When I got up today, it was one of the most excited I had been for one of our day trip visits. Today was the Bavarian breakfast, but PLOT TWIST I still ate breakfast at the hotel. And no, it is not because I love my beloved Nutella waffles so much, but because the Bavarian breakfast is quite meat heavy and as a vegetarian, I needed some sustenance. We got on the bus and headed to the Bavarian breakfast, where everyone had weisswurst, a veal-based sausage, pretzels. I had the chance to try apfelschorle, carbonated apple juice. When we had gone to the Hofbräuhaus some people had gotten weisswurst so when they brought it out, I instantly recognized it, although I could not believe everyone was about to have such a meat heavy and filling breakfast as we are not as used to that in the United States. There was a sweet mustard served with the weisswurst that everyone seemed to love so I gave it try by eating it with the pretzel and it was actually very good, I had not tried anything like that before so it was a taste I wasn’t really expecting or had thought to associate with a mustard. The apfelschorle was also really good and I have to say I am going to miss having apple juices and such available everywhere in addition to the pretzels that I have gotten a chance to eat almost every day.

After the filling breakfast, we made our way over to the Wieskirche, which was a baroque church. It looked so different from the other churches we had been to, and I was absolutely stunned once we made our way inside. The paintings that filled the church were incredibly detailed. In comparison to the other churches, I felt like it wasn’t as much about the architecture but more about the paintings that filled the church. It was so beautiful, and its location would make you feel unassuming about what is inside as it is surrounded by fields and just a few gift shops.

We spent some time outside near the fields before we made our way back to the bus so we could make our way to Neuschwanstein. Once we got to Neuschwanstein, a group of us decided to take a walk along a lake that was right next to the town. This lake was breathtaking, the water was so clear that you could see the bottom even a few feet in. It was surrounded by greenery, and clouds that made me feel like I was watching a nature documentary rather than being there in person. It was an enjoyable little walk before we made our way back to town so we could go up to the castle. 

It wasn’t a bad hike up to the castle, but the castle really was in the middle of the mountain. I felt like I was on a hike in Hudson Valley, NY (where I am from) until I saw various gift shops, and the castle itself. Once we got there, I was amazed by the beautiful view of the valley and fields, and the enormous castle itself. We took some pictures before heading inside for our tour. While we were waiting, we began singing as we do (we actually sang together so much over the course of the two weeks). Eventually, almost everyone had joined in so it had gotten a little loud, and I think it is the most American I had felt all trip long since a bunch of the other tourists there also began to stare and it felt like we had planned a flash mob all along. I mean we would’ve gotten stared at in the United States, but it was different as I think others might’ve joined in back home but instead people continued to stare quietly. 

We then made our way inside for the tour, which was a lot shorter in comparison to all the other tours we had gone on during the trip. We learned that the castle was built during the 19^thcentury but it was built as if it had been constructed during medieval times or a time much farther back than the 19^thcentury. This gave me a weird feeling as we looked through the castle as it was hard to remember that it really wasn’t that old. It was amazing to see how big and grand it was, you don’t get a chance to see such grandeur on a daily basis. Imagining living in a castle like that felt crazy to even think about. After the tour, we made our way to the bridge, where most of the famous pictures are taken and then back down to the bus again.

Our next stop was Füssen, a small town only a couple minutes away from the castle. We had a little less than an hour there, and someone had said to be sure to get gelato while there so of course we got some. I got Ferraro Rocher flavored gelato, which was interesting, and then explored a little. It was filled with a lot of little shops, and such.

I have been having a grand time with the gelato and wish we had time to eat so much more of it. Another thing I noticed about the towns/cities we have visited in general, is that there are a lot of little shops that are privately owned and not big chains. This gives each place a different feel as the shops are unique, and it makes it feel a lot smaller. We then made our way back to Augsburg and then a small group of us tried out a burger place, called Beißer Burger, which was suggested by Freddie and Fiona, two of the German students. I had a fantastic veggie burger, which are usually hard to come by but in Germany we are 2/2 on yummy veggie burgers. Once we finished up, we headed back to the hotel as we had an early day tomorrow. 

P.S. I have to say again that I am intrigued on Germany has so little pollution as there is a much larger population of people that smoke cigarettes and you would think that would have a larger effect on the environment.