We checked out of our hotel in Austria and began our drive back to Germany. We planned to stop in Fussen, Germany and visit the famous Neuschwanstein Castle before we headed to Switzerland. We were mis-informed on how long it takes when driving from point A to point B and our trip took a LOT longer then we expected. We also battled rain the entire drive, which caused more traffic and slower driving time. Eventually, we decided to stop at a McDonalds to grab some food for the kids, since we still didn't know how long it would take until we reached the castle and I'm so glad we did that. After everyone ate lunch, went to the bathroom, stretched their legs, we were on a mission to get to Fussen and we only had 2 hours until the ticket office at the Castle was going to close. I'll spare you all the details about the panic Brooks and I felt (since this was our only opportunity to visit the castle) or how we rushed to find a parking spot, didn't have cash, had to find an ATM, then pay for parking, get dropped off, and run into the ticket office literally 3 minutes before they closed. Thank goodness! We got our tickets, went back to our car, got everyone into their rain gear, the little ones into the carriers and started our hike. Generally, there is a 30 minute walk up to the castles, but we found a bus and hitched a ride. It dropped us off in an area and then we had a 10 minute walk up to the Castle. Of course, it was raining off and on so we were toting around the kids, umbrellas, our bags, etc. What a fun walk we had (enter sarcasm here).
We made it up to this bridge that was built across the way where you can walk on it and get a view of the castle. The castle is beautiful and it's even more beautiful seeing it with all the scenery, too. We went on the bridge and attempted to take a family picture. Between the rain, the crowded bridge, being HIGH above a valley, we made our trip on the bridge quick.. You can tell how thrilled we were to be on it in one of the pics below. In all seriousness, it was an amazing place to visit and I'm so glad it worked out for us to tour the castle. It was built by King Ludwig II starting in 1869 and built over 60 years, however it was never completely finished. King Ludwig II was only able to live in the castle for 172 days before his mysterious death. This is the castle that Walt Disney used to design the Cinderella Castle. I promise, it's beautiful! We were not allowed to take pictures inside the castle, but enjoyed the informative tour filled with lots of information.
After our tour, the only way to our car was to hike down the mountain. We took the opportunity to relax on the walk and just soak up the huge trees and scenery. Until it started raining. It rained the entire walk down. We entertained the kids by singing songs and attempting to skip some, but after a while, we were all just done. We were exhausted. Brooks and I were hurting from carrying Miles and Brooklyn the whole time. We were hungry and we were wet. This day was by far our most draining day.
King Ludwig's father also had a castle nearby. We didn't tour it, but got a pic of it.
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