BEAUTIFUL CASTLES & AUSTRIAN HAILSTORMS
The last part of our trip we toured down into Southern Germany and the Austrian border. This part includes spectacular landscapes and picture perfect villages. Everywhere you looked was a postcard moment! The Alps run through this part of the country and we went over 1 mountain pass as we entered into Austria. Seriously beautiful and exactly as you'd picture it to be there...no disappointment in viewing the 'real' versus the photo's you'd look at online or T.V. here. Unfortunately, the Germans really don't seem to be into developing "viewpoints" along the highways so I didn't get many pictures due to stopping on the narrow roads was extremely hazardous!
Schloss Hohenschwangau - "High Swan County Palace": This was the 1st castle (of 2) that we visited. It was the private get-away home of King Ludwig I of Bavaria and his family. Later, his son King Ludwig II would live there also and decide to build the next castle we visited, Schloss Neuschwanstien, on a hill across the valley. Both castles aren't very old by European standards but are very much visited by tourists because of their spectacular beauty and preservation. Photo's of the insides were not allowed so I can't show you how incredibly beautiful the decor was..which is a big shame..the murals on the walls were works of art in themselves.
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| Walking up towards Schloss Hohenschwangua. This castle was established in the 1500's by knights of the area. It later became the personal summer home of the Bavarian Kings and is still privately owned by descendents of the family. |
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| The walking path winds up the hill and into the garden area. |
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| A peek at the castle grounds. The "gargling goose" as Makynna called it but its really a swan..the symbol of the area. |
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| Here we are on the opposite hill and the castle in the background. We took a bus up to the base of the castle and walked the mile to the next one: Schloss Neuschwanstien |
SCHLOSS NEUSCHWANSTIEN: Walt Disney based his Sleeping Beauty castle on this place. Built in the later part of the 1800's, the intent was to create a medieval design. It's absolutely incredible the details King Ludwig II went to with its artistry and grandeur. All walls are covered by original life-size paintings that show different scenes from his favorite opera's. Its been described as "walking through a picture storybook". Unfortunately, he only lived in it for 6 months and never was able to finish the inside before he was arrested and died a few days later in a 'mysterious' drowning. While walking up to this castle you can take a fork off the main path and go out to a bridge called "Marie's Bridge" named after Ludwig's mother. Several of the shots were taking from this creaky wooden-planked bridge.
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| View of Castle from Marie's Bridge |
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| Views along the walking path going towards castle. The whole area looked like this and the mountains got higher and more rugged as you moved down into Austria. |
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| Looking backs towards his summer castle. You can see why royalty picked this area to vacation at! |
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| Walking the mile up to the castle for our tour. This side of the castle was being worked on so its covered with scaffolding. |
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| Here we are at Marie's Bridge...check out all those people on it. AND..its wooden planked! AND it creaks and bends when you walk out onto it. Seriously nerve wracking but I made myself go out on it. Can you spot Dan? Hint: Black shirt...shiny head? :) |
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| Dan and I trying to take our own picture. I wasn't interested in trying again to get a better shot..I headed straight for solid ground as fast as I could go. |
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| Here's a view of the bridge from the castle. See why I was so white knuckled? Yup...scary! |
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| Coming around to the castle |
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| View looking upwards as you head towards the main gate |
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| Main gate entrance takes you into a huge stone courtyard where you wait for your tour to begin. |
I sure wish I could personally show pictures of the inside of this castle! It was surreal in design and something you'd think could only be found in fairy tales with its beauty. However, if your interested....here is a great 5 minute video that shows pictures of the inside/outside of it set in different seasons. Beautiful!
Click on this link to watch YouTube video of Schloss Neuschwanstien Castle
Heading into Austria......
Innsbruck, Austria: We drove through the Alps and stayed 1 night in a town of Austria called Innsbruck. This town has hosted the Winter Olympics twice so, as you can imagine, its a fairly decent size city. However, it didn't feel "big city" by any means and we had a nice time giving it a quick once over. A big thunderstorm rolled through and pelted us with 1" plus sized hail during our dinner and even though we were under a canopy it was too much and we had to run inside for cover. The owner of the restaurant cooked us a fabulous meal, totally from scratch and served as our waiter too...all in 30 minutes. AMAZING! It was some of the most delicious Italian food I've ever ate and I had to go to Austria to get it.
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| We're eating dinner outside before the storm hits! |
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| One of the smaller sized hail pieces |
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| Professional Photo of Downtown Innsbruck |
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| My shot of "Old Downtown" from across the The Inn River |
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| Buildings had the original built date listed on them with the remodel/updated one on the other side. Here you see the Austrian spelling of "Innsbruck" |
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| This is the best I could do for a road side shot. Trees were everywhere so unless I hiked off-road there was no way to get a decent angle... Grrr! However, see next pictures for a typical view we experienced |
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| Professional shot of countryside we toured |
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| Our "thru the car window driving very fast" shot of the countryside |
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This home is very typical of the houses in Austria. They all are designed the same and the Austrians line the railings with colorful flowers. If you ever get a chance to visit Leavenworth, Washington U.S.A. do it! That town is a super replica of this area and a lot of fun to visit.
I found Austria to be exactly as I'd always imagined it to be! Huge towering mountains, green pastures with cows and goat herds wandering through it...adorned with bells on their necks (no..I'm not joking) and chalet style homes smothered with flowers...picturesque villages with small white chapels and soaring steeples. This part of Austria is picture-perfect and very stereo-typical but so BEAUTIFUL! All it needed was a guy in lederhosen to be yodeling from a mountain top to complete my mental fantasy. LOL
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