Neuschwanstein...

Day Two: The second day of our vacation was a pretty rough day. I knew it when I was making the plans and I knew it that morning when we woke up! We were to drive from Bolzano through Austria and into Germany to make it for a 1pm ticket into the Neuschanstein Castle...it was a stretch to begin with. It was a long uphill walk, two castle tours, and a hot day with three kids and a stroller, plus it wasn't exactly my husband's cup of tea...but I did it anyway...because I REALLY wanted to! And it was AWESOME!

Schloss Hohenschwangau and Schloss Neuschwanstein are located in the Bavaria region of Germany...just outside the Austrian border...in the amazing Alps. Neuschwanstein Castle is what Walt Disney used as inspiration for his castle. Both are closely tied to Mad Kind Ludwig II of Bavaria. Schloss Hohenschwangau is actually his parents castle...where he grew up and Schloss Neuschwanstein was one of the castles he built when he became king of Bavaria.

Hohenschwangau is named after the 'swan in high places' or something like that...after the Swan Knights that lived there long ago...

The first castle was Schloss Hohenschwangau...only a 10 minute walk up some stairs...apparently they break you in easy! It is an amazing yellow structure that rises above the tree line. The tour was about an hour, the rooms are exquistely decorated, and my 2 year old was not really into the tour thing! But I still HAD to see it...

After the tour she managed to pose a little for me in front of this fountain...

Then onto Schloss Neuschwanstein...it is an amazing place. Kind of where fairy tales were born. I can blame it on my daughter, how I wanted her to see it (she is really into Sleeping Beauty right now...thanks to Krystal and all the castles we are seeing...we sold the tours by saying this is where Beauty lives)...but I will be honest...I wanted to see it! I REALLY did! Even after the 30 minute uphill hike with 3 kids and a stroller, sweating and baking in the sun...I REALLY wanted to see it! It was worth every minute...

And of course, we both enjoyed it after all...

And a special thanks goes to my most wonderful husband who made this whole day possible...schlepping the kids up a mountain, my idea...his back! Thank you for making our vacation happen...

After this long day, we stopped at our local german McDonald's...

Who could say no to this face...

We had to back track a bit because our hotel was in Innsbruck, Austria. It was late, dark, we didn't have much of a map...but we found it anyway...

Have a wonderful and cool day!

Ciao a tutti!