Europe Day 12 – Schwangau to Munich
After another German breakfast we got in the car and drove the full 5 minutes to the parking area for the castles. Vanessa had to scrape the windshield before we left because it was covered with ice. She lived in South Dakota before, so she is an expert. It looked like we would be cutting it too close to see both castles. We jumped onto a horse and cart thingy to catch a ride up the hill. There was a Canadian couple that sat next to us, so I had to scoot over (foreshadowing). About halfway up the hill the horse the Canadians were sitting behind starting farting. It kind of killed the romance of the whole horse-ride-up-the-snowy-mountain-to-the-castle feeling. After another couple of minutes the driver stopped the horses, this time to let the same horse go poop. The Canadian girl was only about two feet from the horse’s butt, so she got a great view. Right about now I was thinking how fortunate we were to move over.
They dropped us off and we had to hike up the last 300 yards to the castle Neuschwanstein. We had to wait about 20 minutes before our tour started so we bought a book about King Ludwig II (who bought the castle). Vanessa read to me from the book. When the tour started it was just the two of us. I was excited. Then we went into the castle and they handed us this prerecorded thing. What? Last time I had a live guided tour (12 years ago). As we waited again, a large group of people came up behind us. Not only was this prerecorded, but we had to walk through the castle with a group of other people that could not speak English or German. The tour really wasn’t that great. There were a ton of stairs and a couple of pretty rooms, but the live tour was better.
On the way out we went to the restroom (yes this is going somewhere). Vanessa sat on the seat and freezer-burned her butt. I’m not kidding. She was in pain for about an hour. After the tour we took the horse ride back to the base of the hill. We stopped for lunch at a place that had terrible service. The only reason we got out of the restaurant within 45 minutes is because people kept getting up and leaving after being ignored for too long.
We got back to the car and found some hand warmers we purchased before we left for Europe. They are little packets and once you expose them to air they heat up to 135 degrees for 7 hours. She slipped them in her back pockets to help warm up her butt, and we were off. We had to go through Austria to get to the next castle. After driving for about 20 minutes, we found ourselves on a ice and snow covered road. We couldn’t see the asphalt. I passed a sign that said something about snow chains, but I ignored it. I figured this is a Mercedes and it has all sorts of safety stuff to keep us from sliding. I was right and the car did save from sliding a couple of times. For a good 45 minutes I didn’t see any cars going the same direction as us. It was a tough road, but we got some amazing roads. The lake was completely frozen over.
We finally reached the next castle Linderhof. This was another castle built by Ludwig II. It is much smaller, but more ornate inside. We drank hot chocolate and a prezel as we hiked for 5 minutes to the castle. Inside the castle was amazing (gold, silver, velvet, marble, etc.). Pictures won’t do it justice, but I took a lot. We didn’t waste any time and we jumped back in the car. We started towards Munich, took a wrong turn and hit some traffic. Everything was fine once the speed limit was lifted, but close to Munich it started raining. It took me about 5 minutes to figure out the windshield wipers. Hey, you try it driving a new car in traffic on the Autobahn!
The navigation did a swell job of getting us to the main train station where we were supposed to drop of the car, but we couldn’t find Avis. After some frustration, we parked the car, went inside the train station, and found Avis. It turns out we were supposed to park the car a couple of blocks away at a hotel. Thanks for telling us that ahead of time! We drove to the hotel and I said my goodbyes to the car. We grabbed our luggage and walked back to the train station. It took a couple of minutes to figure out the subway system in Munich, but I learned if you stand at the ticket machine with a dumb look on your face people will stop to help you. Yes, this happened to me twice. We figured it out and found our hotel without much trouble.
In Munich we are staying at the Renaissance Hotel. It’s a division of Marriott, so it caters to Americans. Vanessa was ecstatic with the toilet paper, toilet, washcloths (the first we’ve seen so far), and regular shaped pillows. I think she likes the hotel better than the castles J. We also have a nice balcony. I purchased a day of Internet use for about $15.00. It’s a little expensive, but has been worth every penny. We checked our email, I updated the blog, and checked the news. We didn’t feel like going out again, so we ate at the Bistro in the hotel.
They dropped us off and we had to hike up the last 300 yards to the castle Neuschwanstein. We had to wait about 20 minutes before our tour started so we bought a book about King Ludwig II (who bought the castle). Vanessa read to me from the book. When the tour started it was just the two of us. I was excited. Then we went into the castle and they handed us this prerecorded thing. What? Last time I had a live guided tour (12 years ago). As we waited again, a large group of people came up behind us. Not only was this prerecorded, but we had to walk through the castle with a group of other people that could not speak English or German. The tour really wasn’t that great. There were a ton of stairs and a couple of pretty rooms, but the live tour was better.
On the way out we went to the restroom (yes this is going somewhere). Vanessa sat on the seat and freezer-burned her butt. I’m not kidding. She was in pain for about an hour. After the tour we took the horse ride back to the base of the hill. We stopped for lunch at a place that had terrible service. The only reason we got out of the restaurant within 45 minutes is because people kept getting up and leaving after being ignored for too long.
We got back to the car and found some hand warmers we purchased before we left for Europe. They are little packets and once you expose them to air they heat up to 135 degrees for 7 hours. She slipped them in her back pockets to help warm up her butt, and we were off. We had to go through Austria to get to the next castle. After driving for about 20 minutes, we found ourselves on a ice and snow covered road. We couldn’t see the asphalt. I passed a sign that said something about snow chains, but I ignored it. I figured this is a Mercedes and it has all sorts of safety stuff to keep us from sliding. I was right and the car did save from sliding a couple of times. For a good 45 minutes I didn’t see any cars going the same direction as us. It was a tough road, but we got some amazing roads. The lake was completely frozen over.
We finally reached the next castle Linderhof. This was another castle built by Ludwig II. It is much smaller, but more ornate inside. We drank hot chocolate and a prezel as we hiked for 5 minutes to the castle. Inside the castle was amazing (gold, silver, velvet, marble, etc.). Pictures won’t do it justice, but I took a lot. We didn’t waste any time and we jumped back in the car. We started towards Munich, took a wrong turn and hit some traffic. Everything was fine once the speed limit was lifted, but close to Munich it started raining. It took me about 5 minutes to figure out the windshield wipers. Hey, you try it driving a new car in traffic on the Autobahn!
The navigation did a swell job of getting us to the main train station where we were supposed to drop of the car, but we couldn’t find Avis. After some frustration, we parked the car, went inside the train station, and found Avis. It turns out we were supposed to park the car a couple of blocks away at a hotel. Thanks for telling us that ahead of time! We drove to the hotel and I said my goodbyes to the car. We grabbed our luggage and walked back to the train station. It took a couple of minutes to figure out the subway system in Munich, but I learned if you stand at the ticket machine with a dumb look on your face people will stop to help you. Yes, this happened to me twice. We figured it out and found our hotel without much trouble.
In Munich we are staying at the Renaissance Hotel. It’s a division of Marriott, so it caters to Americans. Vanessa was ecstatic with the toilet paper, toilet, washcloths (the first we’ve seen so far), and regular shaped pillows. I think she likes the hotel better than the castles J. We also have a nice balcony. I purchased a day of Internet use for about $15.00. It’s a little expensive, but has been worth every penny. We checked our email, I updated the blog, and checked the news. We didn’t feel like going out again, so we ate at the Bistro in the hotel.
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