat right next to a German teacher from Colorado Springs who was over here taking a two week coarse. How small this world really is!!
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| The Glockenspiel on the Rathouse in Munich |
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| Chloe tries the plates too! |
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| Fun Plate Spinning in English Gardens |
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| The Chinese Tower Biergarten in English Gardens |
After that nice heavy lunch, it was time to walk! We slowly meandered back through the park and the city...saw many street performers along the way...and ended up back at our car. Time to return home. After one last stop at McDonald for dinner, we arrived at our apt. around 9:00pm! Whew...what a weekend!
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