Castles, Sound of Music, and New Friends!

Playing hearts on our way to Munich

Three weeks ago, I took a trip with 8 other people to Munich and Salzburg. Half the group left Thursday around 1:30 for Liege, Belgium and the other half was going to follow later that afternoon. I went with the earlier group. From Liege we took an ICE train to Cologne, Germany. We were supposed to take another ICE train from Cologne to Munich, but we missed it somehow. We ended up taking a slower train and didn't get to Munich until around later that night. We ended up playing cards on the way there to pass the time. It was a pretty long trip. We walked to the hostel from the train station. It wasn't too far of a walk but it certainly was a cold night! After checking into the Wombat (the hostel) we decided to grab a bite to eat, so we headed back toward the train station where we ran into the other group who took the faster train. We all went to Burger King and then immediately went back to the hostel where we chilled in the lounge area. Even though we felt like going out, we were pretty tired and knew we had to wake up early the next morning in order to see Neuschwanstein Castle.

Neuschwanstein Schloss from the bridge

The next day we boarded a train to head to Schloss Neuschwanstein (schloss means castle in German). It took about two hours to get there and we ended up really close to the mountains. It was freezing! I wished I dressed more warmly but once I got numb, it didn't really matter. We took a horse-drawn carriage up the mountain to where the castle was. It wasn't actually too far from the town so I felt like I wasted 6 euros but oh well. The castle was huge up close and the inside was pretty impressive. We weren't allowed to take pictures of the inside but I managed to sneak some pics. After touring the castle we went down to the little town next to the castles and an amazing dinner. I had schnitzel with mushroom sauce. It was amazing.

Jumping in front of the famous pavilion... It's kinda small

Luka's on the left, Sandra's on the right

The next day, one of the girls, Lily, and I wanted to go on the Sound of Music tour. The others decided to do a walking city tour of Munich and meet with us later at the Yoho Hostel in Salzburg, Austria. Lily and I did the Sound of Music tour and it was fun! We got to sing some Sound of Music songs and met some awesome South African girls who became our friends for the remainder of that trip. Their names were Sandra and Luka. During the tour we got to taste the best apple strudel ever! It was sooooo goooood. After the Sound of Music tour, Lily and I headed to the hostel to meet up with the other group that should have arrived by then. Turns out that Sandra and Luka were staying at the same hostel too, so we followed them there. The group we were with didn't arrive any time soon, so Sandra, Luka, Lily, and I hit the town for some grubbin. We went to O'Malleys that had some amazing pizza for a cheap price. Everyone was really tired so we headed back to the hostel pretty early after walking around Salzburg for a bit. We met up with the rest of our group in the hostel. Luka and Sandra were planning on waking up early to see the castle on top of this huuugggeee hill and Bianca, Lily, and I decided to join them Sunday morning. The rest of the group hadn't seen Salzburg, so they were just going to walk around until the train came.

I had a really nice view from there.

The castle was amazing but getting there was a real physical feat. I had a real good workout just climbing the stairs and walking the slanted path. It really made me wonder how difficult it would have been to attack that castle with a heavy sword and shield, walking up a steep slope, trying to keep from falling... Oh well. The view from the castle was impressive, and the museum inside the castle was interesting as well. Lily, Bianca, and I had a train to catch, so we said our goodbyes to Sandra and Luka at the castle. It was fun hanging with them and I hope I get to see those girls again in the future sometime. Maybe when I visit South Africa in the future. :) Munich, Neuschwanstein Castle, and Salzburg were all fun. My only regret is that I didn't get to see more of Munich. Oh well, maybe I'll go back someday. 

BEST APPLE STRUDEL EVER