Neuschwanstein Castle

Not especially old, was built in 19th century by Mad King Ludwig. Crowned King of Bavaria when it was 18, and it took the government until he was 40 to declare him not fit to rule. Nowadays they would have noticed way sooner that he wasn't quite right.

Ludwig was a great fan of Richard Wagner, and the inside of the castle is mostly designed in a style to honor various operas and symphonies and whatever of Wagner's. Very neat in a seriously over-the-top sort of way.

My only interior picture is the standard first-room picture,, before the guide comes in and tells everyone no pictures allowed.

Einbahnstrasse

Ok, so we're walking along a busy street here in Munich this afternoon, trying to figure out where we are, and the street signs say we're on Einbahnstrasse. I can't find it on the map, but we keep walking looking for a cross street. Then we get to the corner of Einbahnstrasse and Einbahnstrasse. That can't be good.

Einbahnstrasse = one way street

Munich

Went on a walking tour of Munich this morning. Lots of history that I will need to read about sometime in the future. Mad King Ludwig, grandson of Ludwig the Severe. I'd heard of the mad one, but the severe one was new to me.

We ended up in a city square, where the guide showed us a picture of a crowd of locals cheering the start of ww1.... Ok. But then on the next page in her album she showed the same picture with one face enlarged. Adolf Hitler as a young man. Standing right where we were standing. What a ghastly sense of immediacy... Gave me chills.

This afternoon we had no organized group activity. Quite a few went to the local art museums, a few went to the residence of the local/former royal family, and some did a church tour. We braved the subway system and went to the north of town and went to the BMW Museum. Had a good time, and enjoyed seeing another side of local culture. The subway had lots of soccer fans on their way to the game, but luckily they were taking a different line than we were. Figured out the ticket buying and validating machines, and managed to get off at the right place coming and going.

Leaving for Salzburg in the morning, by way of Neuswanstein Castle. Spelled right? Spell check has no idea either.

Snow frau

Max from  our group and a group of Swiss boys built a yung snow frau together. Also had a snowball fight. most of the American and Canadian men from our group participated, but it didn't take long before they had to declare the kids the winners, and there were friendly handshakes all around. Great time was had by all.

Cable car picture from David

Alp horn player in Switzerland last night

We each got a chance to try and play it.

Arrived in Munich

Our first rainy day. A hotel right in the old city, near the Victualienmarkt... Or something like that. It's an outdoor market, with not an alien in sight. Go figure.

Incredible church bells ringing. Every afternoon at 5:25?

Going to a beer hall later. If you do not specify, you are brought a bier mas (?)- 1 liter. It is possible to specify .2 liter though... I think that's for people who really don't much like beer. I believe I might have a .2 liter glass of something. We'll see how that goes.

Trummelbach Falls

One of those places that can't quite be captured in pictures. Phenomenal underground waterfalls. Loud, fast, powerful, with cold water splashing all over the walking surface. Pictures kinda underwhelming. Oh well.

 

 

Lauterbrunnen Valley

Murren, our hotel and a nice walk

The hotel is named after one of the local mountains, the Jungfrou. Young woman. Kind of like Grandfather Mountain in NC. If you look hard, you can see the likeness. Sorta, maybe.

Cable car pictures, Murren Switzerland and higher

The snowy pictures are on the top of the Schilthorn, where one of the James Bond movies was filmed. If it helps jog anyone's memory, I believe the revolving restaurant was supposedly blown up in the movie. It's about 11,000 ft elevation. Other places lower.
Picture #5 is the halfway point up to the Schilthorn from Murren. We got off one cable car and onto another, on that little rocky knob of an outpost.

Black Forest Outdoor Museum

Most pix self-explanatory, except a few.
-- The 2 young women cutting the Black Forest cake are our tour guides.. I had no idea that cake is made with cherry schnapps. Wow.
-- The mannequins with the odd hats: all the single ladies wore hats with big red fuzz-balls. Married ladies wore hats with big black fuzz-balls.