Day 9: more Germany!

We needed a quick and early start, so it was a really good thing that at 6:00am I get a Facebook message from Jared: Wake up! It's 6:00!
I decided that personal alarm clocks are better than buzzers. So I got into the shower earlier than I would have and we got a better start on a very long day.
We gassed up the car in Austria, so really, we were in 4 countries in 24 hours. I feel like this is challenging me to see how many countries in Europe you can drive through in one day.
Our adventures in Germany started after a small stop in Ruette, Austria to see another old castle ruin. Dad might have been ashamed that I really didn't want to hike so early in the morning when I had just showered and felt so clean and nice, but HE went up the slope and visited the ruins while I discovered THE coolest wooden playground castle ever built. I am not being ridiculous; the videos I took might be ridiculous, but seriously I cannot exaggerate how cool this playground was. I know it would NEVER be possible to built one in the US because safety-wise there were a million ways kids could hurt themselves- I mean it is literally for climbing all over and even I was concerned with falling. I can just imagine the stupid parents who would not allow such a dangerous setup in the states. But I am totally bringing my kids here someday.
Even my dad was impressed when he came back down from the real castle.
The next stop was Oberammbergau, a tiny little town made famous because in 1633, in the hopes of saving the town from the plague after they had  suffered much loss in war, asked God to spare them and promised that in return they would hold a Passion Pageant every 10 years. No one died of the plague after the vow was made and to this day (with just some variance in the years) the town has been putting on the passion play.  It was pretty cool.  We watched a video about it which also showed some of the scenes from the 2010 performance. I was super impressed by how the actors talk about what it means to them and to the community.
We couldn't stay long but dad and I found some great cheap ice cream to enjoy as we left.
Our drive through the mountains was incredible. I feel like we took a million photos which can probably be filtered through to find the keepers. Can you imagine the quaint rolling hillsides covered in farm houses and fields and villages? But the most impressive sight were the gorgeous mountain lakes that were so clear and blue they looked tropical.  I couldn't believe my eyes. If we didn't have a pressing day and things to do after, we would have totally gone swimming and it would have been marvelous.
Our next stop filled the rest of the day- the magnificent Neunschwanstein castle.  Built by the Swan King, Leopold, just across from the castle where he grew up. Our tickets included a tour at both castles. It is wonderful that neither of these castles were destroyed during the world wars- so all of the furniture and original pieces are still there. The smaller castle is still owned by the family and the Neunschwanstein castle I owned by the government. King Leopold dies before it was completed and only spent around 100 days living in it. He was declared mentally ill and died in mysterious circumstances.  Because of money, they stopped work on the castle immediately.
Though we now get to enjoy the beauty of his creations, the man really was insane with his plans and architectural desires. Just off of the King's lavish and beautiful suit of rooms is a door that leads to a man made plaster cave. Yep- cave. In a castle. Some clever guy on our tour said, 'hey look a man-cave.' I think we can pretend we found where the term originated. Why he needed a cave in his house (on the fourth floor) I have no idea.
To his personal bed chamber wash table, he had a direct line of fresh water from miles up in the mountain. Because of simple gravity he had running water and even a toilet that flushed.
For his birthday, the kings of other nations sent messages of congratulations in the form of huge, ridiculously ornate books! The covers varied from beautiful leather to intricate filigree and gem stones. I have no idea of their value- and they were all basically birthday cards.
Anyways- his history aside- the castle is a magnificent sight. It is the inspiration for the Disney castle and even if you don't know the name- I would be shocked if you didn't recognize a picture. Particularly the winter images where it is surrounded by snow are spectacular.
As much as we loved the castle, mom and I were appalled by the organization. The tickets were expensive and didn't even include transportation to it. We enjoyed a horse carriage ride up, but at the end of the tour we followed signs for leaving by bus. But there was no more bus. I guess after a certain time, anyone still at the castle has to walk all the way down. Fine- so it's a walk. That's not a problem. The problem that made my mom so frustrated and even concerned was that there were no clear signs to show us the way so we were walking down this long service road that seemed to go no where.  You'd think they could include a little tram with all the money they make from the tickets. On top of that- we had hoped to hit a gift shop at the bottom but they were all closed. Luckily there was a gift shop in the town nearby that was still open and they had exactly what we wanted.
We had another kebab for dinner, making me a very happy person! We then buckled in for our late drive back to Switzerland to go to bed.