September 25, 2014--Day 13--Thursday: Neuschwanstein

Neuschwanstein Day was awesome.

We all woke up at 6:30 to get ready and leave the house by 8:00, with all of our luggage repacked. We were pretty tired, but we were pumped to hike up to Neuschwanstein. We each wore like five layers to keep off the chill and we had our hiking shoes on.

We thought it wouldn't be too crowded yet, but even though we got there at 8:00 and it was drizzling rain, the area was alive with tourists and vendors. We fell in love with the hills and mountains around the two castles even before we got to see them up close. It was a gorgeous environment, and Neuschwanstein is glorious even when you just look up at it from the valley floor.

In full-fledged, no-nonsense hiking mode, we ignored the souvenir shops and started up the path to the castle.

Then we passed carriages drawn by huge draft horses, and Dad rubbernecked. We didn't even have to say anything--he just doled out the cash and bought us all a seat in the carriages. We didn't really mind that all our hiking preparation wasn't used, we just enjoyed traveling to the castle in true Disney princess style.

It made the ascent much quicker and easier, and we really enjoyed looking out at the thick green forest and chatting with the Chinese group sharing the carriage with us.

Those hardcore draft horses got us to the castle in no time. They were so sweaty at the end that steam was rising off of their coats. We thanked the driver, said goodbye to our new Chinese friends, and went to see the castle up close.

Even just the exterior was beautiful, and the view was out of this world. The light rainclouds made the mountains so close by look magnificent. The Salzburg fortress was cool up on the hill, but Neuschwanstein is just majestic on its forested mountain hilltop. We couldn't take photos fast enough.

The carriage got us up there just in time for an English tour through the finished rooms of the castle. Not even half of the castle was completed even after 17 years of construction, because each room was given so much attention and the king, Ludwig, died before it could be finished. Luckily, though, the castle was almost immediately turned into a museum, so everything has been preserved.

We met a girl named Clair who was traveling alone, and she came with us on the tour (look at us making travel buddies!). We weren't allowed to take photos in the castle itself (GRR!) so I'll just have to describe it as best as I can.

First we had to club a long spiral staircase up to the floor that had the servants' quarters. They looked like nice little apartments! I totally wouldn't have minded being a servant if I could work in Neuschwanstein.

What we saw on the top level only made me wish even more that I could live there. As if the surrounding landscape and intricate outside architecture weren't enough, King Ludwig designed the most beautiful castle interior. I never imagined it could be so stunning.

We started in King Ludwig's throne room. The throne itself was never built, but I can only imagine how amazing it was going to be to match the rest of the room. It had windows on the back and side wall, letting sunlight shine on the gold accents in the room light up like flame. Every bit of the room was ornate. EVERYTHING. The walls and ceiling had colorful paintings of Biblical scenes, with a painting of Jesus Christ standing above the dais where the throne would have been.

Overhead was a huge chandelier so tall that had it fallen, I could have stood right under it and had the cone shape surround me and not be harmed. And it was so wide, it might have gone around me even if I were sprawled out on the ground. The chandelier had saints worked into it, and colorful glass to resemble gems. Even the floor was beautiful, with millions of tiny tiles making a "Circle of Life" kind of scene on the floor--a huge ring of plants and animals of every variety.

After gaping up at everything in there for a while, our German tour guide took us to King Ludwig's bed chamber. It was the most amazing bedroom I've ever seen. It was both cozy and stunning. The lower half of the walls was all beautiful dark wood panels carved with nature designs. The upper walls had gorgeous paintings forming a series that depicts Wagner's "Tristan and Isolde." Apparently Ludwig was a HUGE fan of Wagner's operas and actually dedicated Neuschwanstein to Wagner. Oh, and Ludwig LOVED swans. There were swan motifs everywhere--in the paintings, in the woodwork, on the fabrics, and in ceramic. But anyways, Ludwig's bed was a little four-poster with gothic cathedral towers on the top. I mean, really. Stunning elaborate woodwork.

The wood panels on the walls disguised doorways. We never would have spotted the door to the water closet had the guide not pointed it out. There was also a door to a little private chapel that had a beautiful altar and stained-glass windows. There was also a window seat behind thick curtains--not really hidden but it looks like the best reading spot of all time. The whole room in general is dark and enclosed and beautiful--the perfect hidey-hole. It's so sad that Ludwig only got to live there 100 days before he died.

Next was the king's dressing room, dining room, and living room. They were similar in style to the bedroom, with dark wood accents, incredible swan-themed fabrics, and Wagner stories painted around the ceilings.

Ludwig was so obsessed with Wagner that he had a cave room made near his living room. It was a legit fake cave in this otherwise-refined castle, complete with a little table and chair by the little window letting in the only light. The more I saw of this guy's castle, the more I liked him!

Especially when we saw the concert hall. In there was the only evidence that Ludwig designed and owned the castle--his coat of arms. The guy didn't want any images of himself anywhere in the building, because it should all be about Wagner. How amazing is that??

Also, the concert hall itself was amazing. It had huge windows along two walls looking out at the mountains. The ceiling was peaked and there was a balcony along the wall opposite the windows, and everything was decked out with Wagner and nature. I would love to attend a concert up there someday! It would be fantastic!

We could have stayed and explored all day, but alas. The tour guide took us down through the unfinished second floor, through a beautiful castle kitchen with bronze pots and pans of all shapes and sizes and finally to an exit gift shop.

What I took from the tour was that castles are amazing, Ludwig was kind of awesome, and if I can't live there myself, I'm totally gonna write a fairytale and use that castle for inspiration.

We exited the castle and parted ways with Claire, then hiked around to this bridge that spans the valley behind the castle. It was kind of cold and the bridge gave me vertigo, but it was worth it. The view was...well I kind of feel like I'm running out of adjectives. Stupendous? Amazing? Beautiful. And awesome. Those words all still apply so well, even if I repeat them so much. We took a million photos up there, until we had to make way for other tourists so much that we were eventually just shuffled off the bridge again.

On our way back down the hill (on foot this time), we passed a vendor selling hot chocolate in souvenir mugs, along with a piece of cake. It was so great. Totally hit the spot, and we got free Neuschwanstein mugs!

After that, we made our way to Swizerland!!! Our last leg of the journey! It was a long drive, but we listened to all of my classical music playlist, and had a truly epic game of "Would You Rather...?" There were so. Many. Tunnels on the drive, which made it hard to see some views, but also meant that when we could see views, there were no ugly highways scarring the landscape. It was an amazing drive. So many waterfalls, and they have villages built right up at the top of cliffs. No idea how they got established up there but it looks amazing!

We were staying in Interlaken for the next three nights, and we all loved it there. It's right by a huge lake, surrounded by Alps, with hang gliders overhead all the time. We stayed in this cute house, in an upper-level apartment. It was like a modern cabin--lots of light woods and rafters and huge windows. There was plenty of space (I had my own room!) with a kitchen and big living room, and heated tiles in the bathroom! I love it.

By then we were starving, so we looked up a good restaurant nearby. It turned out to be a super expensive but super delicious steakhouse just down the road. We got tons of meat, hash browns, soup, and bread. It was probably the best steak I've ever had. SO. GOOD. We all went home happy and stuffed. It was a great day.

September 24, 2014--Day 12--Wednesday: Hallstatt, Oberammergau & Fusen

Well, Sarah has the laptop with all the photos and she's traipsing around Norway with Ashley and Kristine, so I'm just gonna fill out the remaining days with my narrative, and they can add photos later.

Besides, I'm currently jobless so I have more time than anyone else in my family right now.

We did really well again on Wednesday about getting up early. We woke up at 6:30 and made a pact to not waste time getting cute for the day, so we could leave the house faster. We had a quick breakfast of eggs, toast, cereal, and yogurt, and we managed to leave the house at 8:30!

The reason we wanted to get out early was that it was a beautiful sunny day, so we wanted to catch the sunrise over the lake and beat the other tourists to the souvenir shops. We successfully did both.

First we found a remote path up the cliff between houses. It took us to a church yard with a patio where we could watch the sunrise. Then the path climbed even higher to a waterfall a little above the middle of town. It was all so beautiful, and we got tons of beautiful photos.

We saw a lot of cats in their little yards and on their roofs, so Ashley was taking photos of them. She wants to make a coffee table back called "Grumpy Cats of Hallstatt," because all the cats have the same pudgy, grumpy faces and we saw a LOT of them. I think she could totally find a market for such a book.

After seeing the town from the top, we went down to the barely-open stores and proceeded to shop for souvenirs. We all picked up a bunch of trinkets, and got hot chocolate to stave off the chill. Ashley continued to take photos, and we made our way to the other side of town where we could see the chapel lit by the sun, with the rest of the lake behind it still cast in shadow. And best of all were the wild swans, acting as excellent props on the lake.

Sadly, we had to leave at 11:00. That was another reason why we were so eager to get an early start to our day. We packed quickly and got out soon after the cleaning lady arrived, and went out to the backyard to say goodbye to the best little spot we've ever stayed at. Hallstatt was by far our favorite place. So far. ;)

The majority of our afternoon was spent driving back to Germany. Our GPS took us the back way through the mountains. We saw beautiful rivers and sharp, icy Alps. It was really pretty. We made a pit stop in Oberammergau--a cute little town in the mountains that was completely spared from the Black Plague. The people there were so faithful and so grateful to God that every 10 years they put on a pageant celebrating the life of Jesus Christ. It's the longest-running pageant in history.

We didn't expect Oberammergau to be crowded, because the pageant doesn't happen again for another six years, but there were TONS of tourists. Still we enjoyed going to the cute shops. They had lots of hand cared trinkets that were all amazing and adorable but freakish expensive. Mom and Dad found a spatzle maker for Amanda and Chase (because this is where Mom and Dad found theirs 24 years ago), but other than that we didn't buy anything.

Our destination tonight was Fusen. Traffic was bad, and our GPS (who we learned is called Kate) got us lost a few times, but it gave us girls time to reminisce about our childhood and thank Mom and Dad for being such great parents. It was a fun bonding time.

Driving around also gave us time to admire the amazing blue water. The rivers here are turquoise! They're like the water at Havasupai, only it's pretty because the actual water is blue with minerals, where in Havasupai it was the river bottom that was covered in minerals.

Anyways, we eventually made it to Fusen and to our hotel which was so nice. It's got a very modern look--let's of white and gray accented with dark colors. It had great artwork, and it was all "family style." There was a master bedroom and then there was the girls room which was huge and had four twin beds in a neat row. It also had a super nice bathroom (Dad and I were glad we didn't have to couch under the faucet, unlike in Hallstatt), a kitchenette, and a family room. We really like it so far. The first thing we did after getting settled was use the free Wifi to check our emails and such.

We watched "The Giver" while eating a delicious meal of canned soup, and we took it easy that night because the next day was Neuschwanstein!!

September 23, 2014--Day 11--Tuesday: Salzburg

I had a hard time getting over how beautiful it was in Hallstatt. We had to go for a morning walk to see it all again before we went to Salzburg. 

On the drive to Salzburg, Dad said "schnikeys" and "son of a monkey" more times than I could count. :)

Our GPS stopped working once we reached Salzburg, and was still not working when we tried to leave againt at 4:30-ish. It got Dad so frustrated that Dad now kind of dislikes Salzburg in general.

But I really loved it once the stressful car ride was over. My language skills became useful again as I found us all the train to get up to the Salzburg Fortress. Then again when Dad thought the train ride was freaksih expensive and not worth it, but I figured out that our tickets included the train AND two awesome tours around the fortress!

We went on Tour A as soon as we got to the top of the hill. And I'm so glad we did because it told us why we should think the fortress is awesome, and we got an incredible view of the city. The tour first took us to a room with models of the fortress in various stages of completion, and portraits hanging above each one of the archbishops who were in charge of its construction at the time. We learned that the fortress really is that--a fortress. It has never been conquered in battle (though Napoleon did "capture" it once in a bloodless negotiation). 

Then we got to go to the "torture chamber,' which was actually just an impressive dungeon that now happens to hold instruments of torture. 

Then we got to go to the top tower of the fortress, which had like a 330 degree view of the surrounding area. It was just like the opening scene of "The Sound of Music"--beautiful. That was when we all decided that we actually really liked Salzburg. It is gorgeous--green and hilly. Oh and the sun was out! It was so rainy in Hallstatt that morning, we figured it would rain all day but it didn't. It was sunny and warm and perfect. 

After our time in the tower was up, we walked along the battlements (I know what battlements are now!) to an old barrel organ that the archbishops used to play to awaken the city. So that was cool.

That ended Tour A, and then we went to some stuff in Tour B. First a little marionette museum with ver impressive, very creepy puppets. Apparently that "Lonely Goatherd" scene in "Sound of Music" actually reflects a major part of Austrian culture--they don't mess around when it comes to puppets. The costumes and scenery and props and the marionettes themselves were all so detailed and well-made. I'd actually really love to see one of their shows.

We then went through a "Fortress Museum" where we got to see some very cool artifacts found in the Fortress. There were more medieval torture instruments (that I won't describe), old musical instruments, original gold coins, beautiful woodworked beds/chests/boxes/etc, ceramics, weapons, armor, and other really cool medieval stuff that I would have loved to draw.

We were there for a good long while, and then we took the train back down to the city proper, where we found a big festival going on (Oktoberfest? We're not sure). It involved carnival rides, souvenir shops, people dressed in liederhosen and dirndel, tubas and accordions, giant pretzels, and lots of beer. We explored some stands and Dad and I got bratwursts (actually just cheap hot dogs, we were sad to discover), but we just felt like seeing our wonderful Hallstatt in the sunlight. 

First we took some time to see this amazing cathedral that became our new Number One cathedral in ways. It didn't have cool stained glass, but every wall was bright white with beautiful grey stonework. There were Biblical paintings on the ceilings in happy colors, and a huge door in the center to let the light in. It had a huge organ in the back, and then four littler ones in the inside corners. We loved it. 

We drove back to Hallstatt (after our European Siri continued to get us lost). It was even prettier in daylight with no mist or rainclouds to hide it. Many of the shops were closed already, but we still got to do a lot of shopping. Then we had a delicious rosemary-lemon chicken dinner back at the house.

All in all, it was a very relaxing, wonderful day, and I loved being in Austria.