Today brought an earlier morning, and normally I would try to squeeze in a nap while traveling to our destination. I am so grateful that today I decided to stay awake. The view of the Bavarian Alps as we headed toward Neuschwanstein Castle in the village of Hohenschwangau was unlike any other. While sitting on the bus, we got a good idea of the beautiful sites we had in store for us today.

We abandoned the parking lot and soon came across a nearby yellow castle. It was beautiful, but not the one we where there to see. Before heading up to Neuschwanstein, we walked toward the large lake, which turned out to be quite the picturesque scene when framed by the mountains. Once it was time to hike, we raced the horse-drawn carriages by foot up the trail heading up toward the castle. We actually continued on past it and went up to a small bridge, where we were presented with an unbelievable view of the Neuschwanstein Castle and its surroundings.

Retreating back down closer to the castle, we went to an outdoor gift shop while waiting for our tour. On our tour of the castle, we learned some history that Dr. Feick touched on during our journey. The castle was commissioned by King Ludwig II, before he was found dead. We also had the chance see elaborate furnishings, paintings, and other decorations throughout the halls and rooms, many of which were adorned with swans. We saw where his throne was supposed to go, which I found to be a bit eerie. Ludwig was a big fan of Richard Wagner and incorporated a lot of his works into his castle. It was also interesting that he had a room for reflection, which was painted with images of medieval times and stories such as the holy grail.

After an amazing morning of beautiful site seeing, we ventured into the nearby town of Füssen. We stopped for lunch at Chapeau, and I tried leberkäse for the first time. To be honest, it wasn’t my favorite thing I have had here, but I’m still very happy I tried it! We had a few minutes after lunch to look around the town, so I cleaned my palate with banana ice cream. Ice cream is delicious in Germany! As if that wasn’t enough to eat, I also tried a donut when we stopped at the stunning Weiskirche church on the way back to Augsburg. I was actually floored by the insane detail inside of the church, I have a hard time understanding how anyone could focus on their service without getting distracted. We had a day filled with beauty and now I have a camera roll filled with beauty as well.

-Liv