Castle Neuschwanstein

so... needless to say, the day after the best party ever, Nate and I were hurting...bad.., but we had plans to go visit our friends who had just returned to Germany from a 5 year stint in Michigan.


They were the loveliest hosts... there is nothing like returning from a day of sight seeing and coming into a warm home, lively chatter and a great dinner! Despite our hungover-ness, we made great time from Aschaffenburg to Bad Toelz, which is a rough 4.5 - 5 hr drive South, and arrived just in time for schnitzel und kartoffel salat (potato salad).

Our first and foremost destination was Schloss Neuschwanstein the next day. It was another hour and half ride south-west from where we were staying.

Along the way we saw plenty of Alps...

uhm.. this is actually the only photo I have solely of Alps for Thursday.. it was pretty difficult taking photos without pulling off to the side of the road, getting out, etc... and we just wanted to get to Neuschwanstein!

we also saw plenty of these along the way..

Germany is very eco-concious.. we won't even start discussing the recycling/garbage laws, and this particular area is very involved in milk production. Seriously...there were cows everywhere. I think the cow to human ration is easily 2:1 if not 3:1. Ok..maybe I'm exaggerating a tad, but they proud themselves on allowing their cows to roam and not feeding them/giving them any hormones, etc., so any village that had hormone free cows proudly displayed the faire cow.

 see...they stand behind their product.. Our milk makes Bavaria strong!

FINALLY... we pull into Schwangau.. what is that, that we see?!

We then proceed to parking, where are view to the right

 view to the left

Can you believe the difference?! Insanity I tell you..

We actually head to head up towards the right, which was basically the beginning of the hill... yeah..we had to walk from here aaaaalllllllllllllllllll the way up to the castle.

what we had to fight up.. in non-'hiking' boots, through patches of ice...

and this was after we had already 'hiked' for 20 minutes.. I'm not whining, you know, just not used to 'hiking' ;)

right around here, I was thrilled to see these... you might remember them from here...

I decided to have my sweet Bavarian balls on the way down... hihihi...I said balls... ;)

and finally.... (please imagine angels singing... =)

and we still have to walk....

another view of the Alps.. and at the landing of Neuschwanstein

view from the landing of Neuschwanstein..

Nate and I took the tour of the castle, and unfortunately no photos were allowed and it was pretty interesting.

Truth: King Ludwig only lived there for like 4 months and he died before it was completed.

It truly was a fast tour since they only completed the rooms they had started building on. Not much to see, but check out the view from the back...

do you see the castle off to the right? the yellow building? it was the same one you could see from where we parked...you can actually see the parking lot from here too! isn't it breathtaking though? i have to say out of all the views, this one really got me..

can you spot the bridge?

we had really wanted to go to this particular bridge, but given all the snow and ice, neither of us were properly equipped to hike out that way, especially since it was a good 40 minutes from the castle, so instead we headed back down.. to enjoy some sweet Bavarian balls... ;)

back in town.. and ready to head back...

one final pic..

and to think this was the inspiration for Disney's castle.. amazing.

Final post of the best party evahh!!

alright so where did I leave off?

ahhh..right we were getting our drank on...

waiting for the dancing to begin, but the first dance goes to the birthday girl..

and then it was our turn...

busting out in some freestyle...yes...I've had one too many...;)

   this is a classic rebecca move...thumbs and arms going one way, while sticking my ass out the other way! =)

and then somehow towards the end of the evening, I started the train...

 and last but not least, as we were stumbling home, this picture was taken.

i LOVE it.

 

you see, my aunt and i have had a rough history with each other; a lot of unnecessary drama, some inflicted by us and others inflicted upon us, but I think we both have laid some demons to rest and are in the process of building something really great, which is why I LOVE, LOVE, LOVE this picture.

it really was a great beginning to what will become a whirlwind tour through Ober Bayern!

Part 2 of the best party EVAHHHHHH!!

so, I left off with our wild and crazy DJ...

who took a nap break, while various members of Helga's (Opi's gf) held skits, speeches etc. Another MUST for any major celebration over herrrr

 Helgi's son, holding a cutesy speech

Then on to the good stuff! FOOOOOD!!!! The obligatory salad...

There were 3 options for dinner: turkey cutlet with curry sauce, a salmon filet, and a pork schnitzel.

Moi went with the turkey cutlet. 

In between dinner and dessert, because of I dunno, bad service I guess, (the right hand side of our table didn't get served until after we had already eaten dinner), more skits and poetry were performed.

 Her besty....and in a dirndl nonetheless...Hallo Bayern!

 another good friend of hers... with the 'restaurant' owner in the background

and the final skit... where peeps kept on popping their heads over the bedsheet..

 Nate and I sorta bored...

But, finally...FINALLY!!!!! Dessert!!! You had the option of either heisse liebe (HOT love ;) aka vanilla ice cream with warm raspberries) or a cappuccino pana cotta..

I chose the former, but the latter was so much better... and of course the traditional EXpresso can't be forgotten..

more silliness ensues...

 me eating the decorations

 my aunt (whose only 4 years older than I am! and younger than nate), uncle and some creepy dude whose obviously already had one too many!

 just the two four of us

Now, that we are all fat and happy... time to get our boogie on!!

But for that...I must ask you to wait for Part 3!

Part 1 of the best party EVAHHHHHH!!

whew... peeps. you won't believe the whirlwind of a week I've had...

So sorry to have left you in the dust but I was completely internet free for a few days...weird... I sorta like it though I must admit. I did miss the capability to enable the GPS on my phone but other than that... I feel so much more relaxed..

anywhoo..where did I leave off?! I think it was Tuesday and we were getting ready to head out to celebrate my Opi's girlfriends 65th birthday.

Birthdays, especially 'round' ones like 50, 60, 70 are HUGE.. like you throw massive parties, and then it seems once you pass 60, you start celebrating the 5's too..as in 65, 75..hell at that age, your just happy to make it another year...;)


Upon arrival, we were greeted with a flute of champagne sekt

and before I even had time to finish off my sekt, I already had to order my first glass of Bachus Riesling (the Riesling wasn't the greatest and I ended up switching over to the Bachus after that first glass)

began on munching on some of these because I started feeling the effects of the alciiiiihol

baked cheese sticks, ritz type crackers, peanut style cheetos (instead of cheese they taste like peanuts), pretzels and chips

a picture of our table to my left

and then to my right

and then, both tables

I mentioned in the 5 Euro post, that typically the restaurnats have a day off on Monday's, well this particular restaurant has his Ruhetag on Tuesday, and since this 'restarunt' is my Opi's and his girlfriends lifeline, she was able to rent it out for her birthday.

Entertainment is a must, even if he is damn near dead deaf!

Stay tuned for Part 2 where we not only eat! (surprise, surprise) but get into a bunch of shenanigans!