2 Castles and a Hunting Lodge

No more Christmas Markets for us ... instead we finally got to explore the Castles surrounding our hotel. Its actually pretty surreal ... on one side is Neuschwanstein Castle (AKA the Disney Castle) and on the other Hohenschwangau Castle. 

So to start with a tour of the Disney Castle. Built by Mad King Ludwig this castle is ever so pretty each room you walk through is almost fairytale like. We are unable to take photo's of the inside but picture hallways filled with windows overlooking the most glorious mountains and lakes and even a secret cave near the kings bedroom.

 

Next we headed to his hunting lodge in the mountain for lunch ... only its funny when you add Australians and snow you end up with tobogganing, snow ball fights and a weird looking snowman.

To be honest even though its very unlikely we will have a white Christmas this year this one day of snowy goodness more than made up for it. 

 

Finally and evening tour through the Hohenschwangau Castle. Not nearly as impressive as Neuschwanstein Castle it was a lovely end to an amazing day.

Also ... I dare you to try to pronounce both those names correctly ... us on the tour are still struggling with this pronunciation. he he he Tomorrow is Christmas eve and although we have no idea what to expect the excitement is high ... Christmas Time !!!

Hofbrauhaus ... Munich

Today was all about moving towards our Christmas destination in the mountains. We did have one small stop on the way that caused Mr V's heart to beat that little bit faster.

 

Thats right, we had 3 hours in Munich.... what on earth do you do with 3 hours in Munich ... Hofbrau House of course! With the Oompa band playing and a group of 15 of us smashing steins together, it was a nice way to immerse ourselves in the Bavarian culture. Over lunch we finally got to know our fellow tour go'ers and to be honest we quite like most of them. Obviously there are a few who spend the whole time complaining over something or another .... we have the weird one I have dubbed "Sheldon" making random comments unacceptable for the table and company but overall it was a good group we enjoyed spending time with. Getting back on the bus we felt closer as a group with small jokes and comments causing laughs which just made things so much better.

The one big problem with a tour group is dealing with that one problem child. The group as a whole has to deal with this person and for us this person is "Sheldon". This particular stop he was 30 minutes late to the pickup, meaning we all had to wait on a hot bus feeling bad because the poor guy was lost somewhere amongst the crowd in Munich. Here is where it gets bad, the bus was hot, one guy already suffering a icky tummy collapse from heat causing an ambulance to be called and drama to ensue. The worse bit was when "Sheldon" finally did find his way back, he actually criticised the poor tour guide for not making the pick up point easier to find with no apologies or even recognition of the drama that had ensued during the wait for his return. While its easy to say these things happen I tend to think when you go on one of these tours you take a certain amount of responsibility for the group and part of that responsibility is making the group is not inconvenienced by yourself. As a rather free travel spirit this idea is not quite grasped by our "Sheldon" who steadfastly denies any responsibility for not getting to the bus on time.

Obviously we are waiting to see if this will happen again but are trying not to let his weird and wonderful ways ruin our trip ... I will keep you updated on this unusual specimen of the human species but for now ... the group has finally become a group and its a lovely feeling to sit back and listen to the Australian Humour fly!

Bamberg and Nurnburg Germany

Today was a visit to two very interesting and different cities.

One was small, quaint and so pretty it made your heart ache ... the other larger but has such a strong presence you cant help but respect it. 

Bamberg is such a sweet little city, Bridges with lovely views, buildings that have delicate details and cobble stone streets you can help but fall in love with. We only had 2 hours in each of these cities but if I had to pick Bamberg is somewhere I would return to explore in a heart-beat!

Nurnburg is a bigger city with grand imposing buildings and a sense of place that you can't help but take note of. This is a city that says ... this is me, either like it or done... I'm here to stay! As far as Christmas markets go this one takes the cake .... there are hundreds of stalls and each selling a different item or food. Me personally had a lovely ham cheese and broccoli toasted baguette, a crepe, chocolate strawberries on a stick and a lovely Kinder punch .... children's punch ... no alcohol!!!

One thing we are all quite concerned about is the likelihood of having a white Christmas. Its looking less and less likely with a heat wave on its way and a forecast of 14 degrees on xmas day. Obviously the whole tour are crossing their fingers for snow ... can I please ask all of you to also cross your fingers not just for me but for mum ... the woman who has never had a white christmas and who is desperately hanging onto any hint on snow on the horizon!

The Mongols Are Coming ... to Rothenburg

Nope I fibbed ... mum just found a few hat and I am seriously in love with it.

We are struggling with wifi here .... who would have thought .... but its here now and I'm getting in while I can.

So onto the exciting stuff ... we spent 2 days in the lovely walled city of Rothenburg. Its small and cute and has a wonderful warm feeling you cant help but get caught up in.

 

The city itself is beautiful, the buildings are old and have a lovely Bavarian flavour, the streets steep and cobble stoned and the area restricted to local cars only which mean its heaven for walkers. We spend most of our time wandering up and down the street strolling into the various shops full of the smell of Gingerbread and pine needles.

 

They have shops full of the round balls of pastry called snowballs. They look pretty and tasty and you desperately want them whenever you walk past a shop however a word from the wise ... these taste like cardboard and even worse, they are made up of little strips of pastry so when you even attempt to bite into them they explode into pieces in a flurry of icing sugar!

Im Getting a Christmas Feeling

Ok so the Christmas spirit oh so absent in Russia is now starting to give me that lovely warm feeling inside.

 

To start with today we decided that three days really is to long to spend in Frankfurt ... so what do you do when there is nothing else interesting to do in a city .... go to the zoo! Yup we visited the Frankfurt zoo which while nothing spectacular has a wonderful chimp / monkey exhibit and not many crowds in the middle of winter. 

After the zoo we braved the markets which were pleasantly less busy meaning we could wander the alleys looking and tasting and drinking. Oh yes its finally starting to get Christmassy ... thank goodness.

Now the other thing I was / am nervous about is the fact we will be doing a group tour for the next 10 days. Mr V and I have never done a group tour before and are hessitant about everything. Are we going to like the structure ? How are we going to cope with all those different personalities? Will we fit in ... group tours tend to target the .... "older" generation.

Ok so after our first dinner I can say I am more and less concerned. Its rather a mixed bag as far as ages go. About 50% of the tour is over 65's, 30% of the tour are between 45 and 65 and then the other 20% are younger than 45. Its an interesting group filled with lots of different personalities, some we have gotten on very well with up front, others perhaps require more work. One gentleman in the group reminds me a great deal of Sheldon from big bang theory but its more of a Sheldon on red cordial which provides me with hours of entertainment and poor Mr V to hold his head in his hands!

Tomorrow I will be able to give you a better first impression of the group but for now I have some lovely pics of the markets so you can share the Christmas Joy with me!!!

Frankfurt Christmas Markets

Poor Mr V ... yesterday was a day of shopping and he tagged along behind mum and I carrying our bags ... such a good husband.

Yesterday was pegged as a day to explore the shops and the Christmas Markets.

The shopping prices are comparable to Australia however the range is greater and I will admit we had a ball.

Now to the markets ... they were huge. They were also extremely busy at night and not really conducive for a relaxed night of shopping, drinking and eating. Mr V totally freaked out at the amount of people and had a huge fear of losing me .... Im so short I get lost very easily in the crowds. 

We had a taste of the markets however left rather early and will be attempting it again tomorrow afternoon.

Let me give you my first thoughts ... the smells of sweet cooked sugar and spicy mulled wine drag you in. It was cold but not too cold and your breath fogged the air in front as you stroll down the narrow alleys decorated with pine boughs and lightings. The stalls are filled with things to look at and the people were happy however the one thing I felt missing was sound. No christmas music was playing and for me that would have added to the overall experience.

Tomorrow will be a second change for Mr V ... I hope to report a more positive experience on my poor husbands behalf.

Frankfurt ... A Beginning

So for us Frankfurt is a rest before we begin our festive journey down the romantic road. 

My mother joined us today for this part of journey .... so then there were three! Today we wanted to keep mum awake but obviously not overdo it so today we got on the hop on hop off bus. The city seems mostly focused on the financial sector so the tour mostly focused on the banks competing for the tallest building and which bank moved where. 

Oh yes ... check out this amazing subway entrance!

Germany itself has a heavenly sense of order with everything so very functional ... I happen to love Germany ... its and easy place to visit. Nothing is complicated, nothing is hard work which is a nice break after some of the more difficult places we have visited.

We also did something that I have not done before ... we visited the Frankfurt Natural History Museum which was awesome! I have never see dinosaur bones before and now I have.

Tomorrow we start our exploration of the Christmas Markets and everyone is excited for a different reason. Hubby can't wait for the food stalls, mum can't wait for the christmas decorations and I can't wait to see the people. 

More updates tomorrow peoples but for now .... take a look at the impressive museum.