Race around Bavaria

Due to some ambitious time planning on our behalf and spending a few too many days in the Czech Republic we were left with just a few days to see Bavaria in Germany before heading off to France for our planned rendez-vous with the Peacock family and friends. As a result the last week has felt a bit like the TV show race around the world, complete witth many a road block and fast forward. (Just for u, ev and nat!).

We spent the first 2 days touring the romantic road as part of a whirlwind coach tour. The tour was hilarious as we were the only non Japanese people on the whole tour bus and as each stop was rarely longer than 15 mins per town it turned into a frantic photo fest! It was made even funnier by the site of Gav towering a metre over everyone else and he soon became a photo attraction all on his own!

We spent a great night in the town of Rottenburg surrounded by vineyards, enjoying the beautiful old buildings and cobblestone streets, bratwurst sausages and the medievil crime museum where we found out a bit more about Em's heritage as her maiden name, Richter, means judge in German!

At the end of the romantic road we went to the Neuschwanstein Castles of Ludwig II. They are famed for apparently inspiring Walt Disneys fairytale castle. We were told that this is Germanys biggest tourist attaction and that 6-8000 people visit the castles every day. As a result we got up in the dark at 6.30am the next morning to beat the so called crowds. After buying our tickets early we were quite proud of ourselves and were optimistic that the thick fog which was blocking all views of the 2 castles and surrounding landscape would soon dissapear. However as the day went on our spirits dampened as we realised the fog was getting worse, the crowds failed to appear and it was about 5 degrees! So we had to settle for postcards and our imagination.

We then embarked on a complicated journey to Berchtesgaden in the Bavarian Alps to check out the infamous Eagles Nest and the area of Hitlers second command post during WW2. Again we were faced with dissapointment as Eagles nest had been closed 2 weeks earlier than normal for renovations... yup! Despite the setbacks we still really enjoyed checking out the amazing history museums about Hitler and Germany leading up to and during WW2 and the stunning mountain scenery surrounding Berchtesgaden.

Last leg of our mission was a 17 hr train trip from Berchtesgaden to Paris to meet the Peacocks. Luckily it has been a very relaxing and fun week so we are already feeling recovered from our race around Bavaria!

A stop on the Romantic Road in Bavaria, Germany

Em enjoying the local bratwurst and beer

Vineyards surrounding Rottenburg, Bavaria

The classic european cafe set

Playing around with shadows on the horse!

Bavarian countryside

The way the Neuschwanstein Castle should look......

How it looked for us with the fog! GP not happy Jan!

Swans in the lake surrounding the castles.

Picture of a standard military rally in Germany before WW2; using 130 spotlights around the stadium with spotlights meeting in the sky as a dome. At Berchtesgaden museum.

River in Berchtesgaden, Germany lake in Berchtesgaden