munich day 4

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Today was Neuschwanstein day. It was the most physically demanding day yet. We booked a tour through an American tour company in Munich, and although we knew what we were in for, we weren't quite prepared. We took a bus to the bottom of the mountain on which Neuschwanstein sits, to meet our tour guide and bikes. Sadly it was raining and chilly, which made it a bit more adventurous. We took the bikes on a trek through some fields and around swan lake. The last couple hundred meters were uphill so that was hard on the legs. We stopped by at the lake, but only one person completely got in, as we feared extreme cold when we got out. Mike and I put our feet in, that was our swan lake experience. We had some great views of Neuschwanstein on the bike ride, though. We then took our jello legs to a cafe, where we had pre-ordered our food. Brad said normally we would then ride an Alpen slide but since it was raining the slide was closed. That was a huge bummer. So we just kind of hung out longer on the bikes and at the cafe. Then we hiked up the waterfalls side of the mountain to Neuschwanstein. That was a really hard hike, especially after the bike ride, but we made it to the top after stopping for a photo opp on the bridge that is just above the castle. We took a tour of the 16 completed rooms of Neuschwanstein, took pictures, visited the gift shop, and then headed back. The hike down the other side of the mountain was almost as hard because it was so steep downhill, but in hindsight uphill was the killer definitely. We said farewell to Brad and headed back to Munich, where we went to the Hofbrauhaus again for some dinner and drinks, since it was just next door. Another girl from our tour, an ex-Enron worker, ate with us. We went to another place for some drinks but were too tired to stay out late and we headed back to the hotel.
* Here is an interesting thing about Germany... they love MTV... even more interesting is how often they show "Pimp My Ride" and even MORE interesting is how they made their own show called "Pimp my Bike" with bike translated into German. They are serious about their bikes... there is no walking allowed in the bike lanes or else you will likely be ran over.

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