European Vacation Itinerary Part 3 - Mittenwald & Meersburg with Neuschwanstein and Linderhof Castles
This photo of Swarovski Crystal Worlds (Swarovski Kristallwelten) is courtesy of TripAdvisor
This photo of Swarovski Crystal Worlds (Swarovski Kristallwelten) is courtesy of TripAdvisor.
There is a crystal forest, music performances, massive art galleries and amazing objects made of the purest crystals. I look forward to the gift shop as well!! I could spend this whole blog on this one stop but there is much more for us to see.
After I tear myself away from the museum we will drive to our hotel in Mittenwald, Germany, home of the violin. The town is famous for manufacturing violins but also for the beautiful painted buildings. Our hotel is not excluded.
Our hotel This photo of Mittenwald is courtesy of TripAdvisor
This photo of Mittenwald is courtesy of TripAdvisor
(I love that I have discovered TripAdvisor as a wealth of photos)
This photo of Mittenwald is courtesy of TripAdvisor
We will walk the beautiful town and go to the violin museum. Mostly I want to shop here and buy cute little Alpine and Black Forest objects. After our stay in Mittenwald we drive to Meersburg, Germany which I am exceedingly excited to visit with the one I love for reasons I will share below. First, on our route there, we are stopping at the VERY famous Neuschwanstein Castle. This castle may look familiar to everyone who has been to Disneyland or Disney World. It is the castle that the sleeping beauty castle was fashioned after. I have been there before and I can testify that it is like a fairytale. You can even take a horse drawn carriage to the top. I bought one of my cuckoo clocks at this castle. They have an area that sells only cuckoo clocks. These are not cheap but they are so well made. You can choose what size and shape you want as well as two traditional songs to play at the hour and half hour. There are all sorts of things you can have going on when the cuckoo sings like man chopping wood, man drinking beer, people dancing and much, much more.
One of a million views of Neuschwanstein.
More Schloss Neushwanstein.
Here is an inside view. You are not allowed to take photos of the interior so there are more pics on this website.
The castle was one of (I am not sure but I think) seven castles. King Ludwig II preferred seclusion to the party/social life of Munich and royalty. He had an active imagination and lived in his fantasy mind. As a result he built many amazing castles. After Neuschwantstein we are visiting another of his castles immediately following, Schloss Linderhof. I like this castle more than the first because the exterior is much more subdued but the interior, believe it or not, is far more elaborate.
King Ludwig II
Linderhof from the outside
This castle has a large area to explore outside the castle as well. There is a beautiful hunting lodge made of animal pelts and hunting, manly things. It has a tree growing in the center as well if I recall correctly! We will spend pretty much the entire day looking at these castles. I am sure we will find lunch at one of them and I am guessing it will have a spectacular view.
The view from my last visit to Neuschwanstein. See it up there?
More of the path up to the castle. Yes, the horse pooped along the way.
The overlook was simple, but the sun was setting and behind me was a massive pink building. I stood there as the sun set. I had a little wine in my blood and I was feeling giddy. It was so beautiful. I had a picture taken of me standing there because I wanted to someday go back there with someone I love and share that moment with him.
Here I am in 2000, 13 years before my dream comes true.
I am so excited for this particular leg of our trip. Who am I kidding? I am excited for every moment of this trip!! The next two days will be posted soon. xo
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