Neuschwanstein Castle

 

This morning we decided to take it easy since we have been running very quickly.  The grounds of our hotel were just beautiful in the morning light.

Perhaps we should have read about Neuschwanstein Castle before the car ride over this morning.  Our travel book says you need to go early, and we are starting to see why!

 

Here is the view from down below.  You can see across the lake or up the hill to Hohenschwangau, which is King Ludwig's boyhood castle.

It's a long walk up, but here we go!

 

Selfie by a waterfall along the path. 

The first clear view of Neuschwanstein.

 

The view from up here is amazing!  I can't believe just how green everything is!

  

We decided that we didn't want to wait hours to go inside the castle, but would rather just take in the sights from outside.  It's quite the castle!  It's time to walk up even further!

About half way up from Neuschwanstein to "Mary's Bridge" there is a lookout where you can see down to where are car is parked very close to the lake.  You can also see Hohenschwangau.  This is the place where you can see just how far "up" we have walked.  It's quite steep, but it's a nice walk.

 

The view from Mary's bridge.  Brandon didn't make it out on the bridge with me, but the view was AMAZING!  No wonder Walt Disney modeled their castle after this one!

 

Another picture from the bridge and a sign that talks about this bridge.

 

Now, we are driving through Germany countryside.  Once again, the colors are just gorgeous.  Everything is just this green and pretty.  Of course, there are several old churches along the way.

Wait...are we in Strawberry Point?

We thought this fire breathing dog/wolf creature was an interesting logo for a gas station.  What is that?

After a lot of confusion on where we can drive and not drive, we found the parking lot for this shopping district which is where our hotel says to park.  We love the light system they have in the garage.  If the light is red, a car is parked there, green if there is an empty spot, and blue if it is an empty handicap spot.  Why don't we have this system in the U.S.?  It's genius!

 

In Salzburg,  we are staying at the Hotel Krone 1512.  Yes, this hotel is first mentioned in 1512.  It's amazing how nice and old this building is all at once.  Our view of from our room is a private garden.