So today we woke up early for a day tour to Neuschwanstein castle, the castle that the Disney Castle is designed after. We took Mike's Bike Tours. So we got to the tour place and mom decided that she had to go to the bathroom so we went to the Hofbrauhaus, which was right around the corner. It was super awkward because we were the only people in there (at 8:45 in the morning).
We took the bus to a restaurant near Neuschwanstein castle and were each allocated bikes. They were the old fashioned looking bikes with the wide handles that are tall and the low seats. They were so comfy too! Our tour guide was from South Africa and was super cute too. We rode our bikes (yes...mom did too) down these side roads and got to see great views of the castle. We went all the way to this lake nearby, called Swan Lake (not the real swan lake that inspired the ballet). Some crazy people got in the water, but it was 40-something degrees and rainy, so it was a no-go for me.
We rode around the lake and headed back to the restaurant for lunch. After lunch and an awesome magic show by our handsome guide, we took the bus to the town at the bottom of the mountain where Neuschwanstein castle is. When we got to the town, we got out and proceeded to hike up the mountain to the castle. It was steep and muddy and tiring, but it was awesome! Unfortunately, I didn't know that there was going to be a hike, so I wore these cute little flats that are just fine for walking around, but not so good for hiking in. They got a little muddy (mainly wet), but nothing a little wet washcloth cant fix.
During the hike, we walked alongside a waterfall, which was so beautiful. We climbed a ton of stairs and I felt like my legs were going to fall off. When we finally made it to a flat point, we had the choice of visiting Mary's Bridge to get a better view of the castle or just going up to the castle directly. Of course we went the scenic route. The bridge was probably 100 feet or more above the waterfall and had an amazing view of the castle. Unfortunately, it was kind of cloudy, but not too bad. After we took some pictures, we went to the Castle for a short tour. (and when I say short, I mean short).
The tour of the castle was cool. Only about 1/3 was finished and only 8 rooms out of 60 rooms that were meant to be built were finished. This is because the king at the time ("Mad" King Ludwig II) "mysteriously" died. The most likely scenario is that he was murdered. He only lived in the castle for 183 days before he died. His bedroom took 14 men 4 years to finish as well. It was so intricately carved, it was ridiculous. There was also a grotto inside the castle that the king had built for him. We don't really know why but it was cool! The tour lasted around 30 minutes. When we were done, we had to hike back down the mountain, although it didn't take nearly as long as on the way up because our guide had a shortcut.
On the way home, we watched "Eurotrip" on the bus, which is a funny (although predictable and kind of stupid) movie! I had never seen it before. When we got back we came back to the hotel and ate dinner at the hotel restaurant, which is a great Italian place. Now we are watching world cup and relaxing. Tomorrow we are heading to Salzburg. Love and miss y'all.
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