Munich

On the way to Munich, we had lunch at Soul of Espresso in Chiemsee, Germany. This is on Lake Chiemsee. On Herrenchiemsee Island in the lake is a palace called the Bavarian Versailles, Neues Schloss Herrenchiemsee, which was built by Prince Ludwig II (more on him later). You have to take a ferry to get there so we didn't visit.

We stayed at the Platzl Hotel, right in the middle of the old town.

We were desperate for a non-Italian food, so we found a delightful steakhouse called Little London.

We watched the Glockenspiel clock performance in Marienplatz. It only dances at 10 am and 11 am.

Viktualienmarkt, a great European market, was right around the corner. We wandered through the stalls looking at plants, food, and crafts.

St. Peter's Church was bombed heavily during WWII so it was basically recreated after the war. You can go up to the talk and walk around the tower, but we didn't do that. The church has lots of bejeweled skeletons, including St. Munditia, Patron Saint of Spinsters

We had lunch down the street at Trattoria Pizzeria La Valle, and then HG and I set out for some retail therapy.

We had dinner at Ciao Bella.

Hohenschwangau Castle and Neuschwanstein Castle were a must on my list for Germany! King Ludwig grew up at Hohenschwangau and built Neuschwanstein (along with MANY others, but he didn't get to finish this one before his suspicious death). I was so confused with how to tour them (where to catch a shuttle, which order to see them, uphill/ downhill, etc.), so I ended up going with a tour guide, and we couldn't have done it without him! Our wonderful guide Amir from Special Private Tours Germany took care of all our details, and we just followed him around. First, we had lunch at Ludwig's Stuberl- they had chicken tenders! Then, we walked to Hohenschwangau, "High Swan County"- the only way to get there, and it's uphill. The tour was ticketed, 45-min long, and with a group listening to headsets. After that, we walked down the hill, got on a shuttle, and rode up to the base of the two trails- one up to Mary's Bridge and one down to Neuschwanstein, "New Swan Stone." The line at the bridge was LONG (start running as soon as you get off the shuttle), but the view was worth it. The walk down to the castle was beautiful and had a great view of the town and Hohenschwangau. The tour of Neuschwanstein was timed, 30-min long, and with a group listening to headsets. After the tour, we walked down another path to meet the horse and buggies. Sweet Amir had Austrian donuts waiting on us, and we were so excited. The rest of the ride down the mountain was spent on the carriage with delicious sugar!

Approaching the village, you can see both castles

Hohenschwangau- there's a guest 'castle' on the right, and the family 'castle' on the left as you look up the hill at it. This is part of the guest castle as we climbed.

Looking back down on the village

The royal bath

The family castle that you can tour

The best view from the family castle- and the only place inside you can take a photo. This was Ludwig's family home, and his mama loved to hike (even had pants made- gasp!). She loved to lounge here and see the mountains.

Then we walked back down the hill, hopped on a shuttle, and rode uphill to see Neuschwanstein. As soon as the shuttle parks, everyone RUNS to get in line to see the view of Neuschwanstein from Mary's Bridge. It was worth the wait, but it was a lot of work to get there! The line was long, and there were a lot of 'skippers.'

View of Neuschwanstein from the bridge. We only had about 30 seconds with HG before she bolted back to solid ground.

Once you get off the trail to the bridge, you keep walking downhill down a new trail, and then all of a sudden, the Disney castle looms in the distance!

There's a 'door to nowhere' because construction halted when Ludwig died, and see the faces he built, mocking the local government. Cressey is fascinated by these guys.

This tour was timed/ ticketed as well, and it was 30-min with a group and headsets. You could not roam off the path and had to stay with the group.

View of Ludwig's childhood castle from the balcony of his 'new' castle that he never got to really enjoy before his untimely death

The kitchen is one place you can actually take photos

When we exited the castle, we were relieved we could walk downhill down a different path, and we found Amir waiting for us with German donuts (like a beignet) and a carriage ride! We were all so happy!

It started pouring rain on the drive home, so John and GD dropped us off at the hotel. While they returned the car, we ordered Uber Eats for pizza for dinner. It took the boys three different Sixt locations to find a place to drop off the car. WHEW! Thankfully, we flew straight from Munich to Atlanta and on to Memphis.

Austria and Germany were so kind to us, and we loved having the Formula1 race experience, getting to SEE the Sound of Music world, and learning a lot about WWII and other European history. We all enjoyed it, and Cressey will tell you she LOVED the trip. We are so thankful for the experience!!