The Family Life is the Good Life: Neuschwanstein Castle

We enjoyed our day out to Neuschwanstein castle. We drove into the little village and parked the car and walked over to buy tickets. There was a long line but it moved pretty quickly. I didn't realize you have to be with a guided tour to go in and the next English one wasn't until after 2pm so we had plenty of time. The bus you can pay to take up to the castle was not running because it had snowed the night before but the horse and carriage was. We considered the carriage ride up because the kids would like it but the line was forever long and the carriage moves so slow. We walked and made it up much faster that way. It's better to keep moving with the kids. Waiting in lines is torture. There was a cafe on the way up and we stopped and ate some treat that was basically like fresh large donut holes and were yummy. We also had pretzels and apple struesel which was also delicious. I personally like Aunt Annie's pretzels at the mall better than the fresh pretzels in Germany but Tristan always wants a fresh pretzel so I let him get one and split it with Avery. Lidia was not feeling well when we stopped. She said he stomach hurt and she was trembling all over and couldn't stop. I recalled that she had not had a big breakfast and we had just walked over half an hour up a steep hill. I told her she had to eat and drink to feel better. She resisted at first but she finally agreed to eat some pretzel and drink something and she started to feel better after that. I remember that happening to me but I always knew what it was and that I had to eat to get better because my blood sugar was low. It's hard because you don't feel like eating. Maybe now she will be more aware and know what to do. I'm glad that's all it was.

While waiting at the castle for our English tour we met other Americans waiting for that tour as well and one group was BYU students doing study abroad and another was an LDS family because I noticed their son wearing a BYU shirt. It's fun when you meet other Americans in another country. They are usually very warm and chatty, happy to see a fellow American. Even here in England, like when I called to nurse line when Avery was ill and the nurse was an American that had moved here about the same time we did. She married a local and doesn't meet many Americans where she lives. She talked to me for half an hour and was so happy to hear an American voice.

Anyway, back to the castle. The tour inside is only 30 minutes because the inside was not finished. I wish they would finish it. It's beautiful inside. I loved the paintings. They are so colorful and tell stories instead of boring portraits of family members. I should read up on the artist and buy a book of his work. I loved it. After the tour we walked over to Marie's bridge, named after his mother. Some say Mary's bridge since they are basically the same name but since her name was Marie, that's what I'll call it. So they had the gate to the path that leads to it locked shut with a warning of possible danger sign. However, everyone was going around it or over it and the path had been shoveled and cleared of all snow. So I asked the tour guide about it and she basically said they will not stop you but they don't assume any liability so they leave it shut with the sign. So silly. Couldn't they just post a sign? Nope you have to climb and show you went on your own on purpose. So we went over and around it and the walk was a paved sidewalk the entire way with no snow or ice or anything dangerous. The bridge however is a metal one that you can see through the sides and bottom and it's a long way down so it's scary. It's the best view though so you have to go get a picture and then get off. We were all nervous on there. Tristan was the only one not in a hurry to get off. So it was a nice day out and we were not cold when we were moving, just got a bit chilly waiting for the tour. Now we have been to the famous castle that inspired the Disney castles. We didn't plan such a snowy backdrop but it was pretty.