Moving through Munich

After an eventful day we arrived in Munich after dark. Unfortunately our hotel was the furtherest we've been from the train station but when the opportunity to have a tea and coffee maker presented itself we had to take. I was really pleased that we made it to the hotel without a problem and I was even more pleased to see a bed and use it.

Friday we took a train trip to Fussen to see schloss neuschwanstien. For those who have no idea what I'm talking about it is a castle that belonged to king Ludwig 2nd or for the Disney fans out there this is what the Disney castle is based off. I'm really glad we got to see it in winter I think it really added to the fairy tale effect. Unfortunately the bus to the top of the mountain wasnt running that day and it was a 45 minute walk. Being to lazy to do that we decided to take the horse and carriage. Yep a horse and carriage. Sadly it wasn't like a fairy tale carriage but it was still heaps of fun. It was also amusing to watch people covering their noses  and complaining because of the horse smell.

The view was from the top was amazing. Everything is so white! The castle was itself was amazing too. Although the castle was never finished after the kings death there is still so much to see. The amount of intricate work is incredible. In the bed room alone it took would carvers 5 years to finish. If you saw it would would understand why (there is a castle on top of the bed).

My favorite part of the castle was the ball room. I find it bizarre that the painting on the stage actually looks like the beginning of a Disney movie. I was waiting for the squirrels to burst it in song at any moment. The more time I spent looking at the castle the more Disney like it became. The other thing I really like about this castle is that unlike every palace we've seen this trip it wasn't a tribute to the king. In the entire castle there was only one reference to the king the rest of the paintings were of religious events or dedicated to artists.

Before we left Munich on Saturday we decided to have an authentic Aldi experience. It was so much fun! There is something that resembles a vendor machine for bread. Literally we just push that button for the bread we wanted and out it came. It was great. We found lots of amusing things like chips called sunnies. They are chips cut in the shape of the sun with a smiling face carved out. At other times  it was a challenge to work what things we because of our limited german. The only downer came when we realised that we only had one plastic  bag. As Aldi doesn't give you bags I walked out nursing my bag of mandarines. We are both keen to go back again next time we're in Germany we'll just have to remember bags so we can buy more food.