When planning this trip months ago, I asked Dave if there was anything specific he wanted to do. He considered the area for several days, before replying: "Neuschwanstein". I guess he played some video game growing up that featured the castle, and he'd always wanted to see it in person.
Friday morning we left Munich with Sofie and Chris (squeezing into their compact European car) and drove two hours on winding country roads until we reached our destination. As Dave will tell you, Neuschwanstein was built by this powerful German king, who was also a recluse. He spent over a decade building the castle in a secluded region of the Alps. Dave likes to think if he had the money, he would enact a similar building. Unfortunately, the German king only lived in Neuschwanstein for 10 days before he died.
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| Neuschwanstein from below. |
The castle is a tourist hot spot—there were literally hordes of people with selfie sticks everywhere. We arrived a little after 1:00 pm, and the next available tour time we could buy tickets for was after 6:00 pm. It was madness. Luckily, our group wasn't set on going inside Neuschwanstein, we mostly just wanted to gaze at it from a distance. Here are some of my favourite photos:
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| We took funny photos during the walk up to the castle |
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| Dave playing king on the balcony |
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| I asked Dave to take a photo of me in front of the castle courtyard... |
Along the back of Neuschwanstein there's a trail you can take that leads you to a bridge, which has become a make shift viewing platform for the castle from a distance. It really was an incredible view—and inspired the Sleeping Beauty castle made by Disney!
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| Neuschwanstein from the bridge |
After Neuschwanstein we drove another hour into Austria, to the small town of Innsbruck. Innsbruck is surrounded by mountains on all sides, with the Inns river running through its centre.
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| The village where we stayed in Innsbruck |
We arrived around dinnertime, and walked into the city centre for Indian food—I was sooooo hungry I forgot to take a picture of it, sorry Al! After dinner we checked out a couple pubs and bars, before turning in for the night. Today, we had a relaxing morning (which is so appreciated when traveling a lot!) and then walked around the old town and saw Innsbruck's most famous site: the golden roof.
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| The golden roof was made in 1500 by an Austrian emperor. |
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| Part of the old town in Innsbruck |
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| An arch in Innsbruck |
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| Dave trying to hide from the sun as we walked around |
It was a really great but tiring day!
After dinner we packed up our stuff, and then drove two hours north to Salzburg, Austria: home of The Sound of Music! Tonight we're camping just outside the city, because tomorrow we're going canyoning! I don't really know what that means, but I'm sure I'll have some good stories for my next post.
Until then,
Heather
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