The Real Disney Castle...

I would first like to pause and say thank you to everyone who offered their prayers and support to my family after the passing of my great grandmother. Your encouragement and love means the world to me. So, THANK YOU! And in the spirit of youth and vitality that Granny Mac portrayed throughout her 96 years, I'd like to enthusiastically wrap up the pictures and stories from our adventures in Austria and Germany.

If you'll remember, Reuben, Matt, and I spent a day in Munich sight-seeing around town. The weather wasn't ideal, but we still had a great time. Fortunately, the next day we awoke to bright sunshine. Perfect! This was the last day of our trip, and we had planned to take a two hour train ride out to Füssen, a small village near the Austrian border. After ditching our bags in the train station lockers, we caught a bus out to Schwangau, our ultimate destination and the location of the Neuschwanstein castle. I'm unashamedly fond of all things Disney, so I was ecstatic to visit the castle that supposedly served as the inspiration for Sleeping Beauty's residence.

When we disembarked from the bus, we passed this sign. I don't know the actual translation, but to me it said, "To see the Alps, head thataway!" Don't have to tell me twice.

In the distance on top of a hill, we caught our first glimpse of Neuschwanstein! Slightly disappointed that it was half covered in scaffolding, but can't really complain. Whether in prime condition or not, I can say that I saw it! And to be honest, the construction shouldn't have surprised me. Seemed like everything was partially obstructed by restoration work in Munich as well.

We could have taken a fairy-tale worthy, horse-drawn carriage up the hill to the castle. But we didn't.

We chose the peasant method - walking (and dodging horse droppings.)

Approximately 30 (sweaty and breathless) minutes later, we arrived! Cue the choir music!

Yay! Princess Kelsey's calves were a tad tight, but it was worth the hike. Let's head inside to the courtyard...

...where people are waiting in line for the main attraction. Are you getting the Disney vibe yet?  Hard to believe that someone actually lived here. Well, I guess technically it was never inhabited because the commissioning king died before construction was completed, and it was immediately opened to the public. Reuben advised us against buying tickets for the interior tour based on his past (somewhat disappointing) experience. That was fine with us, because tragically, I think we have become disillusioned by castles and fortresses. We have seen so many. Wow, that sounded snooty. But, it's true.

Plus, once I saw this man's beard-stache, I doubt that anything on the tour would have been worth the price of admission. I got to take a picture of his gravity-defying facial hair for free! (Thanks to Reuben for kindly asking this man for photographing permission.) I think he secretly enjoyed fascinating the foreigners.

Glancing over the castle's outer wall, we spotted our next goal: the footbridge suspended over the waterfall with the snow-capped mountain in the background. Wait a second! Places like this really exist??? Indeed.

Time to hike back down and then back up again, towards the bridge. There were plenty of awe-inspiring lookout points that motivated us to keep going.

Like this one. The palace in the bottom right corner is the one that King Ludwig lived in while Neuschwanstein was being built. Rough life. I can see why you would get sick of the original palace. It's only on a tiny hill by a glacially-fed lake surrounded by the Alps. Lame.

Even the trail signs possessed a distinctly magical, storybook appearance.

We made it to the bridge! And thankfully, it was much wider and more sturdy than it looked from afar.

Talk about a view! I mean, really? Scaffolding and all, it was impressive. I expected Tinker Bell to come flying out of the highest turret at any second, followed by fireworks and When You Wish Upon A Star!

Crossing the bridge toward more hiking trails, we encountered this blockade. And I quote, "Foot path is closed. Danger for your life!" So, what is Matthew's natural response? "It can't be that bad!" as he ducks under the planks and continues on his way.

Reuben and I reluctantly followed. (Peer pressure at its finest.) I was on guard for falling rocks or washed out pathways, but turns out that my stress was for nothing. We didn't go far before we turned downhill and aimed for the river. We saw other explorers down there, and we assumed if they survived, we would too. Solid logic, right? Moral of the story, I was the only one who fell. I slipped on some mud, but luckily my booty cushioned my graceful (ah-hem) descent. What greeted us at the bottom left me inclined to ignore road signs more often.

I instinctively felt the urge to switch Disney characters and embody Pocahontas. "I look once more, just around the river bend, beyond the shore!

The water was freezing and crystal clear! I wanted to drink it, but was discouraged by my suddenly cautious husband. I see. We can break the rules about boundaries, but drinking sparkling mountain elixir is unwise.

Eventually we looped back around toward the bridge. This was as close as we could get to the mouth of the waterfall without proper hiking gear.

Then, it was one more hike back up and down again, this time away from the castle and towards the lake. (We sure did a lot of up and down that day. I must say, I think up is easier than down. At least, easier on the knees. We're so old.) 

Matthew took the opportunity for some "Draping" at the lake. For those of you unfamiliar with "Draping," think of "Tebowing," but you're impersonating Mad Men's Don Draper instead of Tim Tebow. For those of you unfamiliar with "Tebowing," where have you been? Just kidding. Google it. And I love Timmy by the way.

The water in this lake was incredible. Can you see the gradient lines from blue to green on the opposite shore? Stunning.

Behind the benches near the lake was a fence. An awesomely rugged, picturesque fence.

And behind that fence was a nice little incline, perfect for napping. I'm told this was not as good as the Hellbrunn gardens nap, but still good.

Sadly, it was time to catch the bus that led to the train that led to the airport train that led to the airplane that led back to London that led to the fastest passage through customs ever that led to our taxi that led back to our flat in Cambridge. Yeah, it was a lot of transfers. But, I'd probably agree to more transfers than that if it meant more scenes like this:

Austria and Germany treated us well. I might go as far as to declare their mountains the most beautiful I've ever seen. Our trek through Switzerland is peeking over the horizon, and I'm ecstatic for more Alpine gorgeousness! But first, we will jet off to Greece. My sister should be landing there in a few hours to begin her short term study abroad trip. What a life we've been given. Cherishing every second of it!