Austria

Germany and Austria are combined on one slide show. Click here to see it or view on Slideshows page.

Some of the more adventurous souls in our group crossed this bridge.

Not us; we opted for lunch in a lovely restaurant.

Blog entry July 8:
Before leaving the land of fairy tales, I got to live out my own fairy tale today. After breakfast, I went back up to our room to get my bag. When I opened the door, I noticed that the curtains were drawn. Hmmm. That’s strange. I had left them open. Someone had closed our curtains. Then I saw a tee shirt that didn't belong to us hanging on the extra bunk bed in our room. Hmmm. Strange. Someone had put a shirt in our room. Then as I turned the corner, there he was! There was a man in the bathroom combing his hair! Just like Goldilocks, I ran out of the room as fast as I could! I was on the wrong floor of the hotel!

Soon after leaving the opulence of the castle, we found ourselves barreling down the luge. It was so much fun!

And once we got to the top and saw the views from the castle, it just took my breath away. The view from every direction was a feast for the eyes. It was hard to tear myself away to tour the inside. Ah, yes, Cinderella would have been very happy here!

The interior of the castle was really a sight to behold. It was incredibly ornate. Unfortunately, "Mad" King Ludwig died just a few months after his new castle was finished.

King Ludwig's "old" castle.

Every once in a while, we would see a little house, and I could just imagine Little Red Riding Hood or Hansel and Gretel walking up the path singing a little song. And there was a beautiful little lake in the woods. I could picture Price Charming riding his white horse, stopping there to water his trusty steed.

Blog entry July 8:
Today was an amazing day. We definitely are in the land of fairy tales. We were at the German/Austrian border and walked through the forest up the mountain to Neuschwanstein Castle. The walk took about an hour and a half, but we walked at a leisurely pace, and it was truly the most wonderful walk I have ever taken. It was so, so beautiful there! The woods, the occasional lake, the glimpses of the castle perched on the mountain—just breath-taking. I kept stopping to take pictures, and I often had to run a little to catch up to the group.