Germany day 5, can't remember if i posted this

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Day 5, Thursday, Aug 28 - “Whirlwind tour”

A lot of driving today, with 2-hour stop in walled city of Rothenburg - very quaint, cute buildings, shop after shop after shop; bought an “eis” (E0.60, small, but enough) -- Baileys gelato, yummy, and a couple of postcards.. Then on to Munich for an hour stop in late afternoon - quick view of Olympic area drivng past, then to Marienplatz for a couple of photos, and a walk to the Hofbrauhaus. Munich was pretty much flattened during the war (we're hearing a lot about the war) and rebuilt with a lot of old style in between more modern looking buildings. HBhaus is huge; we tried different beers. I had HB “Dunkel” (dark) - very good, but only had a .5 liter, since we had more bus time, and not much drinking time. Across from original HBhaus (built 1589 on same spot) is Hard Rock cafe, and next door on corner is Orlando brauhaus. We only had a little over an hour in Munich - very little time in Platz; it was a bit of a walk from teir to the Hbhaus. Drove by an Aldi in Munich, and one other town - a very basic grocery store that has recently come to Asheville, handy for some generic basics.

Back to bus to go on to Garmisch, with first view of Alps. Having pretty good weather and views, some fog and haze. Tonight dinner at hotel is included - goulash and noodles and green salad; lovely cherry cake with cream. My room at Best Western Obermuhle is quite small, with built-in bed that is less than twin-size. Very loud constant noise outside turned out to be a small dam on a stream that used to turn a wheel for something. Nice bathroom, no tub but good shower. Did some hand laundry (which wasn't all dry by morning of second day). Beer at hotel is E3.30. Breakfasts good - lots of choices. So far they all have cold cuts, cheese and bread out, but we're not supposed to take food out of restaurant; Marieke says that's what they usually have for bkfst and they've had to learn to offer hot food for Americans, and others.

Towns here are as cute as they look in pictures, and as they look in all the U.S. towns that have adopted a Bavarian theme - some more modern looking buildings, but lots and lots of the red-roof, light walls (often with paintings on them), brown balconies with flower boxes. A lot of the stuff in shops (except the local books and cards, etc.) we can get at home at a lower price. Except for Amsterdam, we've had very little time to look around. We see a lot from the bus, which doesn't make for very good photos. I'm reminded a lot of Estes Park, CO - with some differences; these mountains are even larger, of course, and not as much with the surrounding rural farms, cows and small barns.

Day 6, Friday, August 29 - The big castle day (well small castles, but big day for me, the reason I chose this particular tour).
Up at 6 a.m.; breakfast at 6:30, but at least we don't have to put suitcase out.
Then on bus at 7:30 to start up around the mountain to go to Neuschwanstein Castle, the fanciful one constructed by King Ludwig that is supposed to be the inspiration for Disney's castles. Marieke kept warning us that it can be disappointing, because “there's not much inside; he never lived there.'
(Taking a typing break, we're heading down a steep, curvy grade in Austria; I did manage to type the above on the bus).

Our bus went to a stop at a shop/parking area where we could use the RR before getting on smaller bus for ride part way up to castle. I got on first shuttle to make the walk (UP!) to the bridge for the overview - still too much haze/fog, could only partly make out castle, but actually pretty good weather.
When rest of group arrived we walked to another viewpoint to look at both the castle and the bridge - there's a lot of scaffolding on the view side -so not good photos from there anyway. Then we walked on up to the castle, used RR there and waited until our entry time (not a long wait, since it was pre-arranged.

Tour started after climb up long circular rock stairway where a guide met us and took us thru the finished rooms (only 16 out of 65, and not much furniture). However, not disappointing at all. Heavily, ostentatiously decorated - wonderful in the true sense of the word, evoking serious awe.
Too much to describe at this point. All the walking up and down was exhausting - some (a lot) of people walk all the way up from the little town - it would take me hours; it's pretty steep, altho paved for the horse wagons you can buy a ride on for part of the way.

Then we went on to Oberammergau (not really worth the time, but it was a place for folks who didn't opt for the second castle to shop and eat). It's claim to fame is the elaborate “Passion Play” the town puts on every ten years. It is quite cute for the most part - another Bavarian town.

On to Linderhof castle, where Ludwig actually lived; it's sort of a miniature Versailles - spectacularly ostentatiously decorated. His story is pretty interesting - check him out on Wikipedia. It's beautiful on the outside and breathtaking on the inside. Worth all the walking up and down for sure (here, too), if you like to look at extravagant stuff - loved all the chandeliers, etc.

I could write tons about this day (did I mention how gorgeous the Alps are, we have been really lucky for weather - amazing - really too big to photograph, especially from the bus, which is a little frustrating, we don't have enough photo stops).

I skipped the optional “country” dinner - sounds like they had a really good time - lots of heavy food and beer. The other single “tourite” and I went across the street to an Asian restaurant, (odd of us, eh?), and that really hit the spot. I had chicken with broccoli - it was very good, and a reasonable price as well. Then we stopped in at the grocery store next to the hotel - fun to see, lots of different things as well as different packaging. I bought a 6-pack of Konig Ludwig Dunkel (a good dark beer) for E4.80 - less than what 2 bottles cost at a bar or restaurant. At the Asian restaurant, my beer was E2.80 (the least so far) and Cindy's water was E3.20 (yes, you have to pay for water - and it's “gas” or “no gas” -- sparkling or not). Right now the conversion rate from dollars to euros is about one dollar times 155% (one euro is about $1.55 - not in our favor), and it's much worse for the New Zealanders apparently.

It was a physically exhausting day, but there are barely enough superlative adjectives to describe the natural beauty of the Alps, and the artifice and ostentation of Ludwig's castles (where he spent a great deal of the time alone according to reports). And the lovely little towns and farms sprinkled about.

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