Castling!

Nope, not playing chess. The day started with a trip to Neuschwanstein. WhooHooo! I do not think I am a fan of Neuschwanstein because it looks like a Disney castle. I think I am a fan of Disney castles because of Neuschwanstein. When I was packing, I paged through the dress section of the closet and disregarded all of my Disney dresses – then backed up to a specific one that seemed like the perfect dress for a certain day. It is pretty subtle – the art can go unnoticed – until you really look at it. I had people notice it throughout the day. Several people asked if it was a Disney dress or a Neuschwanstein dress and I was inclined to say “yes”. I confessed to Disney – and then every one of them told me that Neuschwanstein was the model for Walt Disney. I thought it was darling that they didn’t think I might already have some information about that.

Keith and I were here nine years ago. You can’t take pictures inside, and so the memory fades without that reinforcement, making it as much fun to tour today as it was nine years ago. I got a new hat. At first, I told Keith that it was too much money. Then I told him that I would very much regret it if I didn’t get it. So, I got a new hat. I walked out of the castle wearing it and our tour guide, Joachim, was waiting. He looked at me and said, “It is right.” Teehee. As we hiked down the hill, I got a LOT of smiles, and busted a few people trying to sneak a look by smiling and waving. If you have a new hat, you should enjoy it with everyone. One of our group commented it was a Burger King crown, but she is wrong and now you know it, too.

We went to a sandwich shop for lunch and I ordered in German. It really was just a hair more than listing what we wanted, but I was feeling all fancy. Then Keith’s credit card phone thingy didn’t work and she gave us directions in German – luckily I understand pretty well and didn’t have to confess to English. Whee.

Next we went across the parking lot and hiked up to Hohenschwangau – King Ludwig’s father’s castle. We were not inside previously. It is nowhere near as opulent as Neuschwanstein, but a pleasure nonetheless. We learned that it was originally called Schwanstein – which makes Neuschwanstein make a lot more sense. We were not allowed pictures again, but could take a picture out of one window. Then right before we walked out, I might have taken one more picture.

It was another hot day – although way better than yesterday. It was hot in the castle and there were lots of stairs, so the fountain just outside the exit made for a lovely, ice cold respite. There was a bigger fountain and everyone expected me to jump in – even though none of them saw me in the fountain yesterday – but I couldn’t figure out how to get wet without actually entirely climbing into a fountain, so I went back to my little fountain.

We learned that we could get a fan from the hotel! Whooohooo! Jenny came over and walked around on the balcony with us – enjoying our views.

There was a lot of walking around town with different folks, looking for a good dinner spot. I was up for anything except traditional German food. I didn’t want to jump into other groups, because too big of a group gets awkward, and sometimes too much of me gets awkward. When you have a group this big, it’s nice to spread around so people don’t start running away when they see you! We ended up eating at Eisenschmidt’s (which means blacksmith) with the Eisensmiths (which means principal cornetist), because obviously! I had turkey schnitzel and terrific steak fries.

We had the opportunity to get to bed at a decent time for the first time this trip, but we spent time out in town visiting with others, then headed to our friends’ Mike and Mary’s room for a good, long chat. Mike got a new hat, too!

The big news of the day is that our tour creator/flugelhorn player tested positive for COVID today. He and his wife are renting a car and heading out. I am not sure exactly where they are heading to – will they be in the hotels we will be in for the next three days? or are they heading to France, which is their after-tour vacation spot? Luckily, flugelhorn parts can be played on a cornet and we have lots of those. He was planning on filling in for Keith, if Keith ever got sick, so now Keith better stay healthy!! We wish him well….but are you thinking what I’m thinking? There is now an empty seat at the much-more-chilly front of the bus!!!!