We hopped on a train to Füssen, which is right on the German-Austrian border, in the Bavarian Alps. After a 2 hour ride (miserable and hot) we arrived, and took a bus up to the two castles Neuschwanstein and Hohenschwangau. After a lunch of bratwurst, we met a guy named Sheldon from Canada who was also staying at our hostel. He came along and we were on our way for the 30 minute hike up the mountain. The hike, although fairly easy, was a treacherous one with mountains of horse poop almost every 10 steps. The poor horses take people on carriage rides up the mountain all day. We imagined cutting the horses loose and setting them free.

Once at the castle, we were awed by its beauty. This is the castle that is said to have inspired Cinderella’s castle at Disneyland, and we can see why. Since we didn’t want to wait in line to go inside, we took another 20 minute hike to the Marienbrücke, the bridge over a gorge that overlooks the castle (you can see it in my pictures). Here we got some great pictures of the castle from the rickety bridge. You could bend the wood easily beneath your feet. There was a guy dressed in lederhosen who offered to take pictures of us, and remembering Hollywood Boulevard, we politely declined. Apparently we offended the guy, who said “It’s free” and then stormed off. He did have a tip jar at the end of the bridge, so I felt partially justified. We were able to get someone else to take our picture, no tips necessary.

After the bridge, there were small trails that went up the mountain. It was more crawling than hiking, as we went almost straight up the mountain. It was worth the climb as the view of the castle, lake, and mountains was spectacular.

Here’s a video I took from the summit: (there’s no sound, and the quality is poor but hopefully you can get a sense of the scenery)

After climbing down a wire fence to get back to the path, we headed down into the gorge below the bridge. Instead of taking the path, we climbed down into the river, and jumped from rock to rock all the way down. This was one of my favorite things we did, as you know how much I like doing this when we go camping. This was like Clifty Falls times 10 though. We made our way to the bottom, and then hiked back up to the castle to go back to the town. It made my day that Samer (the guy from Lebanon) said that going down the river was the coolest thing he had ever done. We ate some good food and I bought a sweet glass shaped like a boot. First souvenir I’ve bought yet.

We went back to Munich and spent another night at the Hofbräuhaus. I tried the original and the dark and really enjoyed the dark beer. Caroline had a beer that was mixed with lemonade and was very sweet. The meatballs, we decided, were better than the brats, even Caroline loved them! We then walked back to the hostel, because the metro wasn’t working (I’d rather walk anyway). We stayed in the bar for awhile, and I talked Middle Eastern politics with Samer until 2 in the morning. It was very interesting hearing his point of view and I’m really glad that we met him. I’m so happy for the opportunity to travel because of experiences like this.

We slept and got up early for our train back to Maastricht. Munich was one of our favorite trips. I would recommend it to anyone.