Canadian Buffoon European Vacation - 30/03 - Endings and Silver Linings

[lisaviolet]

Maybe later... if you're a good girl.

Hopefully, I'm not. Just POST THE CAR ALREADY!!!!

Actually, no.
But when in Rome....

If you ever watched Kids in the Hall, you'll have a pretty good idea of what kind of drinks I like.

You like *girl* drinks?


Wish be luck, I'm going to catch up! I should do it with a rum and coke in hand.

 

[lisaviolet]

Swan song

Big day today.
The view from our balcony:



Nice.

Now, it's confession time.
Both those shots were taken two or three days after we arrived.

Umm, we knew. You set it up a little too well. Transparency. Just sharing. I'll stop.

Because on this day... the weather was crappy... carpy? pracy?

It was humid and foggy and drizzly and generally miserable.
It wasn't going to stop us from going out, but I was really hoping for a nice sunny cloud free day.
Especially today.

You'll see why later.

NO!!!! I think that kind of weather makes for beautiful pictures. So no. Who cares about your walk and comfort?
Breakfast was included in our hotel stay and... well...

I could go on and on about how amazing it was, but how about I just show you?

Yes, show us. Show us, show us! (yes, I already know that you showed us.

She guided us to our reserved table where carafes of coffee were waiting for us.

When you walk in, this is the first thing you see.



WOW!!!! HEAVENLY! I was really hoping for a close up of that fruit plate. Drat.

On the left are three types of juices and on the right are fresh sliced fruit.
If you walk around to the other end of this table, you'll see...



Several different flavours of yogurt, jams and more kinds of grains and oats and who knows what that I knew even existed.

Love it. YOu know what it reminded me of though, the set up, you know those science exams where you walked around and answered from real life models.

When you walked in, a glance to the left revealed another table.
(note the metal contraption in the middle)





On that table you would find boiled eggs, crusty breads...




You REALLY lucked out here. Geez.
And a selection of meats and cheeses.



I swear, I thought I'd died and gone to heaven.
Easily the best breakfast spread of the whole trip.

I guess so! What a perfect breakfast. I would have reoccurring dreams of such a spread. I detest buffets but this one is heavenly.


I think my favorite part was grabbing a fresh crusty loaf, chopping off a couple of slabs and piling on different spreads, meats and cheeses.

Oh, cheeses it was good!

Stop the description. PLEASE for the love of God, please!!!

Gee, I guess I never mentioned that, huh?

Today we were going to Neuschwanstein.

Huh? My mouth feels very mangled.

Now a few of you are going
While the rest of you are going

Thought so but had so little confidence in myself.

I first visited Neuschwanstein when I was about 10 years old.
Ruby and I visited it in 1994.

Lucky!

Oh. My. Lord.
Things have really, really changed since then.

Back then, all you did was show up, walk (or take a horse drawn carriage) up the road, buy a ticket and take a tour of the castle.
Made me smile. Isn't that something?

If you didn't make it up to the castle for your tour time, then you'd have to go back down and buy another set.

Harsh! Such pressure.

 

[lisaviolet]

Okay, no problem, right?
I approached the ticket office and my heart sank.
There was no way if I got in that line that we'd have enough time to get our tickets and make it up to the castle for our tour.

I looked around and saw an entrance for tour guides.
I walked over and asked a man if I had to stand in line if I already had a reservation.
He directed me to a lady wearing a reflective vest.
She told me that there was another line for people with reservations.

Smart!

She pointed and <phew!> what a relief!
There were only about twelve people in that line.

Seriously, what a relief!

Once I got in line, I grabbed the camera and took a picture of how busy it was.



Does everybody recognize the gentleman with the cap who's looking at the camera?

You should. You've all seen him.
Or at least, you've seen that look.

You know, the "why are you so special that you can skip the line?" look that you get as you use your fastpass.



Funny. I always walk with my head down like I've done something wrong. My friend walks almost banging her chest about it. SO funny.

Anyway... It's pretty packed, huh?
Not too bad?
I forgot to mention that the line extended outside under a covered awning.

Holy!



Holy, part deux.

Yep, all those people are standing in line for tickets.

You're still not impressed?
Boy, tough crowd.

Okay, here's my last shot.

The line snaked through the building, outside and under the awning where it wound back and forth for a bit before...



Holy ____________!

stretching about a quarter mile or more down the road!

Thank goodness I'd done my research and pre-ordered!!!

Yes!
There was a lineup for the parking lot but we got in fairly quickly and managed to squeeze into a space after having to do a six point turn.

Quarters were a trifle cramped.


We got out of the car and looked up.
This is what we saw.



I seriously gasped. Beautiful shot.


There are three ways of getting up to the castle.
1. You can walk. Walking takes about 40 minutes... all up hill.
2. You can take a carriage. Also takes about 40 minutes... them horses ain't runnin'. But it's less strenuous.
For me at least. I can't speak for the horses.
3. You can take a bus.

See, I would have gone for the walk. Wait, totally uphill. Hmm, horsies!

So! Who feels like walking???

What a joyous moment!
About half way up, it suddenly occurred to me that Ruby had the tickets.
I sent Elle back down to retrieve them.

That's what kids are for, ya know.
To get stuff.

Yep!

Eventually, we rounded a corner and were greeted with this view.



Phew! We still have a good 10 minutes before tour time!

Lovely.

I told Elle to wait for the others and I ran ahead, to see how much farther it was.
It was only about another minute or so walk to the castle.
I took a couple of snaps as I got closer.





I ran back to Elle to tell her it wasn't much farther, then set off downhill to see how far back Ruby and Kay were.
I was pleased, and surprised, to see them just a hundred or so feet away.

We got to the castle courtyard with about 5 minutes to spare.


It turns out it probably wouldn't have mattered that Elle and I ran ahead.

Inside the courtyard is a big electronic sign.
On the sign is the number for the tour that is being admitted.
When the number changes, there is a surge for the turnstyles.
You have to swipe your ticket in order to get through.
I don't remember exactly how long you have to go through, but I think it's about 10 minutes.
Once the time is up, the number changes again and if you didn't enter on time, you're out of luck.
Go straight to jail, do not pass Go, you just blew it.

Holy crap!


<<<Continued next post>>>

Can't wait for the next! Let's see what kind of puzzle this is going to be to post, this time! EDIT: It went perfectly! Except I think I screwed with your colour choice! Oh well, better than last time.

 

[lisaviolet]

Swan song (continued)

Neuschwanstein castle is actually the third castle built by the eccentric King Ludwig II of Bavaria.

The foundation was laid in 1869 and construction continued until 1886.
Ludwig spent an inordinate amount of money on his castles.
Despite pleas from his cabinet ministers, he did not curb his spending.

Wow, that's what you call stubborn.

Ironically, Ludwig used only his own private funds and money that he personally borrowed to fund the castle.

After Ludwig's death, his uncle became regent and six weeks later visitors were paying to see the castle.

In another ironic twist, Ludwig's castles were the largest source of income for the royal family up until WWI.
To this day, Bavaria is the wealthiest State in Germany, in large part thanks to Ludwig's castles.

Interesting.

Swan song (continued)


Unfortunately, photography is not permitted inside the castle.
I'm not really sure why.

Could be the flash from the cameras is causing damage to the paintings.
Could be they just want to sell picture books in the giftshop.

Could it be because it's ugly? I'm sorry, really I'm sorry. I've started my rum and coke.

]The drawing room...

That room would be my personal hell. Seriously. Seems like a dungeon to me. What did you think in person?

My favorite two rooms coming up, although I only have a picture of one.
The first is the bedroom.

Well, I guess that answers my question. Whoopsie.

Two things that stand out.
If you look above the bed, you'll see ornate carved woodwork.
It took fourteen artists more than four years to carve.

Also, you'll notice on the far right there's a large door, but a smaller door is shown open.
That's a secret door. It's indistinguishable from all the other panels in the room.
And yes, they lead to different rooms/hallways.

It was in this room that Ludwig was arrested.
Which begs the question: If you have a secret door, why don't you use it???

Yeah, really?

Four years to carve. Wow. Can you imagine?

After passing through the grotto, I took this shot of the view from a window.
(pictures were allowed from the castle, just not of the inside.)

Gorgeous.

I pick cake.

Every.

Time.

It was a surreal experience to be sitting in a fantasy filled gothic castle while munching on cake.

Yes! And I bet.

 

[pkondz]

Hopefully, I'm not. Just POST THE CAR ALREADY!!!!

Patience is a virtue.
Are you not virtuous?

You like *girl* drinks?

You did watch it!
Don't tell anybody... but yeah.
I'll take a frozen strawberry margarita over a beer anyday.

Wish be luck, I'm going to catch up! I should do it with a rum and coke in hand.

That's probably the best way to read my TR.

Umm, we knew. You set it up a little too well. Transparency. Just sharing.

Yeah, but then I thought, "Someone's going to say, "Hey! You said it was cloudy! Where are the clouds! ponzi's a filthy liar! Let's get him!!!!""

While I agree with the 'liar' part and even more with the 'filthy' part... I didn't want to get lynched (either figuratively or literally).

NO!!!! I think that kind of weather makes for beautiful pictures. So no. Who cares about your walk and comfort?

Me! That's who!

Although I do agree with your comment about weather.
The best conditions for photography is not a bright sunny day, but a reasonably bright overcast day, to eliminate harsh shadows.

But this day was too cloudy... I wanted a picture of the castle from the bridge, but... nope.

WOW!!!! HEAVENLY! I was really hoping for a close up of that fruit plate. Drat.

All you had to do was ask.



From left to right... ummm... I don't remember, but I'm gonna say cherries? On the far left?
After that it's oranges, kiwis, apples, grapefruit, cantaloupe, honeydew melon, watermelon and pineapple.

Love it. YOu know what it reminded me of though, the set up, you know those science exams where you walked around and answered from real life models.

ummm.... Ya know. I was thinking that I'd like to go back there some day... but now....

Stop the description. PLEASE for the love of God, please!!!

I always walk with my head down like I've done something wrong. My friend walks almost banging her chest about it. SO funny.

I always try and look like, "Yes. I did in fact pay copious amounts of cash for this privilege that you, the lowly common folk, could never, ever hope to achieve."

Hey! If they don't want to do even the absolute minimum amount of research and want to believe it's extra, who am I to disabuse them of their beliefs?

On the other hand, I'm always willing to help if someone asks, or looks lost around the machine.

I seriously gasped. Beautiful shot.

Thanks!
But now you see why I was so upset that it was too cloudy to get the shot I really wanted.

Can't wait for the next! Let's see what kind of puzzle this is going to be to post, this time! EDIT: It went perfectly! Except I think I screwed with your colour choice! Oh well, better than last time.

Yep. You're improving.

<sniff> It's so sad when the little ones grow up and leave the nest.

Wow, that's what you call stubborn.

I know! Crazy, right?
I mean the Germans are known for their laziness and being flighty...

That room would be my personal hell. Seriously. Seems like a dungeon to me. What did you think in person?

Those pictures really didn't do the rooms justice. They're muddy and dull. In reality the rooms are very bright and all the gold gleams.
Not my type of decor, though. It's really way, waaaay over the top.

Four years to carve. Wow. Can you imagine?

It really has to be seen to be appreciated. It's pretty amazing.

 

[bankr63]

German roads, take me home
To the place, I belong
Love the breakfast, love the bratwurst
Take me home, German roads

Good One! Or not; now JD is a firmly stuck ear worm. Just as long as it doesn't switch over to Grandma's Feather Be... Oh, PRAC!!!

That's a good thing!
More places to go... you have to, now that you've got the books, right?

Woohooo!!!!
You wouldn't believe how many travel books I have for places I've yet to go to! Now I have to go because Pkondz says so!!


Coming your way next TM/W. I managed to catch your subtle advertisement...

 

[pkondz]

Good One! Or not; now JD is a firmly stuck ear worm.

Glad I could help!

(Or hinder... as the case may be.)


PSA. If you stick Jack Daniels in your ear... you're doing it wrong.

Woohooo!!!!
You wouldn't believe how many travel books I have for places I've yet to go to! Now I have to go because Pkondz says so!!

It's a rule.

Coming your way next TM/W. I managed to catch your subtle advertisement...

You caught it!
Great!
Ummm... now what was it?

And what is TM/W?

 

[pkondz]

Taken for a ride

Suddenly!




What? You want more?
But isn't that enough?

It's got drama, suspense, grabs the reader right away and ends on a cliff hanger.
Geez, some people are so hard to please!


Yesterday, (in TR days... which are dissimilar to dog years) we visited King Ludwig's castle.

So what to do, what to do?

I know! Let's go visit King Ludwig's castle!


um.


Before you run off, grumbling, "Seen there, read that"...

hello?

shoot. Everyone ran off already.


Well, in case anyone comes back, I'll post the rest of the chapter.



If anyone's still out there in DISboards land,
It's a different castle!

Ludwig built, or partially built three castles.
Today we were going to go visit Linderhof castle,
the only one that was finished.

I knew there wouldn't be anywhere near the same amount of people there, so we weren't in a big rush.
We slept in a bit and then went down for breakfast.

Well, three of us did.
Kay wasn't quite ready to face the world, yet.
So she asked me to steal a croissant and some Nutella for her.

I know I ate a lot.
Of course I did! Didn't you see that spread?
Go back to the previous chapter and just look at it!

But don't drool on your keyboard.
It'll short something out and I can't afford to lose any more readers.

On second thought... don't look.
Just keep reading.

And all you lurkers out there...
Post a blurb or simply copy and paste this line: "Oh my! This TR is super amazing!!!!"
(please include a minimum of four exclamation points, and not more then eighty four... that's just sucking up.)

Ruby wheeled me back to our room, (wheelbarrow... too full to walk... remember?)
and on the way we dropped off a purloined croissant and spread for Kay.

We left for the castle around 11:30am.
And no kidding, boy was that fun!

First off, it was a nice sunny day.
(why, oh why, couldn't it have been sunny yesterday?)

Second... I took a wrong turn.


Now some of the more astute of you are crying out,
"Wait a second! You've got that fancy schmancy car with the head's up display GPS. What kind of a loser are you?"


That hurts.
I'm a sensitive guy, ya know.

<snicker>


Anyway, we came up to a... I think most folk call 'em 'roundabouts'?
And the GPS had a circle with an arrow sticking out of it at an odd angle...
and I picked the wrong exit.

No big deal.

"Recalculating... you ignorant foreign devil."


GPSes can be cruel.


So it recalculated the route, but instead of taking us back to the highway,
it took us along a winding, mountain road.

Winding road.
No traffic.
Breathtaking scenery.
Ridiculously high speed limit.

Here's a quick vid that Ruby shot.
(yes, that's her giggling away)
Anyway... enjoy...



Man! That was fun!



Place incredibly smooth segue here!




I was right.
There's not too many people at Linderhof.
There are visitors... but not anywhere near the madness that we experienced the day before.

I think there was maybe two or three people ahead of me when I went to buy the tickets.

When you get to the castle, there are two lines.
One for German tours and one for... everything else, but mostly English.
(I'm pretty sure our guide asked if there were any French speaking guests.
Might have been other languages mentioned, but I don't remember.)

The walk from the ticket office to the castle is nowhere near as daunting as the one up to Neuschwanstein.

It's more of a leisurely stroll as opposed to a forced march.



Probably no more than 5 minutes later, we were at the castle.
The next tour wasn't going to start for a few minutes, so I walked around a bit to take pictures...

Just for you.

Boy, I'm really wonderful, aren't I?
(Do NOT answer that!!!)



As you can see, the castle is considerably different, and smaller, then Neuschwanstein.

In the middle of the pool, is a fountain that shoots water 80 feet in the air every half hour.



Unfortunately (or fortunately if you are graphically disinclined) once again, no photos are allowed inside.

It's really too bad, because I had this really spiffy photo of Wills and Kate that I was going to bring in with me.
I left it outside, and when I got back, it was gone.

I did find this photo of the King's bedroom which is pretty representative of the rest of the castle.

Fairly understated.
The chandelier has 108 candles.
Lots of fun lighting it every evening, I'm sure.

But the guy who got to blow out those candles must've felt like it was his birthday...

Every.
Flipping.
Day.


Happy Birthday to me!
I'm 108 again, yippee!


One thing I'd like to mention about the unseen-by-you interior:
The King was very solitary.
The dining room features a table that can be lowered to the floor below.
This way, the staff could place all the food on the table
and then raise it back up without being seen.

The castle is surrounded by formal gardens and outlying small buildings.





We walked around the exterior of the castle, seeing the gardens, then made our way to a man-made grotto.



Ludwig had a completely artificial grotto built where he could listen to Wagnerian opera while being rowed about an artificial lake in a golden swan boat.

Dunno... Doesn't seem too over the top, does it?



There was some discussion amongst ourselves as to whether or not the water was... well... water.

It was so flat that we thought it might possibly have been replaced with plexiglass or something.
That makes sense, doesn't it?
Everything else is covered in glass or plexi, and you don't want the grotto to rust, right?

I took a miniscule piece of sand that was lying on the ground and tossed it.

Yup.

Water.


There's a brief show where they turn on (and off) a waterfall and coloured lights.
Sorry, I'm old. Is that politically correct?
"European" lights.
Better?

Moot point about whether or not the lake is real water after they turned on the waterfall and several hundred gallons poured into it.


When we exited back into the sunshine, we strolled along to the Moorish Kiosk
which was originally built for the Paris Exhibition of 1867.





Ludwig liked it so much, that he bought it.







After having our fill of opulence and decadence, we did the only thing that we could do...

We stopped at the little town of Ettal and had Torte (cake!)

I mean... Of course, right?


Ruby said she wanted to go do some window shopping,
so we decided to head to the mountain resort city of Garmisch-Partenkirchen.

We got there a little after 4pm.

Who knew that an entire city shuts down at 4pm?
The place was almost deserted!
See for yourself...





Good thing we had dessert before we got here!

Well, alright. We know when we're not wanted.
(which is pretty often, actually)

Since Garmisch is closed, we'll go to Mittenwald instead.


<<<continued next post>>>

 

[pkondz]

Taken for a ride (cont)

<<<continued from last post>>>

Did I mention that Bavaria is picturesque?
Scenic?
Jaw droppingly gorgeous?

Some of the scenery on the drive there:










Mittenwald is a picture postcard little village nestled at the foot of the Alps.
It's best known as the place where violins are crafted.



You can't see them from this angle, but on the right was a sign for a Chinese restaurant and on the left was a small Pizza joint.
(And yes.... they very much jarred with their surroundings.)

Both girls immediately decided that we should have Chinese food for supper.
I still wanted to have traditional German dishes (when in Rome),
but decided that if I wanted to come out of this trip alive, I'd better acquiesce to their demands.
We walked up to the restaurant and, glancing inside, discovered that it was no longer in business.
Kay, being the pragmatic one, insisted that pizza and only pizza would do.
I managed to forestall the inevitable by saying we'd walk around a little before making any decisions.
Sure enough, a little farther down (at the corner, on the left) was what looked to be a good traditional German fare restaurant.

We continued walking, but by then I'd pretty much made up my mind where I wanted to eat.

As we strolled along...



The restaurant is just to the left, off camera.
You can just see one patron sitting outside under an umbrella.
On the other side, is Elle.



This wasn't it, but it gives you an idea at least.



Many buildings in Bavaria are painted with 'Lüftlmalerei' – frescoes depicting Bavarian myths, religious scenes and fairytales.



We walked a little further before turning back due to sheer starvation.



We walked back to the German restaurant and had a bit of an issue.
I was quite sure that I didn't want to get take-out pizza and stand in the street to eat it.
Elle said that she was in Germany and wanted to eat at the German restaurant.
Kay was equally adamant that she absolutely, no fooling, her life depends on this, as God is her witness must, MUST have pizza.

In order to curtail WWIII, we decided that we would sit down at an outside table at the German restaurant, order food for the three of us,
then, while we waited, I'd take Kay to get her pizza.
I warned her that she might have to wait until we were done eating before she could eat hers.
(I thought the restaurant might frown on us bringing in our own food)

It worked out well, actually.
I took Kay, and by the time her pizza was cooked and we got back, the rest of the food had just been served.
If the waiter noticed, he never mentioned Kay's pizza
(which she did eat at the table.)

Of course, maybe he did mention it.
Maybe he even cursed and swore he'd never let us eat there again.

If so, he did it in German and I remain, to this day, blissfully ignorant of his outrage.

Of note for this meal, was my first taste, this trip, of sauerkraut.
Elle, who had insisted on a German restaurant, ordered a cheeseburger.





After dinner, we headed back to the car.
I took one last picture and then we drove back to the hotel.



Back at the hotel, the kids settled in to catch up with their iPods.
Ruby and I decided to take a walk.

We walked over to the Reewee. Which was the name for the grocery store.
I don't know if it was a chain or not, but we thought the name was funny.

Inside, we decided to grab some chips and drinks.
Drinks were easy, Diet Coke for Ruby, full strength Coke for me.

Chips... not so easy.

We couldn't find them!
We looked and looked and finally found a small area of bottom shelving where they were located.

Oddly enough, the beer section of the store was HUGE!

Shows you where the priorities around there were.

We sashayed back to our hotel, checked on the rugrats and settled in to our room.

I was quite content.
We'd had a very nice day.
And now I was going to settle in on the balcony, relax and scribble down a few notes for the TR.

I got my iPod.
Grabbed my chips and Coke.
Snagged a pillow so I could put my feet up.
Got all nice and comfy.
Opened the chips, arranged within easy reaching distance.
Popped open the Coke, placed just there.


aaaaaahhhhhh.......

And then I dumped the coke into my bag of chips.

 

[Backstage_Gal]

And then I dumped the coke into my bag of chips

.

That is destiny for you, you should have gotten beer! Coke in Germany is a sacrilege!

Isn't the country beautiful? I love it! Not that I would want to actually live in any of the old homes, mind you.
I definitely enjoyed Ruby's cackling LOL.

A sad fact of life. In my old hometown, there is not one single German restaurant to be found anymore. Italian, Greek, Slavic, you name it, not a single German one. Ticked me off to no end the last few times I was there.

Thanks for the chapter!

 

[smidgy]

great chapter ponzie!

when you were talking about the roundabout, all I could think of was Clark Griswold in England.. "I can't get left! Big Ben, kids... I can't get left!!!!!!"

the one time we obrrowed a GPS, I kept getting mad at it. I think the thing is, once you veer from it's directions, it keeps trying to get you back to it's original plan. even tho it SAYS it's recalcualting, I think it's plotting.

I had NO idea Germany was so beautiful!! I guess I don't know what I thought it looked like. since I'l; at least half German, and nebo is 100% German, you'd think I would know this.

I found out recently from my aunt that my great grandma came from Danzig, Germany, which now actually is in Poland. she, and my grandma, and my aunt, made dishes called holopsia (sp?) and botahaya, which were like cabbage rolls (glumke) and pierogies. no one I talked to has heard of these dishes, included Marita OR wikipedia. go figure.

anyway, it is gorgeous!!! I love the little town with the Alps in the background.

what was that litttle canal? stream with walls? in the street by the restaurant? hope it wasn't to dump the "waste".

it is so funny about the girls. one insisting on pizza, and the other insisting on a german restaurant, then ordering a burger!!!

now the castles,. someone actually lived in them, right? does anyone live in them now? or in any castle in Germany, I mean , I assume the queen and harry and the new "camelot" coule live in the castle in englas, right?

gee, I know so little about these things.....

 

[Backstage_Gal]

Smidgy, there is still a lot of royalty in Europe, most of whom we never hear of here in the states. European magazines are full of them. Castles are expensive to keep up though, and cold and draughty from what I hear. Some have been made over into hotels, we actually stayed in one once for a night, right on the Rhine river (where we also took the boat tour that poor Ponzi missed)

Come to think of it, twice, one was billed as Sleeping Beauty's castle, Now if I had to describe the room to you today, I have no idea, I can't recall, but there a lot of rocks on a hill.

The really neat ones to see that will amaze you, just like the opulence in Ponzi's pics, are the really old medieval ones, with beds so short you marvel how small the people were and the old medal suites (term totally escapes me right now) and weapons and the holes they shot the canons out of.

Armor, suits of armor, hah!

 

[smidgy]

The really neat ones to see that will amaze you, just like the opulence in Ponzi's pics, are the really old medieval ones, with beds so short you marvel how small the people were and the old medal suites (term totally escapes me right now) and weapons and the holes they shot the canons out of.

Armor, suits of armor, hah!

sorry, couldn't resist! but you are like me. you could have just deleted it and wrote in "armor" but you left the whole thing, forgotten word and all! THAT'S what makes it funny!!! (and you say you're not funny)


"you know, that metal suit thing they wear.....:

 

[smidgy]

that missed boat tour is going to haunt poor ponzie...

 

[MAGICFOR2]

Loved the castle updates! You got some really beautiful shots. Too funny about all the people waiting for tickets while you did your research and breezed right by, sort of. I guess people are the same everywhere you go.

Thanks so much for all the detail - I'm really enjoying your report!

 

[Mac Brew]

Thi lurker is loging in as instructed & section copied & pasted

"Oh my! This TR is super amazing!!!!"

Have been following from the start.

 

[dgthree]

Taken for a ride

And all you lurkers out there...

"Oh my! This TR is super amazing!!!!"

Happy? =)

Now, please keep showing us photos of gorgeous European sites and telling us humorous stories of your adventures. Thank you.

 

[lisaviolet]

Haven't read yet. But "oh my" those pictures are gorgeous.

 

[mmeb144]

I love your trip report. Beautiful pics that have me gasping out loud. Wonderful videos to make me laugh. And lots of history to learn about. Have I laid it on thick enough? I would like to find just one comment to latch onto to comment about, but all of your story is so funny, I'll leave the breakdown for the Bunnies. Thanks for posting another update to brighten my dreary world!!!!!

 

[pkondz]

That is destiny for you, you should have gotten beer! Coke in Germany is a sacrilege!

But... but.. I like Coke!

Oh, fine.
You're right.

Isn't the country beautiful? I love it! Not that I would want to actually live in any of the old homes, mind you.

It's so picturesque that it's almost unbelievable.
Every couple of seconds we'd gasp and just shake our heads.
Postcard vista after breathtaking postcard vista.

I definitely enjoyed Ruby's cackling LOL.

I told her and it put a smile on her face.
It definitely was a lot of fun!

A sad fact of life. In my old hometown, there is not one single German restaurant to be found anymore. Italian, Greek, Slavic, you name it, not a single German one. Ticked me off to no end the last few times I was there.

Really? That's weird. People still like to eat what they've grown up with don't they?
I mean to us over on this side of the pond it's "German" restaurants but over there it's just... restaurant, right?

If I want burgers and fries (or Chinese or Greek or Italian and I'm not in China, Greece or Italy) while travelling... I'll wait until I'm back home.

Thanks for the chapter!

You're welcome! Thanks for your input, too!

great chapter ponzie!

Thanks Smidgy!

when you were talking about the roundabout, all I could think of was Clark Griswold in England.. "I can't get left! Big Ben, kids... I can't get left!!!!!!"

Oh, shoot! I totally should have done that!

the one time we obrrowed a GPS, I kept getting mad at it. I think the thing is, once you veer from it's directions, it keeps trying to get you back to it's original plan. even tho it SAYS it's recalcualting, I think it's plotting.

So....
"Recalculating"... rubs hands gleefully together while cackling an evil laugh

I really like that... "I think it's plotting."

I had NO idea Germany was so beautiful!! I guess I don't know what I thought it looked like. since I'l; at least half German, and nebo is 100% German, you'd think I would know this.

It varies quite a bit, but the south (IMHO) is easily my favorite.

I found out recently from my aunt that my great grandma came from Danzig, Germany, which now actually is in Poland.

I think that's Gdansk now. Which is on the Baltic.

she, and my grandma, and my aunt, made dishes called holopsia (sp?) and botahaya, which were like cabbage rolls (glumke) and pierogies. no one I talked to has heard of these dishes, included Marita OR wikipedia. go figure.

I have never heard of botahaya...

BUT

holopsia... It's spelled either holubtsi or more commonly holubchi.
I don't know if anyone in Winnipeg doesn't know what holubchi is. It's a staple at fall dinners or church suppers.
It's actually a traditional Ukrainian dish (large Ukrainian population here, which explains why it's so well known.)

Does/did your mom make them with just rice? Or rice and ground beef?

anyway, it is gorgeous!!! I love the little town with the Alps in the background.

And the pictures don't really do it justice.

what was that litttle canal? stream with walls? in the street by the restaurant? hope it wasn't to dump the "waste".

Certainly not anymore! Now it's just decorative.
But I don't know if it was for flooding, watering horses, waste water or anything else.
It was just pretty, now.

it is so funny about the girls. one insisting on pizza, and the other insisting on a german restaurant, then ordering a burger!!!

I know!!
I think I looked at her, then at her burger, then back at her... then said, "Really?"

now the castles,. someone actually lived in them, right? does anyone live in them now? or in any castle in Germany, I mean , I assume the queen and harry and the new "camelot" coule live in the castle in englas, right?

gee, I know so little about these things.....

Marita already answered this, but...
The two castles we visited were meant as the king's residences.
But now all three of his castles are owned by the state and produce revenue as tourist attractions.

Come to think of it, twice, one was billed as Sleeping Beauty's castle,

There was a really interesting article I saw somewhere, that showed Sleeping Beauty's castle took elements from several different European castles.
So I guess, several castles could make that claim.

The really neat ones to see that will amaze you, just like the opulence in Ponzi's pics, are the really old medieval ones, with beds so short you marvel how small the people were

Yup. Take another look at the two bedroom pictures I posted and you'll notice that the beds are quite short... and they're not even all that old!

and the old medal suites (term totally escapes me right now) and weapons and the holes they shot the canons out of.

Armor, suits of armor, hah!

Yup. That makes me laugh too. That you left it in, then got it at the end.

that missed boat tour is going to haunt poor ponzie...

All I can say is... Yup.

Loved the castle updates! You got some really beautiful shots.

Thanks!

Too funny about all the people waiting for tickets while you did your research and breezed right by, sort of. I guess people are the same everywhere you go.

Some things never change.
"Oh, I can't be bothered to do all that research. It's just a waste of time"

...said the guy who then told his family, "Sorry, I guess we can't see the castle after all."

Thanks so much for all the detail - I'm really enjoying your report!

Glad you're enjoying it! I'm popping over to yours first thing tomorrow.

Thi lurker is loging in as instructed & section copied & pasted

"Oh my! This TR is super amazing!!!!"

Have been following from the start.

Hey Mac! Been a while!
Oh wow! Such a nice complement! And I can tell it's from the heart!
Thanks for coming out of lurkville!

"Oh my! This TR is super amazing!!!!"

Happy? =)

Yup! And I can tell you really meant it!

Now, please keep showing us photos of gorgeous European sites and telling us humorous stories of your adventures. Thank you.

Oh, I think I can promise you that!

Haven't read yet. But "oh my" those pictures are gorgeous.

Thanks! Bavaria is so breathtaking that you could probably close your eyes and just point the camera in a random direction...
and still get an awesome shot.

I love your trip report. Beautiful pics that have me gasping out loud. Wonderful videos to make me laugh. And lots of history to learn about. Have I laid it on thick enough?

Nope.
More, please.

I would like to find just one comment to latch onto to comment about, but all of your story is so funny, I'll leave the breakdown for the Bunnies. Thanks for posting another update to brighten my dreary world!!!!!

Thanks for all the very, very nice comments.
Feel free to post as many of those as you want.