Linderhof & the Alps

June 10^th, 2012

I woke up this morning in a comfy bed in a beautiful hotel.  That wasn’t even the best part…they had fried eggs with breakfast =D  Lee & I got there a little later than Kelly & Andrea so they had already gotten a table & an egg.  You know it’s the little things in life that can turn a day around.  After that yummy breakfast it was on the road again.

First stop on our list was Linderhof Palace.  It was one of the three castles Ludwig II built while in office.  We saw one of his castles yesterday as well as that of his parents.  I have also seen Herrenchiemsee which is on the lake Chiemsee.  I was excited to complete my list of his three castles.  It is by far my favorite.  The land is absolutely beautiful &; the palace doesn’t disappoint either.  We got our tickets for the tour & got in line.  The inside was breath taking.  Now it’s not something I would want to live in, mainly because I wouldn’t want to clean it, but Ludwig did an excellent job with this place.  He not only had a main house but also several other properties on the land.  One sight to see was his grotto which he had built.  After seeing all three of his castles, I can understand why he received the title, “The Fairy Tale King”.  All of his castles are based on Wagnerian operas or French palaces.  He definitely had a creative & extravagant mind.  The tour was extremely interesting & then we took some time to walk the grounds.  WOW!!!

Should I write a check or do a 30 year loan?

Art shot!

I'm too sweet...don't want to melt so I'm doubley protected

Paying our respects to King Lee

Inside one of the additional buildings

One of the many buildings on the grounds

All hail the King

I'm really tempted to go running through the field  of flowers

Grotto

He's got the whole world in his hand

The final stop on our list for the day was Bregenz, Austria on Lake Constance.  From our hotel it’s a long, CURVY, beautiful drive through the Alps.  Now when I say CURVY, I mean CURVY.  That meant that Raegan was not feeling well for 99.9% of the drive.  I heard the scenery was beautiful but I chose to keep my eyes closed & focus on not throwing up that yummy egg I had for breakfast.  We stopped a couple of times along the way which was nice.  We even got to play in the snow…yup the snow in June!  It was fun!

Yay!  We finally made it to our final destination; Ibis Hotel in Bregenz.  Raegan lay out in the parking lot for a few minutes until her head stopped spinning.  Luckily it didn’t take too long.  We all got checked in & took a few minutes to rest before heading into town.  Bregenz is known for their stage on the water.  They perform a play, musical, opera, or whatever for two years.  The stage, as you can see from the pictures below, is literally built over the lake.  This is why they perform the same thing for two years.  It’s an amazing sight & would love to come back when they’re performing.  The season runs July & August so we were a little too early.  Oh well…guess I’ll have to come back ;)  We saw the stage & then walked along the water before deciding we were all pretty hungry.  There was a nice restaurant not too far from where we were & it was on the water.  The food was, once again, REALLY good.  Kelly decided to order what I ordered, grill platter, to avoid any bad ordering decisions.  Lee opted for some Schnitzel while Andrea got a fish dish.  The fish she had came from the lake.  It was something I was considering but after tasting it (which was good), I’m glad I didn’t get the entire dish.  While enjoying our dinner, we were kind of discussing our plans for the remainder of the trip which got quite entertaining.  I mentioned to Andrea that we should go to the Tapas restaurant in Baden-Baden.  There was a little misunderstanding because she thought I said Topless which is something totally different.  After that little misunderstanding, Lee had a light bulb moment.  We hit the road tomorrow for Zürich, Switzerland to spend the night with Andrea’s friend Uli.  Now he was under the impression that we were heading to Uli, Switzerland.  As we were sitting at dinner, it clicked.  That’s why he couldn’t find it on the map.  Needless to say, we had several laughs over dinner.  Well, we laugh on a regular basis so that’s not unusual.  After dinner, we walked through the city center on our way back to the hotel for some sleep.

 
 
 

We’re on the road again tomorrow where Lee will be heading to Uli, Switzerland…good luck finding that on the map…& the rest of the group will be going to Zürich, Switzerland.

Day of castles

June 9th, 2012

This morning we head to the Neuschwanstein, or to us Americans the “magic kingdom castle”.  It was an early breakfast & then a brief train ride to Füssen.  The train was really crowded but luckily we were there early enough to grab seats for our luggage as well as ourselves.  After a 2 hour trip, we arrived in the cute little town where we waited for our chauffeur.  My friend Andrea drove from Sinzheim to Füssen to me us for the rest of our trip.  She was running a few minutes late but it gave us a chance to stretch our legs before our long day.  It was a cool rainy day in southern Bavaria but it didn’t stop us from continuing with our plans.  Lee, Kelly, & I took the Neuschwanstein tour.  Andrea had done it before & opted to sit this one out.  We meet up at the foot of the mountain & had a quick bite for lunch.  We had another castle tour that afternoon so we made our way to the entrance.  Hohenschwangau was on our list next.  Neuschwanstein was built by King Ludwig II and Hohenschwangau was built by his parents.  Andrea & I had never toured Hohenschwangau so we were excited to see something new.  It was well worth the time & money.  It didn’t disappoint.  I could’ve seen myself growing up in something like that.  Of course, I would’ve been the servant girl but still...even they had nice living arrangements.  Alright…so we were done with our castle touring for the day so we hit the road for Füssen city center.  It’s not very big so it didn’t take long to roam the city.  We saw the old castle which was cool to see.  The façade was painted with the 3D appearance of having a decorative surface.  There was a group of Asians who cracked us up.  Several of them noticed a little late in the game & were so intrigued by it.  We couldn’t help but enjoy their enthusiasm.  The excitement was too much for us & it was time to grab a bite to eat.  Pizza was a unanimous decision with ice cream for dessert.  It was…like all other meals…YUMMY!!  We slowly made our way back to the car & headed to the hotel, Alpenhotel in Ammerwald.  We made it to a lovely hotel in Reute, Austria were we caught the Germany (1) vs Portugal (0) game.  Well…most of us caught the game.  Lee slept which was fine with me because he was pulling for Portugal.  That was pretty much the end of that day…a win for Germany!!

Enjoying the landscape on the train ride

Self portrait

Chillin' in the train station waiting on our ride

Rainy day in Füssen

Neuschwanstein aka Magic Kingdom Castle

Hohenschwangau

Before our Hohenschwangau tour

Mountains surrounding the castles

Neuschwanstein

Kelly, Lee & I in front of Neuschwanstein

Andrea, Kelly & I at Hohenschwangau

The ladies strike a pose in Füssen

Pizza time!

Nothing like being a kid

Lee & I in our hotel room in Reute

Refreshed

June 8^th, 2012

Wow what a great night’s sleep!  It was a cool night with some thunderstorms.  Combined with the long day yesterday, we all had no trouble getting some much needed shut eye.  Our plan was to be out of the hotel at 8 but it was closer to 9 when we headed to the train station.  The first thing on the agenda was to stop by T-Mobile for a German SIM card.  After that, we all got on the tram to the Nymphenburg Palace.  It’s a magnificent place to see & of course, the gardens are my favorite part of it all.  We didn’t take the paid tour.  There was a little room off to the side of the gift shop with some historic information about the palace & its builders.  It’s amazing what being the King & Queen of Bavaria can get you.  After some educational info, we moseyed into the gardens.  One of the many buildings on the grounds is the bath house so we walked in that direction.  It was then time to head to Olympic Park & the BMW museum.  That took a while because there was some construction going on & the map from the hotel wasn’t current.  Munich apparently changed some of its underground stops.  The area of Munich is home to BMW & the site of the Olympics in the 70’s.  I just love the architecture but Lee was definitely more interested in the automobiles.  We spent some time wandering around taking pictures before deciding to go back into the city center.  As we came out of the underground into the city center, it began to really rain…not just sprinkle.  Lee didn’t listen when I said bring a rain jacket so we had to first stop by a store to get him an umbrella.  From there we walked through the open air market which was nice even in the rain.  It slowly stopped raining & we were able to enjoy the rest of our afternoon in the city.  One stop on our list was the Oktoberfest & Bier Museum.  It isn’t far from the market & isn’t too expensive.  I have never been so I thought it would be interesting to check out.  Before leaving the hotel, I checked the website for times but there was an apparent mix up.  The site said 6 pm but they had changed the times to 5 pm.  I guess I’ll have to go back in July.  Lee wanted to try on some Lederhosen so we found a little second hand shop for him to check something off his bucket list.  I think they suit him…what do you think? 

No matter, he decided not to purchase them & opted rather for a dinner out.  We walked back through the city center just a bit before deciding to head in the direction of our hotel for some dinner, which chose to be a wise decision because it decided to rain again.  Dinner was actually pretty good.  There was an Augustinerbräu (restaurant) not far from our hotel.  We were there just in time to see some of the EuroCup games going on that night.  I can’t remember who played & I certainly don’t remember who won but it was fun to watch.  After a long relaxing dinner with drinks & dessert, we headed back to the hotel to pack for our early departure to Füssen.

 

 

 

June 7th, 2012

Day one…check!

Upon arrival in Munich, we all made it through customs without any troubles or problems.  Luckily our luggage was waiting on us and all in one piece so it was off to the hotel.  We bought our ticket before heading down the escalator to the train.

Kelly & I on the train to the hotel

It took about 30 minutes or so to get to the main train station and our hotel was only a 15 minute walk from there.  I was pretty impressed that we didn’t have any trouble getting to the hotel.  The sad part was that we couldn’t check in just yet.  We were able to leave our luggage.  Off we go…

Our first stop was the bakery for a pretzel.  Then it was off to Dachau.  The train took about 45 minutes to get to the concentration camp built in 1933.  It was the first camp & was used as a model for the rest of the camps.  I have been several times but always learn something new so I never mind going back.  Lee & Kelly seemed to get a lot out of the experience.  I have to now brag on their energy.  We were all dragging after the flight with little sleep but they keep their eyes open…for the most part.  We spent about 3 hours at the sight before heading back into the city center.  We all wanted to go back to the room but knew it was best to power through dinner. Reaching the center at about 4 pm, German time, we walked around the square.  I showed them the city hall with the Glockenspiel as well as the Frauenkirche (cathedral).  I am not the best tour guide because I didn’t really study up.  However, I brought my Munich travel guide so I could look up some general info for them.  After walking through the Frauenkirche, which was almost totally destroyed in WWII, we walked down some back streets towards the Theatinerkirche.  This church is absolutely beautiful built in baroque and rokoko style.  We weaved and wandered through the streets to our next to last destination for the day, Hofbräuhaus.  It’s an amazing beer hall that not only has great beer, but also wonderful food.  We had only snacked throughout the day so we were all pretty hungry.  I was nervous about helping them order for their first German meal.  Fortunately, it all worked out & they loved it!  Our last destination before hitting the hotel for a shower was the ice cream stand.  We each got a scoop before making our way to check in.  So far, no complaints about the hotel or the trip.  Now I’m off to take a MUCH needed shower!  Until next entry…

Entrance gate at Dachau

Grounds of Dachau

Memorial in Dachau

 
   

Inside the Frauenkirche

Theatinerkirche

Glockenspiel in the city center

Lee's doing some shopping

Wednesday, June 6th

Let the journey begin!

5 am came early this morning.  Now granted I didn’t have to be up that early but I never sleep well before a big trip so I might as well get up.  My house is pretty much empty but I still wanted to make sure I had everything I needed for my flight to Munich.  My family showed up on time which eased my mind a little.  We all loaded up to head over to my friend’s place.  I am traveling with Lee and Kelly for the next 10 days.  It should be an adventure!  We all stopped for a nice lunch in Newnan, GA before making our way to the new international terminal at the ATL airport.  Word to the wise; it’s not easier to get to but it’s much nicer.  You can tell they put A LOT of money in the terminal but they still have a couple of bugs to work out.  For example, there’s a sign for arrivals hourly parking.  Well, since we’re departures, we just drove right through to departures.  This only allowed you to drop off before looping back to where you started.  Logically the sign should say hourly parking.  That would put arrivals and departures in the same deck without making you waste some expensive gas.  But what do I know…we all three got checked in and had no trouble checking our bags or getting through security.  Now we’re just hanging out at the gate.  

As you can see from this picture Lee and Kelly want to get in their cell phone use before they have to go without if for the next week.  I will say this about the new international terminal, it doesn’t lack in the variety of people wandering around.  That is something that makes me happy.  I like to kill time people watching before I have to watch the back of an airplane seat or the back of my eyelids.  Alright…we’re ready to board!  Check back later for more exciting info!

Waiting for take off

I’m back…the flight went well.  We were delayed an hour in Atl but arrived in Munich on time.  It was a fairly smooth flight with only a little turbulence and one annoying neighbor.  She was ADHD which meant she was continually elbowing me & shifting in her seat as well as poking the back of Lee’s seat to play with the video.  Other than that, the food was pretty good & the service couldn’t have been better.