Partnach Gorge

Two weekends ago we went down to Garmisch for a Strong Bonds Marriage Retreat. Strong Bonds Retreats are for married couples to grow closer together and develop healthy communication skills. I think they are a great resource for service members and their spouses. Military life can be hard and it's nice to have some time to reconnect. It was a perfect getaway for us as RC was able to get off two days from work and we were able to have a free day from the marriage training to go and explore. 

I have always wanted to visit the Partnach Gorge, but there are so many amazing things do in the vicinity of Garmisch-Partkirchen that this just seemed to fall by the wayside. By our third visit to Garmisch we were finally able to hike the gorges and we would not have asked for more perfect weather. The Partnach Gorge is one of those frustrating places where pictures just don't do it justice. It was an incredible experience. Luckily it didn't end there. The gorge empties out into a few hiking trails that show off how beautiful Germany is in the fall. 

Munich, Germany :: Third Reich Tour & the Hofbrauhaus

Earlier this month we took the train down to Munich. Highlights of the trip? 

Third Reich Tour led by an Irish man. Dinner at the famous Hofbrauhaus. 

Stumbling upon Taco Libre- where we ended up eating TWICE in less than 24 hrs. 

 Don't judge. Good Mexican food is hard to come by in Germany. 

Mom's Visit: Bamberg, Germany

Day three of Mom's visit was spent in Bamberg. Another town within an hour radius of "home". This was my first time to Bamberg and I so enjoyed it! The weather had dropped a bit and I must admit I preferred keeping my hands in my pockets rather than taking pictures. So unfortunately there are only a couple Instragram shots of the town. 

These day trips with my mom have made me realize how much more I prefer exploring the city on a weekday. Less weekend hustle and bustle.  We walked aimlessly for the most part, but used the awesome 'blue dot' on the Google maps iPhone app to hit a few key sights. All in all a great trip exploring another picturesque German town. 

Mom's Visit: A Day Trip to Rothenburg

I seriously can not get enough of this city. I think this is the 3rd time I've visited and it still has not gotten old! While Mom was still adjusting to the new time zone we decided to stay close and just make day trips the first few days of her visit. The first of which was Rothenburg. We leisurely strolled the town, did a little shopping, and had a delicious lunch.

Pumpkin Festival at Ludwigsburg Castle

Only in Germany are pumpkin festivals located in the backyard of a freakin' castle. 

So we started at the upper grounds of the Ludwigsburg Castle and made our way down to where the winners of Germany's biggest pumpkin competition were being shown off. And boy were they huge! Then we ended up wandering for oh, I don't know, about half an hour trying to find where all the delicious pumpkin flavored food & beverages were located. We ended up completely encircling the entire castle grounds and realized after that if we had taken a right instead of a left at the front of the castle we would have been there in about 2 minutes flat. Fail.

Once we made it to the "backyard" of the castle we were welcome by the aroma of cinnamon-sugar roasted pumpkin seeds. We made sure to pick up some pumpkin wine and ate a delicious variety of pumpkin dishes. I chose a large portion of pumpkin ravioli placed in pumpkin soup. There were pumpkins literally everywhere & even statues made out of pumpkins.

Our quick little day trip was abosolutely perfect! Everything I love about fall rolled into one day. Perfect fall weather. Beautiful blue skies. A crispness in the air. The leaves changing. Pumpkins everywhere. And boots and scarves as the dress code. 

Neuschwanstein Castle

I was recently looking through my pictures and realized I never did a post on the Neuschwanstein Castle. 

So here it is! During RC's last weekend here we decided to make the drive down to Garmisch-Partenkirchen for a nice & relaxing weekend. The Neuschwanstein Castle was only an hour away from where we were staying. So after seeing the Zugspitze we decided to drive over to the town of Schwangua where the castle was located.

BACKGROUND INFORMATION

Neuschwanstein Castle was built by Ludwig II, the King of Bavaria as a place where he could retreat. Construction began in 1869 and the architecture was based off of medieval castles and the operas of Richard Wagner. However Ludwig II died in 1886 before the castle could be completed. Only 15 of the 200 rooms were completed prior to his death. Since the castle was so far from being finished it was opened up to paying customers for viewing. Those revenues were used to balance construction debts, and later became a large source of income for the Bavarian family. Ludwig II was a popular king after his death because of the amount of money he brought into the state of Bavaria.

I think the most interesting part revolves around King Ludwig II's death. The construction fees of the Neuschwanstein castle ended up almost doubling the estimate and Ludwig began to run into serious financial problems as he was also building two other castles. Along with his financial problems there were also claims of mental insanity. In June of 1886 Ludwig was deposed of his power by reason of mental illness and removed from the castle. Just a few days later he was mysteriously found dead in the shallow waters of Lake Starnberg. 

WALT DISNEY'S INSPIRATION

Okay. So here's the thing about the Neuschanstein Castle. Before we actually visited I kept hearing about hearing how it inspired Walt Disney. TRUE! And about how the Cinderella castle was modeled after it. WRONG! Apparently it inspired Sleeping Beauty's castle. Being an east coast girl I've been to Disney World numerous times. I'm not going to lie. I didn't even know Sleeping Beauty had her own castle in Disneyland. 

THE TOUR

Now, the tour. You cannot go inside the castle without taking a tour. That was kind of strike one for me. I'm more of a fan of going at our pace on our own time. But it was not too expensive and while we're in Germany why not!? Y'all, I'm not going to lie the tour was gawd-awful. The tour guide spoke "English" which was more like Germish... maybe. So I had no clue what he was saying the entire time. His accent was very thick, echoed in the large rooms, and our group was so large I couldn't try and read his lips. So that was kind of strike 2. It was also unclear on whether or not you could take pictures which was strike 3. So I have no pictures of the inside, but I think I'd rather be safe than sorry. So while the tour wasn't very good I would still recommend going! I found King Ludwig II's story interesting and I loved the ties back to Walt Disney.

The Zugspitze in Garmisch-Partenkirchen

If you are in the military and located somewhere in Europe you have most likely heard of Edelweiss, a lodge and resort located in Garmisch-Parktenkirchen. With RC's upcoming deployment we wanted to plan a relaxing and memorable trip. So based on many recommendations we decided Garmisch-Parktenkirchen was the place. Although we weren't able to get reservations at Edelweiss (they're booked months in advance) we found a nice hotel right down the road. 

Garmisch-Parktenkirchen is a mountain resort town located in southern Germany. So southern, in fact, that part of our drive to Garmisch was through Austria. Nestled in the valleys of the Alps at every turn you have a breathtaking view. Not too from our hotel and the town of Garmisch is the Zugspitze, the highest peak in Germany. So we decided to pay for our expensive (but well worth it) tickets and take the cable car up 2,962 meters above sea level. The ride up was a little nerve racking and our cable car was packed. It was hard to see anything, but once we reached the top the view was unbelievable! The border between Austria and Germany runs right over the summit so we were able to look out upon to gorgeous countries at one time. 

TSCHUSS!