Max's parents came over for a visit this fall, after their trip to Scotland! After a couple days in France, we took off with them on a road trip through Bavaria.
Our first stop was the town of Fussen in Germany. Our hotel wasn't the easiest one to find, given all the small, narrow streets and pedestrian ways, but we found it and a place to park the car. It was a cute town and just three miles away from the Ludwig castles.
The castle we came to see was the Neuschwanstein Castle (above). It's amazing! The castle construction began in 1869 and it was only one-third finished when King Ludwig died. Seven weeks after his death, the castle was opened to the curious public.
In the rear of this photo, to the right, is Mary's Bridge from which the previous photo of Neuschwanstein was taken. It offered amazing views of the castle and valley below. Even Marty couldn't let his fear of heights stop him from venturing out onto the bridge.
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From Neuschwanstein Castle, we could see Hohenschwangau Castle (above), the boyhood home of King Ludwig. Both castles are beautifully situated in the mountains. Our next stop was Salzburg, Austria!
Salzburg was charming, that's the best word I can use to describe it. We went on a Rick Steve's self guided walk through town which took all morning and we saw some pretty cool sights, including a gigantic panoramic painting of the city, as seen from the fortress, done in the 1820's.
The walk also took us through St. Peter's Cemetery. According to our guide book, gravesites in Austria are rented not owned and the bill is sent out every 10 years. If it doesn't get paid by your relative, your remains get moved. This cemetery was the inspiration for the one in The Sound of Music film.
The Salzburg Cathedral (above) is also beautiful. There is a statue of Mary in front of the cathedral and when you stand in just the right spot at the front of the square, it looks as if the two angels on the cathedral facade are placing a crown on her head.
We also visited Dachau Concentration Camp outside of Munich. It was actually worse than I thought, if that's possible. The only comfort I could take was knowing that there were some survivors and that the German people were not going to let what happened be forgotten; every German student is required to visit a concentration camp as part of their education. During my first visit to Normandy, I walked around with a lump in throat, but here, my stomach just flopped. It was a lot to take in.
On a lighter note, our trip to Munich wouldn't be complete without a trip to the Hofbrauhaus! It was huge, it was loud, it was awesome.
While in Munich we also saw the Residenz Museum, home to the Bavarian royal family. This statue is in the palace's Shell Grotto. The palace was destroyed in WWII, but the people of Bavaria gathered shells to help reconstruct the grotto. The royal family portraits were also hastily cut away from their frames to hide and protect them during allied bombings. They've since been stitched back into their frames.
We also walked through and had lunch at Munich's open-air market, Viktualienmarkt. I actually ate calf lung soup there! I had no idea what I was ordering until some nice lady filled me in. Markets will be one of the things I will miss most about Europe. It's just not the same in the US. Anyway, we had a great trip and sadly, this maybe one of the last we take while we're living in France. Crazy! We've got at least one more small trip planned before our move. Stay tuned!
