Fussen, Germany

Tuesday, August 3, 2010

Today we drove through the countryside to the Neuschanstein and Hocenschwangau castles in the Bavarian mountains. The castles are stunning examples of medieval architecture that are now kept as museums. The Neuschanstein castle was the one that inspired Walt Disney to build Cinderella's castle. We hiked the mountains to reach the castles – we decided the hike would replace a tower climb of a cathedral – it was a good workout. Although slightly rainy, it was a nice day to walk in the clouds and revisit some medieval history. The castles are a result of very sad stories about King Ludwig the II – h e was declared insane and then mysteriously killed in a drowning accident. More information on the story can be found at www.

On the drive back to Munich, we decided to stop at a traditional biergarten for a German feast. The garten holds up to 8000 people during Octoberfest and the beer was flowing everywhere in huge steins. Reminds me of visiting Paul at Laurier during our university years. Our saying of the day was, “When in Germany, eat sausages!” So that is what we did! The girls ate foot long sausages and french fries and declared them to be delicious! Oliver had a spicy sausage and fries, while I indulged in roast chicken, curry sauce and potatoes.

Tomorrow is our last day in Germany. We are going to tour downtown Munich and return for an early night so that we can catch our flight to Greece early Thursday morning.