We left Florence at 12 noon we planned to arrive at the Castles of Neuschwantien and Hohenschwangau at 6pm.
There were beaurtiful parts to the drive. On the way to Florence we drove through the Swiss Alps on the way back we went through the Italian Alps. Absolutely fantastic. The vineyards are all set up horizontally and in that area of Italy (and south to Florence) it is full of cypress trees. They are dark green and look like a tall, tight spruce. Very distinctive and such a contrast to the horizontal lines of the vineyards.
I don't think I've introduced you to Lola yet. She's our navigational system. We have questioned her several times but I must say she's always gotten us to where we wanted to go. Bruce couldn't figure out why we has about 40km's to go and she said it way going to take way over an hour. Well when you cutting through moutain ranges and doing switch backs it takes time people. We arrived at the castles just after 9pm. Poor Bruce, he was absolutely shattered!
So, we get to the hotel and I'm checking in and chatting with the woman at the front desk. Well didn's she life in Toronto for 20 years, on Logan Ave., the same street as a friend of Bruce's where he house sat! Seriously, what are the chances?!?!
It was a beautiful little hotel, a King bed for Bruce and I and a twin each for Shannon and Olivia. Bruce literally passed out and I took the girls for a walk around to see the castles from a distance and then we were off to bed too! It's amazing how exhausting sitting in a car for hours on end can be!
After a fantastic breakfast, fresh croissants, a choice of ordered egg & meat combo's, orange juice WITHOUT pulp, I'm sure if we had ordered the bacon it would have been crispy, and eggs wouldn't have been soggy!
Then got up into the horse drawn carriage, (is there any other way to arrive at a castle? I mean really!) and headed up the mountain to Neuschwanstien castle for our tour. Of course Olivia and Bruce wiggled their way up to the front and Olivia drove part of the way!
These two castles are spectacular, I'm using that word allot, but they are. King Ludwig II grew up in Hohenschwangau with his parents and brother and then went on to rebuild Neuschwantein castle from ancient ruins. Neuschwanstein is the castle that the Disney castle was inspired by.
I must say if you ever get the chance to see the castles, take a whole weekend. From the unbelievable drive there, to the quaint village that services the two castles, to the castles themselves it is quite an experience. In the Kings' bedroom in Hohenswchangau there is a night sky painted on the ceiling. He loved the outdoors. There is a full moon painted on the ceiling with a disc over it that moves so the appropriate phase is showing! How cool is that?!!? There is a 1000 year old, or at least really, really old piece of bread there, and lots of hidden doorways and passage ways.
After doing both castles and having both wiener schnitzel and ice-cream, pretty much mandatory in this neck of the woods, and a quick stop at the souvenior shop, we headed home.
Shannon picked up a little teddy bear that is not a replacement for Pooh B. but will be a companion upon his return. Olivia got a stuffed swan. Swans are really important around here.
It was about 1pm and our plan was to get home by 5ish, have a quick dinner and then Bruce had some work to do... Ahhh, what's that saying about the best laid plans?
Lola will often warn us about impending traffic disruptions. They never seem to come to fruition though. At one point in the never ending drive home she said there was a 8km queue due to an accident with people on the roadway! Yikes! Although we never saw anything it certainly slowed us down. Our original plan went out the window and we went to the local beergarten for a quick dinner. Nothing, and I mean nothing, other than restaurants are open on Sunday in Germany!
Finally we are home again! Now there are only about 42 tiny loads of laundry to do and we're back to square one!
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