Day 4 - Neuschwanstein

We drove today over to visit Neuschwanstein,  about an hour away. This is the castle that King Ludwig built that was Disney's inspiration  for Disney Land/world castles. We took the horse drawn carriage ride almost to the top. You get to climb over 300 stairs up (& down) to see the rooms that were finished before he died mysteriously after only living 180 days in Neuschwanstein.  Only 30 % of castle was ever completed. His bedroom took 14 woodcarvers 4 years to complete.  While the building of his multiple castles about broke the government, they are money makers today. Probably 40-50 people in each tour every 5 minutes!  Stopped on the way back to take picture of River Lech & mountain scenery.

Day 3 Mittenwald

We decided to visit Mittenwald, home to violin making & homes painted with murals called Luftlmalereien. The weather didn't cooperate as we had a number of rains showers.  We couldn't see the surrounding Karwendel mountains and it was too wet for hiking to the Leutasch Gorge or the mountain lakes. We had fun walking around town, visiting a grocery store, window browsing and eating goulash soup for lunch. Tonight we went to Hotel Fraundorfer for Bavarian food & entertainment.

 Susan

 & Gary

The Parish Church of St. Peter & Paul, built in 1734-1749. Known for unique painted 

Tower, unusual dome & baroque interior.

Alp version of storm drain system.

May Day Pole

These are gutters coming off the buildings. Can you tell we were 

having some rain.

                                           Fresh snow on the mountain!

Fr

View from our room....a little better view today.

 1936 Olympic site - bobsled & ski jump

Dinner at Fraundorfers & entertainment.

Day 2 Garmisch- Partenkirchen

We caught a train today to go to Garmisch to see the Alps, visit a few castles & relax. Snow in the mountains but just rain in the valley. Rented a Mercedes station wagon....when you stop at a stoplight sign, it turns off! Won't complain since we were really lucky yesterday for walking in Munich.
We are staying at the  Edelweiss Lodge, an Army R&R resort. They gave us a recommendation for lunch & was delicious. It is pronounced "muck e foo" .They have a baguette sandwich that was huge but half salad so had to almost eat with a fork.

                                                              Waiting for the train.

 View from our balcony.

Munich

We had a great flight to Munich. Our room wasn't ready so decided to go for a walk and get some lunch before taking a nap. These are few of  the sights we saw on the way.

We went to lunch at the Rathaus...great wine!

After lunch, we visited the Munich Residence. It was the residence and seat of government for the  Wittenbach family. 

 Court Chapel

 A small portion of the Royal silver. Happy I don't have to polish!

 Imperial Hall

 Ancestral Gallery

 Antiquarium - 66 meters longs & filled with busts of ancients

Green Gallery

We stopped by the Hofbrauhaus before heading to Marienplatz to see the 

Glockenspiel before heading back to hotel & bed.

SNOW?

We are packed and ready to go.  The forecast on Thursday in Garmisch-Partenkirchen is SNOW! Originally was 1-3" on Wednesday, Thursday & Friday but now just looks like 1" on Thursday morning turning to rain. The high is projected to be 46 with a low of 36 so hopefully the snow forecast is wrong.

Europe Adventure Begins

We leave on May 13 for our  trip to Europe to celebrate Fred's 65th birthday. The first couple of days will be spent in Munich & Bavaria. We will then take the train to Budapest by way of Salzburg . The river cruise starts May 20 and ends in Amsterdam. We then fly to spend about a week with Dan's family in England. Looking forward to sharing our adventures!