Tübingen

We now find ourselves in Tübingen in South West Germany, quite a lot has happened since the last entry. As I said (I think) the day after the last entry we were headed for Neuschwanstein Castle, the castle that Walt Disney modelled his on. We went out with 3 Americans we met at the hostel. The Castle is in the town of Füssen which was 2 hours by train away from München but worth every minute of the journey.

The castle was built by a guy called Ludwig II who was the king of Bavaria and pretty much crazy. He was obsessed with Richard Wagner and wanted to biuld a castle and dedicate it to him. He already lived in a castle but he didnt like the way his mother decorated it so he set about building another one, another absolutely huge one. The building was costing the state so much money that one day, 172 days after Ludwig moved in, he received a letter from the government saying he had been classified insane and was arrested in his beloved castle. The next day he myteriously drowned in a lake near Munich. He was crazy. In his bedroom he has these doors that look like they open to reveal a closet but upon opening you are met with the site of cave that he had especially made. The castle was never completed and now hosts 8,000 tourists per day. For photos haver a look at this site: http://www.neuschwanstein.de/english/index.htm

After seeing the interior we climbed a mountain adjacent to the castle and were greetd with the most breath-taking scenery I have ever encountered. From our perch we had views of snow covered mountains, of lush greens fields, a perfectly still lake and of course the dominant feature of the castle. We were so taken by it that we decided there and then to return again the very next day just to sit up there and read and listen to music while taking in the views. And so the next we set out again on what was to be a very German day.

We took the train again from Munich, this time with all our bags. So a very German train through the German countryside. At Füssen we were met by our German friend, Anja, who we met in Oxford. (There is a photo of her in the last batch of photos). We again climbed the mountain. It is so good up there, we took lots of photos. Then we had a traditional German dinner and then headed back to Munich on the autobahn, which is of course, very German. We were coasting at a respectable 150km/h and cars were absolutely flying past! Munich is in Bavaria which is the home of the BMW (Bavarian Motor Works), so lots of people drive them and fast! That night we stayed at a friend of Anja's apartment and went to the biggest beer hall in Munich. They serve beer in 1 litre steins, my god, so good. Then we went to a Mexican bar for strawberry Margarita's which is admittedly not so German but then we went to a German techno club and drank redbull-vodka's for the rest of the night. So all in all pretty German.

Yesterday we were quite hungover so had fairly easy day and drove 2 hours to Anja's parents house in Heidemhien. They have the best house! Its got like 5 levels and overlooks the town as it is on a hill. The view from their breakfast table is a castle on the opposite hill. This morning Anja's dad drove us to Tübingen where Anja lives and thats where we are now. Its a beautiful little town and the temperature is about 25 degrees celcius. Tonight we go to the nearby Stuttgart for their version of Oktoberfest. Life in Germany, at this time, for Kristian and Myself, is nothing but good. We are planning to stay in Tübingen until next wednesday when we will head off to Zurich.

Hope everyone is well back home, don't be scared to leave us a message, we love to hear from you.

John

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