Europe Day 4 - The King's Castles

Sunday, June 25, 2018

• Drove to Neuschwanstein via Austria - new country for Liz!
• Drove by Ehrenberg and saw a terrifying suspension bridge, decided to visit later after looking it up in the guidebook
• Parked at the foot of Neuschwanstein castle and hiked up with my mom, dad, and Kurt. Most tourists took a bus.
• Lots of tourists since it was the weekend
• Didn't bother going inside the castle
• Views from Marienbrucke, Kurt hiked up a ways after the bridge for even better views
• Walked to the castle itself but did not bother going in, came across my other siblings
• Ate a yummy outdoor lunch at Schlossbrauhaus Schwangau 
• Hugo decided he'd rather play on the bricks than the grass - likes the slapping sound when crawling
• He ate a lot of spatzle
• Watched lots of parasailers nearby
• Big tour group was eating nearby
• Took a weird rural route to the Wieskirche (UNESCO World Heritage site)- one lane roads through farmland
• It was very pretty inside, but workers were making a lot of noise and moving things around
• The Jesus statue in this church is said to have cried at some point a long time ago which is why it is famous.
• Picked up Dave and Kurt in Oberammergau and went to the alpine coaster
• The wait was very long (45 minutes), long ride up to the top, Liz lost sunglasses when she set them down to take a selfie not realizing the back of the bench wasn't closed off, but the ride down was super fun
• Wandered around to get dinner (most places closed since Sunday), ended up getting some simple paninis at the train station in Partenkirchen

Hiking up for views of Neuschwanstein

Lots of tourist on the bridge for a view of the castle. It did clear out eventually.

Closer view of Neuschwanstein

Spatzle

I don't think we were supposed to drive on these roads, but this is the way our GPS took us!

Wieskirche from the outside

Wieskirche from the inside. Unfortunately they were setting up for an event.

Heading up to the alpine coaster. This selfie cost Liz her sunglasses!