Blogs from Fussen, Bavaria, Germany, Europe - page 3

I was still feeling pretty sad leaving everyone at school, but excited to begin travelling. The train ride from Munich to Fussen was actually a great experience in itself; riding on older regional trains. The landscape was picturesque, slowly approaching the snow covered alps, with sunshine directly above, quaint Bavarian villages with their onion domed churches and half timbered houses, and the last collections of snow melting away in the sun. Sticking my head out the window, seeing it all go by was one of those “this is so great! This is why I travel!” moments. Arriving in Fussen I was struck by how fancy and touristy the main drag was; lots of hotels, an expensive looking bakery, and tons of souvenir shops. I walked for ten minutes to the hostel and checked in. The hostel ... read more

This morning we took a train to the Dachau concentration camp to honor and remember both those who had lost their lives and those who had survived the atrocities of the camp. It was a heavy yet powerful experience that we will not elaborate on. Around noon, we had to hop into a cab to make our 13:30 train to a very different place-lighter and magical. We were looking forward to leaving Munich and taking a train to Fussen, a Bavarian town home to 2 beautiful castles connected with King Ludwig. Our journey there would take 3 transfers. Germany’s train stations and trains were similar to other one we had seen in Italy and France. In one particular station though, we were excited to see a conveyor built along side the stairs to the platform intended ... read more

Considering Pam could not work we headed off to see both the castles in Fussen, Schloss Hohenschwangau and the other one being Neuschwanstein Castle, the one Walt Disney’s modeled his castle with tall spires and built around 1888 by the then King of Bavaria, Ludwig. While the castles contain some good history and are well worth the visit they were somewhat less inspiring other structures we have seen on our travels. We took guided tours of the castles to get inside and saw some wonderful artworks and relics along with some clever engineering in the kitchens of Ludwig’s castle. The great thing about Ludwig’s castles is it was never finished and remains in the same state today, never finished. Returning early afternoon it was time for some more relaxation and an easy day.... read more

For our last day in Germany, Keith and I decided to head down to Füssen, where the beloved King Ludwig II (Mad King Ludwig) built his fairy tale castle, Schloß Neuschwanstein. Ludwig may or may not have been the nutcase everyone made him out to be, but he definitely had a vision when he started out to build Neuschwanstein. It was a pretty fancy place. I can't imagine being the kind of person that has the power, and audacity, to build such a huge castle... right next to the nice castle he grew up in. One castle on the same block wasn't enough??! We didn't make it into the actual castle to take a look inside. We're on our way to Rome via night train tonight so we have to be back in Munich in time ... read more

On Thursday 23/9 we travelled from Paris to Munich on the 8.45am flight and arrived around 11.00am. We went to pick up our pre-arranged Hertz rent a car, a Ford Focus automatic or similar but to our surprise it must have been Wal’s birthday as he was handed the keys to a brand new (1900kms) black Mercedes 220 diesel automobile which also had inbuilt GPS (see photo) for the same price. Wal managed to drive on the other side of the road, while Carol drove Wal mad about his driving. We arrived in Fussen around 2.00pm had a quick lunch and drink and booked into Hotel Christine a very comfortable place and very friendly owner. We were given a welcome Cocktail drink and to our surprise a Chocolate, biscuits and nuts platter was delivered to our ... read more