We had a good day, but ran into a few bumps along the way. The virus that was floating around the bus finally got Cornie, giving him a chest cold, just as I am getting over my cold, so he wasn't feeling well. When we got to the castles, I got the tickets and was told the Schwanngau castle tour started at 11:50. I looked at my watch and saw that we had five minutes to get there, so we climbed up as fast as we could, which is extra challenging with a chest cold. The brochure said the walk would take 20 minutes! We raced up to the gate and when we put in our ticket, discovered that we were an hour early. I had looked at my watch incorrectly!
The Schloss Neuschwanstein tour was great, but unfortunately most of the outside was covered with scaffolding for restoration, so we had to cheat by taking a photo of a postcard. The inside is amazing! King Ludwig II was said to be crazy, but a romantic. His chandeliers looked like crowns, and his murals were about Richard Wagner's operas, like Tristan and Isolde. He even built a replica of a cave in part of a hallway to represent a scene from one of the operas. The canopy on his bed was made by 14 wood carvers over 4 years and was modeled after several gothic cathedrals. It was very detailed! He only lived in the castle for a short time before he was dethroned because he was declared mentally ill. Shortly after, he and his psychiatrist were found dead in the river and their death is a mystery to this day.
Our drive to Munich was supposed to be 1 1/2 hours and ended up being almost an hour longer. We started on a highway and following our GPS, we ended up through winding country roads, where we saw the patrols helping the cows come home from school. It was fun for awhile, but we decided to find our way back to the highway because this way looked like it would take too long. Once on the highway, we ran into a detour that was not well signed. After driving around in circles, we asked a farmer for directions and finally were headed in the right direction.
When we got to the hotel, the free parking spots were already taken, but then.......
When we walked into our room, what a surprise!! Our parents and children had arranged to have beautiful flowers and a bottle of champagne waiting for us. Today is our anniversay. Thank you so much! Oh, and I also want to mention, that while at the castle, Cornie gave me gorgeous earrings!
So despite the bumps and blips, the day was good, and ended fantastic.
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