Hohenschwangau & Neuschwanstein Castles

Last weekend we loaded up and took our first overnight trip since coming to Germany.  We drove a couple of hours to see Neuschwanstein Castle (this is the castle that Walt Disney designed Cinderella's castle after).  We also had two more castles on our itinerary for the weekend trip.  Each castle trip is definitely a history lesson!  We learned A LOT about King Ludwig II on this trip...very interesting!

The first day we started out at Hohenschwangau Castle and then on to Neuschwanstein Castle.  We were the last tour of the evening at Neuschwanstein, and the bus and carriage rides had stopped running...so we had to walk the entire way down to the little town (and our van)!!  We were tuckered out and ready to go explore our hotel!  We were pleasantly surprised by our hotel...it was very nice!

The next day we had planned to drive a little ways to another castle...but we were "castled" out, and instead decided to drive out to a church that was described as "one of the most beautiful churches in Germany."  It did NOT disappoint!!  Very beautiful!

Then we took a long route home to stop at the Augsburg Christmas Market....our first visit to a Christmas Market!  It was amazing!!  But also VERY crowded!!  And Germans are not known for being polite in crowds!  After about an hour, we had all had our fill of crowds...and we gladly headed home...with a few German goodies in hand!

All in all, it was a fun weekend!!  The castles were amazing, the church was beautiful, and the Christmas market was more than I imagined.  But, it was a LOT of work, too!!  Little R is still a stroller rider most of the time, especially in crowds where he gets intimidated.  But the stroller wasn't feasible for most of this trip...so R and I carried him pretty much the whole time.  He weighs 38 pounds, and that is over my limit after about 5 minutes!!  So poor R took the majority of the load, and he was exhausted!!  And little R just isn't impressed with the castles!  He thinks they are spooky, and wants to leave as soon as we get inside the rooms!  So most of this trip wasn't very exciting for him.  Hopefully as he gets a little older he will enjoy all these amazing sights we are seeing over here...

This was our drive to the castles...

A little more of the drive...

We found the mountains!!

Most towns in Germany look the same...you can't really tell one from another...

This was the drive up to the village where the castles are...can you say BRRRRRR???

Hohenschwangau Castle...where Ludwig II spent summers as a child

Neuschwanstein Castle up on the hill.  It didn't look too glamorous...they were doing some work on it, and there was scaffolding everywhere!!

Walking the short trip up to Hohenschwangau Castle.  Little R was fresh out of the van and having fun at this point!

Neuschwanstein Castle....don't tell Ludwig II, but I think Walt Disney's version is better!

The view from Neuschwanstein Castle

Neuschwanstein again..

The bridge!  I made a command decision, and no Willises ventured near the bridge!

The sunset over the mountains as we were walking down from Neuschwanstein

Our hotel room!!

With a private bath!!

This is Wieskirche.  It is literally out in the middle of nowhere!

The inside was AMAZING!!  There was so much to see, you didn't know where to look first!

The pipe organ...

The pearly gates??

The woodwork was amazing too!  This is for you PaPa...thought this would impress you!

More of the paintings on the ceilings...

The Christmas Market in Augsburg...can you say CROWDED????

Enjoying the Christmas Market...but it was cold!

This is what little R thought of the Christmas market!! : )  He fell asleep holding the tractor we bought for him.

This was the most "blinged out" carousel I had ever seen!!  And it went FAST!!  It was too much for little R...he decided to forego the carousel ride this time...