Two weeks in Germany: Fussen, Germany

 We drove down to Fussen, Germany, which is on the Austrian border. As you get close you begin to see the Alps come into view and they are so gorgeous. We did the Romantic Road for the lower part driving through countryside seeing barns and cows and villages with painted murals on all the buildings. Fussen is the highest point in Bovaria.

 Neuschwanstein Castle is the castle used as inspiration for Cinderella's Castle at Disney World. This is the side from the parking area at the base of the castles. We didn't see this one since there was a 3 hour wait for the English speaking tour.

 It was built by King Ludwig II. It is located on a hill above his childhood summer home, Hohenschwangau Castle. The castle is in view of his childhood home.

 This is Hohenschwangau Castle. We did tour it and I honestly wondered if it would be worth it. Since we had driven all that way we did, and I am so glad we did. It was amazing inside. Rick Steves tour book said it was the more elaborately decorated casle of the two. Every ceiling had intricate woodwork with beautiful murals. The craftsmanship of all the woodwork and attention to details is awe inspiring. I wish it could have been photographed.

 We took the carriage up to the castle and then walked back down.

 View from the castle terrace. The grounds had fountains and breath taking views.

The  Forggensee is a man-made lake which was built to prevent flooding. It is the catchment area for all the melting snow in the spring. After the middle of October the lake is drained ready for the next spring melt.

 Right down the road there is a luge park. We were expecting an elevated track and this was really more of a kid ride but it was a lot of fun. It was only 10 euro for 6 rides and you could share the pass, so we each took 3 rides.

We didn't have a lot of time, as we had to drive back to Landstuhl which was 3.5 hours away, but we wanted to say we went to Austria so we drove over the border to a small town. It was about 7 miles from Fussen to the town in Austria. Not long IF there isn't a festival going on.