Castles!

More from Bavaria

The kids and I took a bus trip to visit two famous castles in the area, one of which is the inspiration of the Disney castle.  Neufschwannstein is the actual name, and we can all say that very well as our sweet (yet sassy, look out!) little tour guide had us repeating it throughout the hour or so journey from the resort.  To learn more about the castle and the eccentric man behind it check out this link...

http://www.neuschwanstein.de/englisch/palace/index.htm

Hohenschwangau

This castle was gorgeous.  We didn't go inside but were able to admire the view for a while

To get to the castle, one must get themselves up a road that is a mile and a half uphill.  Not that big of a deal really, and after a long bus ride where Sam threw up I knew we needed the fresh air (he was car sick, not flu sick!  I'm not that horrible, really).  The option of a shuttle bus was a non-starter, and the line for the horses was ridiculous.  Plus I just love hiking uphill as odd as that might be to some.  So away we go in the pouring rain.  Not just a little mist, it was a downpour although it didn't start out that way.  The kids were troopers to say the least and earned these delicious German pretzels, every last bite. 

So darn excited to be here.  Not.  Somehow, someway we ended up at the castle an hour before our scheduled time.  More like an hour and a half really because we needed to be there a half an hour early.  Wow, how to kill time in the rain...

Hang out with the crowd?  I could stand to people watch all day but the kids, not so much.

Check out this handy gizmo the girl in the pink is holding.  She has her camera on there and can get great shots of herself now wherever she may be traveling. 

Since we seem pretty good at hiking in the rain, off we go to do some more while killing time.  

Sam says this rock is a B for Bender

And of course Matthew wanted to keep this.  He did not but we enjoyed putting it on the rail fence and standing back to see who noticed.  Oh yes, it's dead.  A little candid camera type moment which was most disappointing when not a single person even saw it sitting there, and people had been walking along with their hands on the rail. 

Below are more pictures of the views.  It's ridiculous how beautiful it was up there that day.  

We finally made it inside, and here is a shot to prove it.  Pretty interesting place.

And because I'm not completely crazy or cruel, we took the horses back down (so we wouldn't miss the bus really)

Good bye Neufschwannstein

Hello random German guy hanging out...

And there you have it!  Lots of pictures as I have found it's much easier to add them in masses and delete then it is to go through them all one by one.