Neuschwanstein Castle

Posted on November 29, 2014 by tdubbs501

Our Swiss utopia came to an end and our journey brought us back to Bavaria. We headed to Fussen, which is in southern Germany and straddles the border to Austria. It also happens to be the home of the famous Mad King Ludwig. Ludwig lived in this beautiful region as a child in Hohenschwangau Castle and dreamed of one day building his own fairy-tale castle in the same hills. When he became King he built himself a castle, Neuschwanstein.

When we arrived at the castle it definitely felt like a classic children’s cartoon. From the rolling hills to the dense forest to the trickling water falls, it seemed like the perfect make-believe setting. We could see how good ol’ Walt used it as his inspiration for Cinderella’s Castle.

: Early morning view from the castle trail.

: View from the low platform.

We took a tour of the castle’s interior, which was just as impressive as the exterior. Every square inch of the walls and ceilings were covered in either intricately painted scenes or decoratively carved wood – at least in the completed rooms. The maginificent castle contains 64 rooms, but only 16 were ever finished before King Ludwig mysteriously passed away (or perhaps was murdered?). The tour only visited those 16 rooms, and leaves the rest to imagination. No photos were allowed of the interior.

: Hohenschwangau Castle

: Hohenschwangau up close.

: Neuschwanstein entry courtyard.

: View from an upper story terrace of Neuschwanstein.

After the castle tour we walked to the bridge over the waterfall to get a scenic glimpse of the castle. The view did not disappoint, but the bridge sure did. The old iron bridge was stable, but the wooden planks that created the landing seemed a bit precarious. A heavy rain the night before had saturated the planks, which seemed to make them deflect a bit more than the structural engineers must have intended. If it were just a few people on the bridge it would have been fine, but it was getting to the time when tour buses were dropping off butt loads of people who flocked to the bridge, which made the dipping and bouncing of the planks even more noticeable and off-putting. We took some pictures and then got out of there.

: View from the bridge.

: View of the bridge.

We decided to take an hour or so hike back to Fussen from the castle. We didn’t expect much from the hike other than to avoid the bus and traffic, but it took us through some thick woods and surprised us with glimpses of the castle through the trees – a nice send off from the Mad King!

: Neuschwanstein from afar.

: The sister castles.

Switzerland, Part 2 – Gimmelwald

Posted on November 28, 2014 by tdubbs501

There is not much to say about Gimmelwald other than it is absolutely stunning, from the exciting cable car ride to the exceptional close-up views of the snow-capped Jungfrau, Eiger, and Monch. The high altitude and views were simply intoxicating.

We spent three nights in Gimmelwald and planned to be there with our newfound travel companions, James and Elise, whom we met on our first train in Europe from Brussels to Cologne! We happened to sit in the same car as them and found out that we were both traveling for extended periods, and we each planned to be in Gimmelwald in a few weeks – small world!

The journey into the heart of Switzerland was eye-poppingly good, like dessert for your retinas. The train winded around bends, giving you glimpses of mountains and waterfalls and a milky crystal blue river. We arrived at the base of a shear mountainside in a town called Stechelberg. From there we had to get in a tiny cable car and go over the cliff to get to our town, Gimmelwald. To say this was an exhilerating experience for both me and Alissa would be an understatement. Once we reached the top and got our legs to unwobble, we hiked from the cable car station to our Alpine home, Hotel Mittaghorn.

: The milky river along the valley.

: Tom putting out the Swiss vibe.

: Alissa is SO excited!

: A hummingbird entertained us while we were chilling at the hostel.

: See that pointy peak behind the hostel? We hiked to the tip of that.

: Our home, Hotel MIttaghorn.

On our first full day we had beautiful weather, so we decided to take advantage with a pretty strenuous hike. Our hotel guide, Tim, told us a great route to hike which would take roughly 3 hours. Some 7 hours later, after hiking through a cow farm, through a forest, behind a waterfall, up a giant jagged mountain (to the very tip!), and along a river, Alissa and I were exhausted and wondering if we would make it back to the hotel. Luckily, we were able to follow the minimal signage, decipher our skewed map, and utilize our nature intuition back to our village. But, it was all worth the effort!

: Hiking behind a waterfall!

: On our way to the top.

: Enjoying the view on top of Bryndli!

: We did it!

: 360 Part 1

: 360 Part 2

: 360 Part 3

: 360 Part 4

: Alissa on the descent, like a boss!

: This picture does not quite capture the terrifying nature of the shear drop.

: I scooted on my butt down the ridge past the edge!

The next day we had cooler and rainy weather, so we set off with James and Elise on a hike that led us by a series of waterfalls. We were told again by Tim that it would take about 3 hours, so we planned for at least double the time, and we were correct. Even though we were ready for the longer duration, we were all exhausted after a full day of hiking.

: A view along the milky river.

: One of the many waterfalls.

: Another waterfall.

: A waterfall near Lauterbrunnen.

: James and Elise crossing a very stable bridge!

: We’re just hanging out in a root cave!

Gimmelwald may not be easy to get to, but it sure is worth every step, train, and cable car!

Switzerland, Part 1 – Bern & Murten

Posted on November 23, 2014 by tdubbs501

We headed off for Switzerland from Rothenburg, which was a long day on the train because Rothenburg is such a small out-of-the-way destination where the trains aren’t quite as impressive as other areas of Germany. We were heading to Gimmelwald but had a few days to kill, so we headed to the capitol of Switerland, Bern.

To easily get to the hostel, we had to take a funicular up and down from the main city center. Our first evening in town we went for a walk, crossed the river, and found a bear park. That’s right – a bear park. Not a zoo, a bear park. This made sense after we learned the significance. When Bern was founded centuries years ago, the first animal that was slaughtered was a bear. Bern is an adaptation of the word for “bear”, and the city has contained a bear park ever since.

Alissa riding the short funicular to our hostel.

Bern at sunset, with the Bear Park in the lower left corner.

Sunset in Bern.

The next day we went for a scenic hike. We took another, much bigger, funicular at the south end of the city up to Gurten Park. This park had spectacular views: to the north was the skyline of Bern and to the south were peaks of the snow-capped Alps. We climbed a wooden viewing platform with metal grating steps to enhance our view, both out and down!

The big funicular.

The wooden viewing platform.

Looking up the platform.

View of Bern from the platform.

We can see the Alps!

I can almost touch them!

From Bern we made a day-trip to the small town of Murten, which is near Lake Geneva. It is a historic walled town, and turned out to be the Swiss version of Rothenburg. We did a walking tour and were even able to fit in some mini golf. Exploring this city was well worth the day trip – even if you get stuck at a train station for 30 minutes because you didn’t know your train split and went in two different directions!

View from the town wall.

Alissa descending the town wall steps.

After Bern we headed deeper into Switzerland in the heart of the Alps, Gimmelwald.

Posted with Blogsy

Rothenburg

Posted on November 2, 2014 by tdubbs501

Rothenburg was our first stop after the craziness of Oktoberfest. Aside from having our first mis-step on the train, it was a very pleasant portion of our journey and a nice way to settle down from the beermania in Munich.

We boarded a morning train and set out for Rothenburg, or so we thought. Shortly into our trip, we had a hunch that something didn’t feel quite right. We checked the map and we appeared to be going in basically the opposite direction from what we needed to be going. We quickly did some internet searches and found that there are apparantly two Rothenburgs in Germany – who knew?! We had no choice but to stay on the train for the remainder of the incorrect trip so that we could get to another main train station to catch a train to the correct same-named destination. It turned our three hour ride into a six hour schlep, but we finally made it.

We arrived in Rothenburg and were immediately impressed by the quaint historic atmosphere and small-town feel. From the timber framing to the cobblestoned streets to the town wall, Rothenburg oozed medieval character. We walked along the well-preserved town wall, visited the dungeon under town hall, and even saw a “castle” to get a sense of what life may have been like in the middle ages. Today, numerous shops line the streets showing off their goods in the storefronts as tourists run up and down the streets, but the feeling is still undeniably medieval.