Because most things in European cities close on Easter, we decided to spend the day driving around the Bavarian and Austrian countryside.
Our first stop was Neuschwanstein Castle, which were originally ruins of an older castle that was reconstructed by King Ludwig II of Bavaria in 1864. Ludwig II wanted to live like a medieval king, and so he had several castles and residences built in Bavaria, each with a certain element of whimsy. He was later deemed unfit to rule and assassinated, which seems like a shame because after visiting two of his palaces, I think I would have gotten along marvelously with him!
The drive was beautiful - it was foggy and overcast, and we could see the mountains looming in the distance. When we got there, we had to park the car and take a horse-drawn carriage up to the top of the hill. It was probably the most whimsical thing I've ever done - taking a buggy up the side of a mountain to a palace - and I couldn't help but smiling the whole way up. For most of the way, the forest blocks the view of the castle, and so when I first saw it I actually gasped. It was just so beautiful, up on a mountain, in the middle of a huge, dark-green forest.
We took a short tour of the castle - there are only so many rooms to see because to this day it remains unfinished. We weren't allowed to take pictures of the inside, and even though I sneaked a few, they unfortunately didn't turn out very well. It was very beautiful, and each room was more ornate than the last.
Our next stop was Linderhof, another castle that was built by Ludwig II. To get there, we had to drive through the mountains. The driving was a little scary, but it was absolutely beautiful and we pulled over several times to take pictures. Here are some of the beautiful shots I was able to get:
Ludwig II's influence for building Linderhof came from his visit to Versailles. He used the symbolism of the Sun King in his own palace, and even though it is much smaller than Neuschwanstein, it is still very beautiful. We didn't actually go in, but we got to explore the outside and the gardens.
After spending some time enjoying the atmosphere at Linderhof, we drove to our next destination: Innsbruck. We had to drive through some more mountains, and this time into Austria. We were so excited about being in the mountains that we listened to the Sound of Music soundtrack! I even took a video during the Lonely Goatherd song. The day would not have been complete without us getting into some sort of trouble, and this was accomplished when Meredith got pulled over for speeding. Not only was she going 25 kilometers over the speed limit, but she also was driving without an international driver's license (we didn't know Austria required this).
So Meredith went away with the cop, and Katrina and I just sat in the car, terrified of what was going on. I kept thinking we were going to have to call someone to come get us because none of us were legally able to drive in Austria. When Meredith came back, though, she said that the cop recognized that she was terrified (she told us that she kept half-shouting, "I HAVE MY PASSPORT!") and instead of writing her a ticket, he just sold her an international driver's license. She still got a speeding ticket, but it was only 30 euros, so we really got off easy.
When we got to Innsbruck, we really needed to get something to eat, but seeing as how most of the restaurants were closed, we wound up eating at the Happy Wok. The food was actually really good, but I had to stop and think about the hilarity of the situation: there we were, on Easter, in Innsbruck, eating Chinese food.We didn't have too long to explore Innsbruck because it was already late afternoon and we didn't want to be driving home through the mountains in the dark. The buildings in Innsbruck are so cute - they're very colorful and they all have the same unique type of architectural style. At one end of the town, there is a great view of the Alps. I also thought it was funny that they had large Easter eggs placed all over the city in celebration of the holiday.
When we returned to Meredith's cousin's house (right outside of Munich, where we stayed for the weekend), we had a nice Easter dinner waiting for us. Even though part of me wishes I could have been with family on Easter, eating candy and hunting for Easter eggs, the greater part thinks I got the better end of the deal!
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