You always feel a bit sad when a holiday is reaching its end, yet there's a sense of relief to find yourself on the return journey too. I have to say, the 3 of us were looking forward to returning to Munich. According to my dad, it was 'back to cilivisation' for him. I think he meant German efficiency and precision. And really, you do feel the difference when you travel from the affluent Germany & Austria to the developing Hungary and Czech.
Well the Prague-Munich rail trip was by far the longest train ride of our trip! More than 6 hours on a train! I can't say we did a great deal but sleep or read our books. It was still great to enjoy the at times mountainous scenery and the autumn scenery always makes me feel so happy.
Scenes from the longest train journey all trip:
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| On the way back to Germany from Prague |
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| The sun almost breaking through |
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My sneaky Dad took this pic hahaha
We sat on a Czech train, still way more comfy than Aussie trains! |
By the time we got back to Munich, there really wasn't much time to do anything else but enjoy a good meal. My parents were desperate for a non-western meal, so luckily for us we found a great Indian restaurant near the hotel. I have to say, it was as good as the Indian meal I had in London 4 years ago!
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| Family meal...Indian food in Munich, pretty awesome actually! |
The next morning I commenced my final day of Bavaria super early (it was still black outside when I left the hotel), as I booked myself on the popular
Castles Tour. I was finally going to see Neuschwanstein Castle!! The castle that inspired Walt Disney, the one built by the 'mad' King Ludwig II. After experiencing several days of grey skies, I was filled with joy to see a blue sunny day in Bavaria!! Oh how I missed the sunshine and blue skies!
First stop: Linderhof Castle - Built by King Ludwig II as a hunting lodge, in the French Rococo style
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| Look at that! No clouds in the sky |
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| Who doesn't like nice romantic walks in this setting? |
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| The beautiful Linderhof Castle |
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| Up close |
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| Garden at the back of the Castle |
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| The garden where the fountain only sprouts water every 30 mins |
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| The only photo of me all day! |
Unfortunately tourists are not allowed to take interior photos, but I can tell you it is the most decorated and opulent castle I have seen (not the largest, but King Ludwig fits in a lot into a small space). The Hall of Mirrors was particularly impressive, giving the optical illusion of a never-ending avenue. You can also see the lonely life he lived, as he built everything in the castle purposely for one person.
Second Stop: Oberammergau
An adorable little German town where they put on the Passion play every ten years. (First performed in 1654!) The town is also famous for wood carvings, painted houses - frescoes in Bavarian theme. I really enjoyed our short stopover here, mainly because I had no expectations of this place. Its an adorable little town, I had a great Gelato there too :)
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| Typical Bavarian scenery that day with the fab weather |
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| Frescoes on House (my bad photo capture) |
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| They really like these frescoes |
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| Many cute items to buy in Oberammergau |
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| Humpty-dumpty is also in town |
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| The lovely town! |
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| Passion play...just missed it! |
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| Theatre where the play is staged |
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| The Vow |
Third & Final Stop: Neuschwanstein Castle
I have to say, the pictures seen from postcards and books is far more impressive than the Castle up close. I suppose it is one of those sights best seen from afar. I was hoping the tour included a stop somewhere to take a great scenic shot of the castle, however, that was not part of the deal! What I did enjoy about the tour was the long walk up to the castle. I took so many photos of just trees. The view from above is also pretty amazing, even when visibility is bad. Again, the Castle interior tour didn't allow photos, and the tour is run like a factory production line (good or bad? neither really), but it is still worth joining the guided tour. It is apparent that King Ludwig never finished his dream castle, and it appears that he did live in dreams. He definitely made sure his architect kept up with his imagination!
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| First sighting |
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Castle with scenery...the weather wasn't so lovely by this stage of the day
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Enjoyed a German meal @ Hotel Muller before walking up to the castle
Best mash ever! |
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| I love autumn colours! |
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| Tree size in comparison to people |
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| The castle with an 'antique' look |
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| View from above...looks like something from a fairy tale to me! |
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| Castle on closer observation |
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There's also a lake nearby.
One could hardly see the otherside by late afternoon |
After the tour, I actually met up with my good friend Sue (from Sydney) & her German friends for dinner. We were meant to do the Castles tour together somehow (it was hard to coordinate), but that didn't work out, and we probably just missed each other whilst at Neuschwanstein. It was awesome meeting up with Sue as it was a completely unplanned catch up (no one really plans to catch up in Munich!), and I hadn't seen her since she left Sydney in March. We enjoyed a delightful Italian meal in a cosy, warm little Italian place. She's been up to some awesome travels this year to, which you can read about here:
http://destinations2010.blogspot.com/. Since our catch up was just like any other good session in Sydney, we forgot to take a photo of our meeting in Munich!! Regretting it now indeed, but as long as we knew we met up. It's all good.
So that was how my 2010 European holiday concluded. We left Munich airport around midday the next day to go on that long long flight back to Singapore. I left Munich rather impressed with the city, and was glad to see Bavaria welcome and farewell me with clear blue skies :) I don't think I can convey in words how happy I was to see those sunny days.
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| The impressive Munich airport. Farewell! |
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