A trip to the Alps

We had a very early departure from the Holiday Inn and made our way by train to the mountain range known as the Alps and to the town of Füssen. It was a beautiful and peaceful ride. And then – there were mountains – just what my dad ordered for this trip!

There are two castels in Füssen – Neuschwanstein and Hohenschwangau. The word “schwan” in German is swan so these are fitting names!The first castle we visited was Hohenschwangau (the yellow/orange/brown color castle) which was King Ludwig’s boyhood home. It was originally built in the 12th century and was ruined by Napoleon (who really got around and ruined lots of castles) and rebuilt. The castle now looks like it did in 1836.

After the first tour, to get to the next castle, we took a horse and buggy ride which was led by our trusty driver Hans and his two horses Flick and Flockie. We were able to sit in the front of the buggy with the driver. Poor Flockie kept farting the entire way up to the castle. It was really funny and Hans kept laughing at his horses. What else could he do?!?!? We held our noses!















The building of Neuschwanstein started in 1869 and it was King Ludwig’s fairy tale dream castle that became a reality. He was able to live in the finished portion of the castle for 170 days before his death and a couple of months later it was turned into a museum and has been one ever since. It’s a beautiful castle and who wouldn’t want to live in that beautiful setting!

The tours through the castles weren’t really worth the time and money, but they were interesting none the less. The Hohenschwangau tour was much more informative and a much better tour. After wandering the grounds of each of the castles, which are filled with hills, mountains and lakes, I decided to take a hike a little farther up the hill towards Tegelberg and was able to get an even more splendid view of the castle.

As we headed back to town, we stopped for dinner at an outdoor café. My dad likes beer..but he likes cold beer. He also really enjoys his Keystone which is made in the good ol’ USA. Therefore, every beer did not taste right to him. So, he would put a little bit of salt in the beer to make it taste better to him. At this particular outdoor café, my dad asked for some salt because there was not any at the table. I think the server thought it was weird that he asked for salt when we didn’t even have our food yet. However, when my dad explained what he did with the salt towards the end of our dinner, the waiter, didn’t laugh. He actually explained that he was from Romania and that he does the same thing. So, my dad isn’t weird after all!

We went to wait for the 7:05pm train. It was getting crowded on the platform and I could tell that it might be a bit difficult to get a seat together on the train if we weren’t careful. During the wait, I also informed/coached my parents on how to be a bit brutal and how to fight for a seat on the train. No one wants to stand for a couple of hours. My dad was the first to the double doors on the train and he strategically only opened one door. VICTORY! The Liebsch’s were first in the car and got prime seats. As my mom tore through the inner door, it closed shut on the passengers behind her. You probably had to be there, but it was a great laugh.