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While our tour technically started and ended in Austria, we ended up spending most of the day back over the border in Germany. We had a tour booked at the famous Neuschwanstein Castle. We were also going to enjoy lunch together and, as long as the weather held, a spin at the luge track.
We had plenty of time to get up to the castle. We also had plenty of choices in how to get to the castle. You certainly could walk up, or you could take the shuttle bus that brings you right to Mary's bridge for the photo op of your dreams. As a horse lover, I needed to take the horse drawn carriage up. The carriage brings you to a landing below the castle. The castle is still about 15 minutes away on foot. Tour mates (and new friends!) Barbie, Andie, Kaysie, Aisiri, Arushi, and Nischi joined me on the ride.
The cool thing about these carriages is that they have an electric motor on board that helps the horse pull the carriage up the hill. Once we climbed up to the castle, we mingled with the rest of our group who had taken all three ways up the hill. Soon it was time for our tour. While no pictures were allowed inside, I can assure you it was beautiful!
There was time allotted for us to walk back to the bus. Those of us who rode up with the horses missed Mary's bridge before our castle tour. We decided we would hurry up to the bridge take a few quick pictures and then hurry down to the bus. Boy, did we underestimate the sheer number of people waiting to get on the bridge. Some of the group went ahead and sweet talked one of the officials into letting them on to the bridge for a nanosecond to take a picture. Forutne favors the bold I suppose!
Given that Mary's bridge was a 20 minute hike away from the castle, we were really cutting it close to the time we needed to be back on the bus. I don't think I've walked that fast in a long time and I was really grateful that it was downhill the whole way! We made it all the way from the bridge to the farthest parking lot with three minutes to spare. We were all very impressed with ourselves. If I could do this all again, I would take the shuttle bus directly to the bridge first, then ride the horse carriage back down to the bottom.
All that hoofing it made us work up an appetite! I was looking forward to another group meal together. I had been impressed by each one so far. Today we enjoyed more traditional German fare. We had sausage, sauerkraut, potatoes, and a lovely pancake dessert. After having the option to explore sites in our own way, it was nice to catch up with our friends and hear about how they spent their time.
The weather was looking perfect for our post lunch luge ride. The luge is like a sled but on a metal track. You're pulled up to the top of the track by a metal cable and once you get to the top you're let go and you control your speed with a break. The less you touch the break, the faster you go. The first go around most of us played it pretty safe speed wise. Once we experienced what it was like, a lot of us embraced our inner speed demon the second time!
This was a really fun experience and we all enjoyed cheering each other on as we made it to the end of the track.
After all that excitement, it was time to kick back and relax at the hotel before dinner. I enjoyed a drink at the hotel bar and caught up with some friends. This tour had a nice balance of on the go time and time to just unwind at the end of the day.
Before dinner tonight, we had to introduce our tour buddy (remember the buddy system?) It was nice to learn a bit more about each of our tourmates, who were all starting to feel like friends at this point of the tour. Some of the introductions were funny, some were touching, but they all brought us closer together.
Tonight's dinner was a group dinner. We shared a wild garlic soup, and I had potato croquettes and pork escarole. We capped our dinner with a gooseberry panna cotta-type dessert. Yum!
I capped the day checking in with the folks back home before lights out. Tomorrow, we were off on our next big adventure: Italy!
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