In some cases, saving the best for last needn't always apply, but when we're talking about Germany, it definitely did.
On our last full day, we woke up far too early so we could head to the little village of
Hohenschwangau, which is in the southern part of Germany, close to the Alps and the neighboring countries of Austria and Switzerland.
Of all the drives, this one was by far the most beautiful from beginning to end, although I was so tired I slept through most of it. In fact, I think we all slept through most of it. Still, we woke up about 20 minutes before arriving so I was able to snap a few shots.
We picked up our tickets when we arrived, and then wandered through the various shops until it was time to head up to the castle.
To get to the top, visitors have three options: walking up the hill, taking a horse-drawn carriage, or going by bus. Jesse decided to run, Anita decided to walk, and the rest of us took the carriage, although I had my own little moral dilemma about the whole thing. I did, however, make friends with the horses, utilizing horse-befriending techniques I learned from a classmate of mine.
The castle we were at is
Neuschwanstein, which was built by "CRAZY OLD KING LUDWIG" who I really don't think is all that crazy. I think he just had sweet taste in homes (the castles) and in music (Wagner). So I don't know what the big fuss was all about. I'd totally want him to be my king. And the digs aren't so bad, either.
I, unfortunately, have no pictures of the inside of the castle, since photos aren't allowed, but suffice to say, it was gorgeous. The throne room/ballroom, his bedroom, the Fraggle Rock cave, and the music room are definitely among my favourites though.
After our tour was over, some folks hiked to the bridge to get more photos, but since my camera was dead, I decided not to. Instead, Elia and I ate at a restaurant just down the hill, where we had the best pretzel of the entire trip, and I also had the most delicious and authentic spätzle of all three of the meals of it I'd had on the trip. Afterward, we got ice cream and then went down by Lake Alpsee to sit and write and enjoy the weather.
In the afternoon, we made a stop in
Oberammergau, which is most famous for its woodwork and its passion play. We had a quiz on the way, and I won, so I got free ice cream, which may or may not have been my fourth ice cream that day.
That evening, we headed back to München for dinner at
Augustiner Bräu, and then sat down in our hotel bar for drinks and goodbyes, as seven of us were flying home, three were going onto more traveling, three were staying in Germany with family, and our tour guide was heading off for another tour.
Most everyone went to bed after that, but I wasn't tired and felt I should do SOMETHING my last night in Germany, so I headed down toward downtown Puchheim, in search of
Die Kleine Kneipe Gastätte, which I eventually found, but it was nearly deserted. Instead, I went to
Fabi's Treffpunkt, which may just be the diviest bar in all of Bavaria. There were people smoking, play slot machines, drinking beer, hanging out, and listening to all kinds of music. But it suit me just fine. So I grabbed a
Jever and a chair and sat down and wrote for a good hour or so.
Finally, I headed back to the hotel, and went to sleep around 2am, which gave me about 3.5 hours of sleep in total.
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