If you managed to guess what the pic in my previous post was, you've probably visited the famous Neuschwanstein Castle. The castle is about an hour and a half hour away from Munich, which is where we stayed and used as a base.
On our first day, in the freezing cold (-3 deg C!!! I kid you not!!!), we went in search of some day-tours at the nearby train station. As the weather was sooooo cold, being in the dead of winter, we found many Germans at the train station in all their ski garb, eagerly waiting for the trains that would take them to the ski resorts. Germans (at least those in Munich) seem to be a very sporty bunch of ppl. Everyone looks really trim and fit, and it seems that everyone engages in some form of outdoor activity or other ... be it mountain skiing, cross-country skiing, curdling, or cycling.
Anyway, after finding one tour company closed (it was a Sunday), we managed to find this one which took us to Linderhof Castle, Oberrammergau and the Neuschwanstein Castle, aka the Cinderella Castle.
Our first stop: Linderhof Castle ... the only castle which King Ludwig II completed building during his life. It was apparently a small castle in which King Ludwig lived rather like a recluse. He even had a dining table that the servants filled with food, which came up from the floor (pretty modern for that age, don't you think?) just so that he wouldn't need to come in contact with his servants.
The grotto was closed as it was winter, so we ambled around the grounds a bit, and I found that the snow looked extra sparkly!
Along the way, we found this beautiful pond/river ...
... in which lived these 3 swans ... no surprise given that King Ludwig II was also known as the Swan King - the swan was one of his favorite animals (next to peacocks, statues of which are also found inside his castles) ...
Random shots along the way from Linderhof Castle to Oberramergau ...
Just as we were entering the village of Oberrammergau, which is the site of the famous Passion Plays, we went past these beautiful buildings with lovely frescoes of German fairy tales! How splendid!
This one was of Hansel and Gretel ...
This one's of Little Red Riding Hood ...
Some other lovely buildings and scenes around Oberramergau ...
(the village was exceedingly quiet, probably cos it was a Sunday - we quickly learnt that EVERYTHING is closed on Sundays in Munich - and it was winter and the passion play wasn't on.)
The theatre where the famous Passion Plays are performed ... apparently, the actors, musicians, stage hands and staff in these plays (who are all residents of the village) can never be fired even though the play is only held once every 10 years - ostensibly to preserve this tradition and heritage of these plays.
Some scenes along the way while leaving Oberrammergau ...
... this is a classic onion dome ... the sign of a Catholic church ...
... a church spire/steeple
Look at that whiteout ...
When we finally got to the village a short 20 min trek to Neuschwanstein Castle, we took a short lunch break at Liesl Hotel. We tried some roast pork with potato dumplings ... a Bavarian speciality ...
After lunch, we debated whether to take this horse carriage up to Neuschwanstein Castle ...
As we saw that the queue for the horse carriages was incredibly long, we decided to trek up. Along the way, we were assailed by ... shall we call it "smells of nature" ... which weren't exactly the most fragrant parts of nature left behind by the many horses which were plying the same route up and down. There was in fact a guy, whose job we certainly did not envy - he drove up and down the same path in a red car, getting out of the car at intervals to shovel the "horse products" away. Now, that should appear on the "Dirtiest Jobs in the World" on Discovery!
So, after 20 min of walking, we finally catch our glimpse of the Neuschwanstein Castle ...
Our appetites whetted by the physical exertion from climbing up the slope (or was that just an excuse to snack?) ... and with the smells left behind by the horses dissipating as the hour was late and the carriage rides had stopped for the day ... we decided to stop for some "Sweet Bavarian Snow Balls" ...
After getting back to Munich, we had dinner at a nearby beerhall ... afterall, we were in the home of the Oktoberfest (a misnomer if there ever was one, as the Oktoberfest is held in September!). We ordered some hot borsch ...
Mixed vegetable salad ...
Famous German sauerkraut ...
German pork knuckle with the ubiquitious potato dumpling ...
And of course, to wash everything down, we had some non-alcoholic beer (I know I know ... that sounds like an oxymoron, but I can't take alcohol, so this was pretty perfect! :)) ...
And the strangest concoction immensely popular in Munich - Spezi ... basically an Coca Cola mixed with Fanta Orange! Conceptually bizarre, but tastewise, pretty good!
We later discovered MezzoMix in the supermarkets ... it tasted very similar to Spezi. MezzoMix was essentially orange flavored Coca Cola.
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