Neuschwanstein Castle

This is our first castle tour here in Germany.  I'm a bit ashamed to admit it.  There are a gazillion castles here.  We could probably see a castle a weekend for the next two years and still not see them all.

The Neuschwanstein castle is THE castle.  Everyone must see this castle because 1) it is beautiful, 2) sits on top of a mountain with a beautiful view and, 3) is the castle (I've heard anyway) that Walt Disney fashioned his castle at Disneyland to look like (you can be the judge of that).

This was the second day of our last hurrah summer vacation.  We left our little hotel and drove for about one and a half hours through amazing (!) Bavarian landscapes - the trip was worth it just for that alone!

When we got there, it rained...rained...rained....(gasp).  There were tons of tourists (just like us :o) and, well, we weren't able to get tickets to enter the Neuschwanstein castle so we got tickets to see another castle in the vicinity - the Hohenschwangau (this is the father's castle).  We did walk around the outside grounds of the Neuschwanstein castle (the son's castle).  It looks like we will need to go back.  It will be good to go back with friends or family willing to come visit (hint, hint).

Here are a few pictures to share with you:

Many miles of these giant trees.

beep, beep.....uh....car?

beep, beep green convertible!

beep, beep....horse :o)

Here we are making the ascent to the Neuschwanstein castle (by the way, schwan means swan and the swan is the symbol of the two castles)  We can barely see the Hohenschwangau castle in the background.  We have tickets to go inside that one.

There it is closer up.  What a beautiful landscape!

Here is King Ludwig II's famous castle.

This is the way in, but, of course, we'll go another time.

This is the view from the entryway of the castle.  There is a waterfall out there, too.

"Welcome home, dear, a man's house is his castle."

The castle from another angle.  We must be off now to our tour of the Hohenschwangau castle.  If we are late, they won't let us in (awww).

As you would expect...a knight in shining armor to greet us.

beautiful graphics

Princess Emily

love the gardens outside the castle

We recommend taking the horse and carriage.  It's less crowded and (we found out) a few cents cheaper than the bus AND it's more fun, but, maybe slower.  

ewwww....pretty

beep, beep baby blue!

Neuschwanstein castle from the parking lot.

beep, beep blue van!  If my parents came, all the Volkswagons would wear them out!

On our drive home the sun came out and we stopped to get a picture of this sweet village.

You can see how green and lovely it is.

more beauty than you can shake a stick at

Emily's art photo

Ivan's art photo

Legoland Germany

This is our last summer family get-a-way before school begins and Mr. Winter brings snow and rain.  It was Jay's idea and it was brilliant (of course)!

My friend, Wendy, did us a great favor by letting me know about how to get discounted tickets to Legoland (and other theme parks around Germany).  Alls I had to do was find a particular brand of laundry softener that had the discount offering on its label.  So, we went on a hunt for this laundry softener.  We found it in the second store we went to.  I had to buy four bottles and each bottle cost 1 euro 25 cents.  That is a little over $2 each.  Then, with those labels, we got the buy one ticket and get the other free discount.  So, we basically had to only pay for 2 tickets and they were about 40 euros each.  Thanks, Wendy!

We left early Friday morning and drove for 3 hours to Legoland.  We got there about noon-ish and stayed until closing (8:00 pm).  The rest of the agenda took us to a cute little bed and breakfast.  It was very near to where Legoland was, thankfully as we were all exhausted.  Saturday morning we ate a tasty breakfast buffet at our little hotel and off we went to Neuschwanstein Castle (pictures of this will be in the next blog post). 

Welcome to Legoland!

Don't worry, we did pay for our tickets :o)

The strange people you met in Legoland...

An interesting exhibit.

The first fun ride.

The longest wait, too.

Can you spot Ivan?

Emily buzzing around the friendly skies.

Jay coming in for a landing.

Entering the X-wing exhibit.

This model X-wing is huge!

Hello Yoda.

Look out for some shady characters hanging around.

As I was saying...

The X-wing...all in legos.  It's pretty impressive.

There are fun 3-D chalk paintings at this Legoland!

It looks so real...wow!

We are lucky to see an artist in progress on one chalk painting.

This is what it looked like on our way out of the park.

More lego models.  These are of various cities in Germany (Munich and Berlin) and a few other European countries.

Be careful what you touch! The first time Ivan touched this button, he got a surprise! The second time he posed for this picture :o)

This is a model of our city...Frankfurt.  Notice the skyscrapers mixed with the quaint German buildings.

Close-up of Frankfurt downtown area.

The castle behind us is Neuschwanstein.  We will visit the actual castle the next day.

Here it is...again...Neuschwanstein Castle...I don't think we will get a better photo of it than this!

All aboard!! The Lego train

"Oh yeah, I'm ready for this awesome train ride!"

The strange animals you meet on the Lego Train ride...that's baaaad (even a little grotesque, if you ask me).

He's making me hungry!

Emily with Mr. Swivel Head.

Somewhere over the rainbow there are Lego people causing havic.

Welcome to the land of Pharaoh.

Posing with a camel.

How much fun can one camel have?

OK guys, let's leave the camel alone.  He's getting tired now.

Takes me back...way back...

You can't be in a Legoland Park in Germany and not run into Albert Einstein.

Ivan battling the forces of evil...go Ivan!!!

Hey, Mr. Sith, whad-up?

Star Wars Legos everywhere!!!

Cute and cuddly...Yoda, I mean.

What Moms do when the family are on scary rides:

smell the flowers...

appreciate the flowers....

take oodles of pictures of flowers...

Thank Heaven these are not Lego flowers!

At the end of a very full day at Legoland, we sit in our little hotel and drink apfel schorle (sparkling apple juice), we listen to people talking beneath our window at the hotel's cafe, soon we are snoring at each other (such fun).

Emily captured the evening sky outside her window.

A simple, but delicious, breakfast buffet the next morning at our little hotel.  We are getting ready for our next big adventure...castle touring!