We all love Germany. We had pretzels for breakfast. We visited Neuschwanstein Castle, which was built by King Ludwig II of Bavaria. We were able to take a horse drawn carriage from the village up the long, winding road to the castle. The castle was never finished because King Ludwig died under suspicious circumstances only 1 day after being told that a group of doctors were about to issue a report finding him mentally unstable. He is known as Mad King Ludwig. At the time of his death, he was only 40 years old, and had 3 castles under construction. The castle at Neuschwanstein is within view of his parents castle. King Ludwig was good friends with the famous composer, Richard Wagner, and the castle was dedicated to his operas. The government of Bavaria actually banished Wagner to Switzerland because they thought he had too much influence over the king, and that the king was spending too much money on Wagner. An interesting point not mentioned on the tour of the castle is that Walt Disney used it as his inspiration for the castle of Sleeping Beauty.
After Fussen, we took the train to Lindau, Germany. Lindau is a small island in the Boddensee. The landscape of Germany is beautiful, and many farmers were out working their land. With the windows open on the train, it really smelled like Spring. We've noticed alot of cultural differences in each country we've visited, and we've also seen that in many ways people are the same wherever you go.
After our brief stop in Lindau, we hopped on the rails once again, headed for Zurich. The highlight of the trip was a real restaurant car. Other trains have had snack carts that are pushed through the aisles, or snack bars. This train had a sit down, waiter service, restaurant. It was really cool.
We think Zurich taxi drivers would starve in NYC. We got off the train and tried to get a taxi, the driver got out of his car to explain to us how to get to the hotel. After trying to follow his directions, and wandering around town, we hailed a 2nd taxi, who pulled over and told us to keep walking that it wasn't much farther.
We'll be in Basel, Switzerland by tomorrow night.
Bis Morgan
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