Saturday, June 28, 2014

Neuschwanstein Castle and Lichentenstein

The following morning, we headed down to the bus station to meet up with our tour for Neuschwanstein Castle.  The castle was built by King Ludwig II.  He accumulated a lot of debt in his attempt to built his retreat and in the end, only lived in the castle around 100 days before he was arrested.  He died under mysterious circumstances. The castle is still unfinished, but has been open for tours, which is enabling the town to finish certain portions.  

We took a bus up to the castle area and walked to Marion Bridge, which had breathtaking views.  


Looking straight down from the Marian Bridge

waterfall view from Marian Bridge
view from the Marian Bridge




Neuschwainstein Castle








Vince and I on Marian Bridge with Neuschwanstein Castle in the background








  Then we walked up the hill to the castle.  






































View of castle from  the walk there. 
The castle is beautiful inside and out.  We were not allowed to take a photos inside, so I bought a souvenir book. Check out this website for more information on the history of the castle and photos of the rooms inside.   http://www.neuschwanstein.de/englisch/palace/index.htm

Castle where Ludwig II grew up. 


The castle is not far from Neuschwanstein Castle

Vince and I on the walkway to the castle
View of the countryside


Side of castle.  You can just see an exit door
in the side.  This is one example of the
unfinished state of the castle.  There is
no terrace outside the door!

Another view of 'Marley"!

Outside wall of Castle

View of Marian Bridge from Castle

Closeup of Marian Bridge

Outside of Castle

Castle Tower

Window of Castle.  I liked the pattern!

Views of countryside from inside castle.


Lake Alpsee


Mountains around castle

Mountains around castle





My view of the horses from my seat on the carriage!
Our journey down the hill was via horse drawn carriage!  We tooled around the village before catching the bus back to town. 
Outside of front of castle
View of castle from the town.

Our carriage driver





Lake Alpsee

swans on the lake

swans on the lake

Lake Alpsee


Additional view of the 'yellow' castle







Cool Fountain in Fussen, Germany





We were  then off to Vaduz, Lichtenstein for lunch!  Vaduz is the capital of Lichtenstein.  Lichtenstein is the only country that lies entirely in the Alps.   Liechtenstein has the highest gross domestic product per person in the world. It  also has one of the lowest unemployment rates in the world at 1.5%.  Population is about 35,000 for the entire country!  

View of Mountains in Vaduz, Lichtenstein

Castle Vaduz, where the prince of Lichtenstein resides.


Rhein River, which flows in part of Lichtenstein. 













Our evening ended in Garmisch, Germany, at the Edelweiss Hotel.  We are in amongst the Alps, with glorious mountain views all around! 

Switzerland, France and Germany

Our stay in Zurich was very short.  It was actually a place to rest before journeying onto Germany.


This is the ceiling in our room in Zurich.  The lights changed colors. 

Upon arising in the morning, we went in search of a bakery for breakfast.  (Breakfast was not included at the St. Goddard Hotel!)  We ate delicious pastries and had coffee.  I had a chocolate filled pastry, YUM!!  This was probably the lightest breakfast of the entire trip, but also one of the most delicious!  

We walked around town for a bit, enjoying the Limmet River which runs through the town.  





There were thousands of locks on this bridge, each with a pair of names inscribed.




Thought this looked like Jacob Marley!

Farmers Market


Limmet River




loved the tile work on this museum

This orchestra was playing in the train station!































After fetching the rental car, we headed off to locate A Propos, a fabric shop in Zurich.  I knew I did not have much time due to today being a driving day.  We arrived a little early and were at the door when the shopkeeper opened the doors for business.  

Another neat fabric shop, loaded with all types of fabric!  Luckily, the shopkeeper knew some English and with Vince's German, we were able to ask for cotton fabric.  
A Propos
Fabric I purchased!
We found a fabulous blue and white fabric that was travel oriented.  I added three others that coordinated.  Yay!  More  fabric.  










Upon leaving Zurich, we traveled to Strausbourg France and had lunch in a small bar/restaurant.  We were helped by a gentleman who spoke English and were able to order chicken for Vince and quiche Lorraine for me.  A delicious meal  in a quaint atmosphere. 

Front of the cafe
Street outside the cafe

Looking in the other direction, outside the cafe.
Our next stop was Ulm, Germany.  The intent was to visit the Ulm Minster (Church), which has the highest church steeple in the world!  We arrived with 5 minutes to spare to be able to go up inside the steeple.  Even knowing it was a very HIGH climb, we took the challenge.  The steeple is 143 meters (469 feet) tall and it has 768 steps!  

 

Ulm Minster (Church) in Ulm, Germany
Gargoyle

another Gargoyle

View inside steeple

Vince climbing inside steeple

FINALLY made it to the top! WHEW


View from Observation deck
View from observation deck




View of top of church, the back portion.

Church Organ

Pulpit. 

View of the nave.

Close up of the crucifix hanging above the nave.

View of the Nave from the front of the church.













View of the church from the nave. 


















Being in this church in Ulm brought my friend Mike Ulmer to mind.  I wondered what he would sound like in a church this big!!  



Our final destination for the evening was Fussen, Germany.  We stayed at Ruchti's hotel.  Our views were fabulous and I ate my first German meal.