Le Grand Tour: Bavarian Castles

We woke up to rain on our second morning in Munich, boo...but Dan's luggage finally arrived from Heathrow, yay! We got some pastries at a bakery on the way to the U-Bahn station, then eventually found the meeting place for the tour to King Ludwig's castles in Bavaria. First stop was Linderhof, a small castle that Ludwig actually finished building. Every room was covered in gold, and as our guide explained each room's purpose, he added "but he never had any guests, so it too was a useless room."


Fountain at Linderhof


Garden at Linderhof

After traveling through the rainy Bavarian countryside, and stopping in the village Oberammergau, we arrived at our destination. We had lunch at the Hotel Muller, then walked up the hill to Neuschwanstein. It was raining, so we didn't make it up to Mary's Bridge, where the view is supposed to be incredible. Ah well! We did get a nice view of the Bavarian countryside. And! While waiting for our entrance time to the castle, we saw a very cute wiry haired daschund named Max, who loved to eat biscuits. I think he ate more than half the package, more than his human family! I even got to pet him. I wish I had taken a photo, he was so cute. Eventually it was our turn to tour the castle. The interiors were dark...lots of Wagnerian themes, including a strange grotto...much of of the castle was unfinished and therefore off limits. We preferred Linderhof, which was Ludwig's favorite too.


Dan & Carol at Neuschwanstein


Dan looks thrilled


Neuschwanstein

We made our way back down the mountain after the tour. It was still raining. On the way down we passed an inn with a pretty copper roof, green shutters, and charming window boxes. We also saw Ludwig's parents' castle Hohenschwangau, though we did not tour the interior.


Bavarian charm


Hohenschwangau

I fell asleep on the bus ride back to Munich. After we got back, we went to the biergarten Augustiner for dinner. What a pretty spot! Dan loved the beer, and I had another Radler. Yum. The food was delicious, and we saw another polka band.


A toast 


The boys at Augustiner


Polka band

Another great day in Bavaria!