neuschwanstein

saw one of the world's most famous castles today
neuschwanstein
it was built by king ludwig around 1896
he never got to live in it though
declared mentally unstable and then a week later
"mysteriously" drown in a lake with his psychiatrist
(weird thing is - they were only walking beside the lake)
within six weeks of his death the castle was turned into a tour
that's been generating income for the motherland ever since
this is the castle disneyland was patterned after
if you could see pictures of it you'd see the similarities
nestled in the mountains bordering austria
overlooking a lush green valley
the views from inside the castle are ridiculously cool

the drive to neuschwanstein was beautiful
rolling hills sprinkled with farms and lazy grazing cows
narrow winding two lane roads
lined with trees
we arrived in fussen around 2pm
that's the village closest to the castle
our confused american tourist routine started there
the tourist office was closed and we had no info in our guidebook
on how to get to the castle
after parking our car in a garage in which we had no idea how to pay
(everything was in german!!)
we wandered down the main drag of fussen looking for
"this way to the castle" signs
no info anywhere though
so i came up with the brilliant plan to find a spot for lunch
and pray our server spoke english
G chased pigeons and we finally got our directions
in broken english

during the summertime the lines to get in neuschwanstein
are suppposed to be unbelievable
i guess we lucked out 'cause we didn't get there until 3pm
although there were still lot's of people it wasn't too bad
the hike up the mountainside is another story though
it was brutal
J is in 20 times better shape than me and she paid the price for it
pushing prince G in his 40 pound chariot up some of the steepest inclines
i've ever seen or tried to walk
i could barely do it myself without pushing the stroller
all the while G sucked his thumb quietly and clutched gutentaag the squirrel
don't worry
i got some hilaroious video footage of this!

as avoid danger waited at the side of marion bridge
which straddles two jagged precipices behind the castle
150 feet above a rocky stream
a happy japanese tourist emerged from the crowded bridge
waving G's squirrel around
finger puppet style
i said "excuse me! i think that's my son's..."
i don't think he understood anything other than I WANT THAT SQUIRREL
'cause he immediately (and politely) handed it over and scampered off

ten minutes later i ran into someone i knew
from texas
josh from lift to experience
who would have ever thought it?
he lives in berlin now

on the way back from castle ludwig
lori the navigation system saved the day
we ended up in the worst traffic jam i have ever been in
worse than new york or l.a.
or anywhere these kind of things are supposed to happen
we moved half a kilometer in half an hour
(a kilometer isn't even a mile)
a toddler pushing G up the side of mount neuschwanstein
could have made better time
so we punched in an alternate route request and in no time
lori had us zipping through the backstreets and alleyways of southern germany
james bond style
some of the roads we ended up on were so desolate
i thought we might be heading to narnia

munich and the first show tomorrow!