Monday, December 17, 2007
A knock on our door reveals our baby who arrives with pastries & Starbucks coffee from The Point Snack Bar. We are dressed in warm clothing & ready to go for the Neuschwanstein Castle Tour. I have longed to visit this castle and have had many pictures & calendars featuring this beautiful structure. So it was a necessity to visit if we happened to find ourselves in Germany! 
Our bus driver is Heinz and he has no idea on earth how to drive a stick-shift through the twisty, windy mountainous roads. Having failed to bring the Dramamine, I am nauseated by the time we arrive in Hohenschwangau. We alite from the bus and everyone seems to be standing around with no idea where to go. Greg & I are hungry and thirsty, so we take off in search of refreshments. But the shops don't open until 10AM. We do find the horse carriage ride up to the castle which will save us the 30 minutes to hoof up the long incline. I run back down the block to find the kids standing by the bus with our tickets. We walk back to find Greg rushing us as the carriage is about to leave. It is near freezing and the warm wool blanket provides much warmth. We are sitting next to 4 oriental girls who are attending school in the UK. Exchanging a lively, if somewhat distorted conversation with them for they speak very little english...we finally arrive at the Schloss after 15 minutes.
Along the way up the mountain, we observe parents who have brought along their young daughter who appears to be about 6, along with a small baby in a push-cart. The father is pushing the baby up the steep mountain road while the poor baby is crying. However, her tears have frozen on her little face as it is so cold. My husband offers to take the baby up in the carriage, but the father just shrugs and keeps walking. We later discover that these insensitive parents have to lug this poor baby everywhere. While She Has A Cold. If I had been in the states, I would certainly have called the child care authorities. There was an active babysitting service at the Resort, but these stupid, selfish parents decided to subject their child to these needless trips for the rest of the week. While ruining the tours for the rest of the paying customers as their child screamed & cried the entire trip. While we were in the castle, these fussy children drowned out the voice of the guide.
It was difficult enough as an adult to endure the cold temperatures & the long trip. How much more challenging is it going to be for a small child that cannot generate as much body heat as an adult?
For more info, see http://www.neuschwanstein.de/english/castle/neuschwanstein.htm
The Tour is very quick and we don't see all the rooms of the castle. Views from the turrets are magnificient of the surrounding valley; waterfalls, trees, the towns. I can quite imagine why King Ludwig decided to build here. Besides being quite obsessed with swans, the castle itself inside is breathtaking. We discuss the amount of servants alone that it would have taken just to keep the castle functioning.
One is not allowed to photograph within the castle, but we got some really great pics of the outside.
We picked up the horse carriage at the base of the castle after our tour and had a nice ride down again. When we finally reached the bottom and back to the small town, we stopped in the Hotel Müller. The fireplace in one of the back non-smoking rooms drew us right away. Poor Matt was frozen as he had not dressed for this cold climate. He thawed out soon enough when we purchased Latte Macchiato, Cappuccino, Schwarzwälder, (black forest cherry cake)and Kartoffelsuppe (which is a DELICIOUS potato bacon soup-I desperately need this recipe). Throughout the rest of the trip *besides my daughter's home cooking* I don't think that anything else tasted so good!
Finally dragging ourselves from the gracious waitress and the lovely heat of the wood burning fireplace, we ventured out to the different shops which littered the town. Finally finding out way back to Heinz and the tour bus, we proceeded with the trip.
On the way to the Church In The Meadow, we drove down the Romantic (or Kissing) Road. Our guide instructed that we could begin kissing at this point, so hubby & I followed her instructions!
There is a pilgrimage church in Wies that we visit next on our tour. It can also be called WieBkirche, Wies Church, or The Church In The Meadow. See more info on this at http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wies_church
I notice that there are ancient dates & names carved into the pews, so I questioned the tour guide-she indicates that in commemoration of outstanding donations, the individual bestowing the gift could carve their name.
The murals in this magnificient church are breathtaking and I feel a sense of awe standing within the quiet chapel. We are told by the tour guide that local artists created the beauitful works of art above our heads.
Our little group troops back to the bus, the hush is overwhelming as we have all been struck by the sense of spiritual intensity by our visit.
Next on our excursion is a woodcarving shop wherein no woodcarving takes place - as it is a souvenir shop that sells woodcarvings. Hubby finds a cute green hat and Kelsey snaps a picture. The proprietress reprimands him for using her wares as a photo opportunity. My husband advises her that he fully intends to purchase a hat, he just has to find the perfect one for his head. He ends up with a grey hat in the German style, with a rope brim. It looks very cute on him and brings out his Germanic appearance.
On our return to the Resort, we endure the crying, squealing baby behind our seat. WHY am I such a magnet for these children?
Upon our arrival at Edelweiss Lodge we visit our room briefly, only to find that the maid has AGAIN left open the window in the room, freezing the room. Our only desire is to come back to a warm room after our adventures in the out-of-doors, but find a frozen interior.
After a brief frigid walk over to the PX on base to scope out what was there, we buy some basic necessities including milk-which I am dying for. We have to take a taxi back and the security guards were more than happy to call one for us.
We eat at Zuggy's Base Camp which is the rustic mountain-style alehouse bistro in the basement of the complex. Hamburgers are good. I went to bed early as I was not feeling well. Greg stayed up with the kids for a while.
Tuesday, December 18, 2007
We wake up and after dressing rush down for Starbuck's coffee & snacks. Then catch the tour bus to Dachau Concentration Camp which is located about 10 miles northwest of Munich, Germany. The area is ominous and the cold only serves to bring home the anguish & misery of this cursed location.
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