Munich

We got to Munich a few days ago, and eased into seeing the city. Both Bill and I have been feeling a little under the weather - it might have something to do with consuming nothing but meat, potatoes, and beer for the last few days. Who knows?

When we finally made it out we went to one of the places I was most excited to see in this whole trip: Neuschwanstein. It’s a beautiful castle on the border of Austria that was built for the king of Buvaria, King Ludwig II. The castle was used as a model when Disney created the castle for Sleeping Beauty, and it is every bit as gorgeous in person as it was in photos.

The drive to the castle is almost as incredible as the castle itself. It looks like the hills from The Sound of Music, and as you get closer there are beautiful views of the snow-capped Alps. It’s a short walk from where you have to park to the front of the castle, and from there you can see idyllic views of Germany stretching out below.

You aren’t allowed to take pictures inside Neuschwanstein as the entire interior is copyrighted by Buvaria (greedy Buvaria), but it’s immaculate. King Ludwig only lived in the house for about 6 months before he died, and they opened it as a museum 6 weeks later, so everything is virtually unused and in its original condition. It’s very lavish, with intricate details that were apparently very modern for the time period. Behind the castle is a waterfall with a bridge spanning the top of it that gave us great views of the castle. I highly recommend visiting there if you’re in the area.

The next few days in Munich we did a lot of walking, mostly in search of the infamous beer gardens that Munich is known for. We managed to find a couple, but none of them had live bands that played the um-pah-pah music I so longed to hear while drinking my beer. I think Bill and I were both hoping for a little more of the Germany we remembered seeing in European Vacation where Chevy Chase dances around to the um-pah-pah music in leiderhosen. Instead we found a metropolitan city with bits of history mixed in.

Our last day we found an awesome beer garden in the English Garden, which is Munnich’s equivolent of Central Park. We sat next to a small lake and enjoyed beer and really great food underneath the massive chestnut trees, and after a while Bill took me for a boat ride in the lake, where he was nice enough to do all the paddling and let me lounge in the front of the boat. I always knew Bill was a pretty nice guy, now I have even more evidence.