Fall Break 2021

We made it out of Frankfurt for Fall Break!! Our car was in country, had cleared customs, passed inspection, but was waiting on its plates; so we had to get a rental car for the week (literally on our drive home, Richard got an email that the car's plates were in...so close). Given C-19 numbers were still all over the place and Clarissa still had not been cleared to be vaccinated, we opted to stay in country (for the most part) and visited Richard's favorite part of Germany....the state of Bavaria. 

After about 5 hours, we made it to Garmisch. We opted to stay at the same resort we had stayed at in 2014! This time, though, the Kristallwelten Wattens near Innsbruck was not under renovations....so that was at the top of my to see list!! So the next morning, we hopped in the car and headed across the border into Austria. 

The iconic entrance! Given there was no flash allowed inside, taking good pictures was a bit tricky (plus you can't see the sparkle in the pictures)....we did get a few neat ones and some videos.

Nothing says bounty hunter like a sparkling helmet...(yours for only €7500 ($8,300!)

Remember....shadows matter! Is she a princess or evil.....or an evil princess?

The sparkling globe, I could have stared at it a lot longer than I did.....

After we bought a few sparkly pieces to wear to special events (or at home when in yoga pants - no judging), we headed outside to walk around the gardens. They had clouds filled with crystals and with it being extra breezy it really shimmered and shined!

Since the onsite cafe was closed (we couldn't tell if it was closed due to a private event or C-19), we headed to Innsbruck for some lunch. We arrived on a Sunday around 2 pm.....(restaurants in Europe like to close between lunch and dinner....so typically closed between 2 and 6). We found one place and they were not taking any new customers, but then luckily we found a little street cafe still serving silly tourists....

Afterwards, we wandered around town a bit. 

Then we were on the hunt to find the station for the Hungerburgbahn.....we found it! 

The Hungerburgbahn is a funicular railway that takes you from Innsbruck along the river to Hungerburg a little town at just over 2,800 feet in elevation at the foot of the Nordkette mountains. We didn't realize we need to pre-purchase a second ticket to take Nordkette cable car to the very top of the mountain. Clouds were coming in, so it probably wouldn't have been that great of a view at the very top.

Enjoying the views overlooking Innsbruck, Austria.

Space age looking station to return back to Innsbruck and heading into a tunnel under the city.

So during our last trip we took some family photos while in Garmisch. The photographer actually took us around on the Partenkirchen side. Some of my favorites are in front of this barn door with a heart in it. So I was on a mission.....what turned out to be a very tough mission. I had saved a couple of the shots on my phone to help us identify the building. I asked at the hotel we were staying out, they directed us towards a part of town. We drove around looking with no luck. I saw a library, so I went in and asked. The librarian and a resident both looked and didn't recognize the door. They did say it would likely be on one of a several streets and directed me that way. So we got close, then parked, and started wandering around looking for the green door with a heart.......AND WE FOUND IT!!!!

From this to that.....

So we didn't have a photographer to get all four of us at once....working with what we had...lol.

The height difference is about the same but the door looks so much smaller!

Now you can see what part of the problem in finding the door was....the owner had repainted the door at some point in the last 7 years.....

After completing our first mission of the day, we saw a C-19 testing place (we needed to have another negative test for Clarissa for our adventure the next day). They were only accepted sick people for testing - so no test for us. So we headed to a chocolate shop....yum!! and then drove out to the Alpine Coaster. We thought we were going to the same one we went to last time (actually the summer toboggan run), but this one is out in Oberammergau and much longer (2,600 meters (1.6 miles) vs 850 meters (0.5 miles)). You take a ski lift to the top of the mountain.

Then you hop in and hold on! You can get up to speeds of 40 km/h (25 mph) as you take on 73 curves, 9 jumps, and 7 waves!

If you are really good, you can time the perfect picture!

We did three runs! Other than freezing, we had a blast. We then headed back to Garmisch for lunch and the elusive C19 test. We found a pharmacy accepting appointments, got Clarissa in, and it was the quickest and easiest test we have ever done! Brain tickled within a minute of walking in and results emailed to us 15 minutes later! The next morning we headed to Hohenschwangau. After our last trip, we learned there were two castles! So we booked a tour for the Hohenschwangau Castle in the morning and the Neuschwanstein Castle in the afternoon. When we pulled into Hohenschwangau we could already see the Neuschwanstein Castle up on the hill! 

We then found the carriage ride pick up to the Hohenschwangau Castle. 

It looks huge as you approach the castle and equally huge when you are right next to it.

The lake below the castle where King Ludwig II's body was found....was it suicide or murder?!? It is still a mystery!

While living in Hohenschwangau Castle, King Ludwig II began construction on Neuschwanstein Castle. They were so close he could monitor the workers through a telescope in his room.

After a lovely lunch in town and some souvenir shopping, we headed up to Neuschwanstein Castle. The castle overlooking the gorge. 

Clarissa trying her hand at castle photography and then standing guard in the courtyard while we awaited our entry time.

If you couldn't guess, no photography is allowed inside either castle. We did get this lovely shot on our way out from a balcony. The castles look even closer in this photo!

We ended up doing three carriage rides that day. A ride up to both castles and then we rode down from the second castle due to some lovely rain. Our horse drawn carriage friends from our last ride....

Our last day in town, we just did some sightseeing in Garmisch-Partenkirchen. We woke up to snow on the mountain tops (first snow of the season)!

The resort had a cute cell phone holder and then I could use my watch to take a photo.....family shenanigans.

Little people, big mountain.

As I mentioned, we walked around Garmisch-Partenkirchen some. Had lunch at a yummy Greek restaurant. Found a mountain stream. We checked out an old church. We saw the hand sanitizer and didn't think much of it. Then behind it was this.....a Weihwasser-spender or in English "holy water dispenser". So in front of the now empty usual bowl of holy water at the entrance of the church was the Weihwasser-spender for your handful of water....a bit more than a damp finger tip.

We ended the day with a beautiful sunset.....a wonderful end to a fun trip. The next morning, we got up and drove back the 5 hours back home and had a couple days until fall break ended to just relax.

Fall Break Adventures: Neuschwanstein Castle & Reutte, Austria

So potentially the highlight of the trip for Clarissa was the visit to the inspiration for the "Sleeping Beauty" Castle (i.e. Neuschwanstein Castle) in Hohenschwangau, Germany. Sometimes it is also called the Cinderella castle, I think Disney used different elements from the Neuschwanstein Castle in both movies. It was only about an hour drive from Garmisch (the resort gave us an excellent address for the GPS: Alpseestrasse 12, 87645 Hoenschwangau, Germany).

The ticket office opens at 9 and the castle's first tour starts at 10. The castle is up a very tall hill, so they allowed for time to make the trek up the hill.  Our goal was to get there at 9, but being in vacation mode we didn't arrived until around 9:30. The next english speaking tour wasn't until 11:05, so we got those tickets. One thing I realized while in line at the ticket booth is there are actually two castles in this small town. If you had a full day, you could visit both castles as well as have lunch and shop in the cute town of Hohenschwangau. Not being sure how much Clarissa would enjoy the castle, we opted to just do the Neuschwanstein Castle and not tempt our luck.

Now, remind me again, how did Cinderella get to the ball that night? A horse and carriage you say? Then we must go the same way (much better than a 45 minute walk)!

Unfortunately, there was a nice fog cloud sitting on top of the castle that day. So as the horse pulled us up the hill, we could only see outlines of the castle towers.

The carriage ride takes you about 2/3 of the way up the hill. The road narrows after that point and the horses can't turn around. So we began the last ten minutes up the hill. Mid way though (awesome marketing!), there is a coffee/snack stand, restrooms, and souvenir stand. The kids happily partook in a donut and German pretzel to pass the time before our start time.

At the gate to the courtyard.

One of many flights of stairs. We had read that though the tour you walk approximately 300 stairs. In order to save our backs, we reminded Clarissa about all the stairs in the Cinderella movie, the ones she lost her shoe on, the stairs inside entry/ball room (in the Cinderella 3 movie and Wii games), so she did great on the stairs and walked without complaining at all.

An outdoor courtyard. We were not permitted to take photos inside the castle (and you have to wear your backpack on your front....a little awkward).

Note sure if this was one of the towers who's windows we looked out. At one of the windows, our guide commented on how the view from this window is beautiful....on a clear day.....

Clarissa did amazing on the tour. She held my hand and walked the whole time. I was pleasantly surprised. The tour ends in a ballroom....we may or may not have done a little dance together.

We rode the carriage back down the hill. The forest does remind me a bit like the one Prince Phillip goes racing through.....(the power of suggestion likely). We would definitely like to visit the castles again....on a sunny day!

On our way back to Garmisch, we drove through/past Reutte, Austria. A exchange student friend of mine currently lives there so we stopped by his work to say hi.  Our GPS failed us when trying to find his office, but it did take us out to Plansee.....the water's colors are just stunning and so clear!! The scientist in me wonders if there might be a high copper content in the water.....yep, I'm a science dork!

We had a great fall break. Came back very rested and never had a day we didn't enjoy. I must complement the Bavarian area on their fabulous, smooth roads. Also, I can now say I drove over a 100 on the autobahn.....(km/hr.....I didn't want to get a ticket).