Today we had more of a tourist like day. We began with a tour at the Neuschwanstein Castle. We learned about the history of the king Ludwig the 2nd of Bavaria. He was asocial so he had the castle built far from the city, and spent a lot of his time in the castle alone. He never married and died fairly young, so the castle was never fully completed. The castle had beautiful painting and wood work, but unfortunately photos are prohibited. The woman giving us the tour was very insightful and told his story well. The hike to the top of the hill it sat on was not fun but in the end I’d say it was definitely worth the workout.

After the castle we loaded back up on the bus and took a short drive to a near by town called Füssen. We were allowed to explore the town for an hour or so, checking out the food and shops. Below is a photo of a pay phone that I thought was interesting, you rarely see pay phones in the U.S. anymore. Today was a national holiday here called Ascension day as well as Father’s Day. Our professor said the town is usually quiet but was busy today most likely due to the holiday.

We finished our time out with a short visit to Wieskirche, a very extravagant church built in the middle of nowhere. It was unassuming from the outside, but within had intricate murals of religious depictions along the walls and the ceiling. When we arrived they were finishing up a service that ended in song, after which we were able to walk around and appreciate the details on the church more closely. Due to the holiday the church was very busy today with many events to celebrate the occasion.