My dad and my stepmom came out to Germany to visit me while I was there! It was so much fun! We went out to the gorgeous castles in the eastern part of the country (Heidelberg is very west) and stopped at the Black Forest and Lake Alpsee as well. It was SO much fun! We got a weird start on our first day because of all of the staus (traffic jam). The GPS just kept telling us there was a stau and then would try to re-route us off the autobahn through some teeny villages. Very cute to see, but not so fun to navigate through! We realized we were not going to make it out to Neuschwanstein Castle that afternoon so we stopped at an Ikea to try to call and change our ticket reservation. Well, that was my very first time in any Ikea anywhere, and since then I have been DYING to go back and buy fabulously Swedish furniture and decorations! There's one in Phoenix that I have still never ever managed to get myself to! Anyway, we were able to change our reservation and made the rest of the drive just fine. We were staying in this adorable Alpine town that was right over the border in Austria. So, we hiked up into the foothills of the Alps and came to an old, unmanned border station that let us know we were officially crossing back into Germany. Super cool! The next day we went to the castles which are just STUNNING! Neuschwanstein was an inspiration to Walt Disney himself in his creation of Sleeping Beauty's castle. A brief history: Mad King Ludwig was obsessed with money and the finer things in life. He grew up in the castle just down the hill (Hohenschwangau) from where he built Neuschwanstein, and as soon as he got control of the crown he began building the most glamorous and expensive castle of them all. Neuschwanstein is a pretty literal translation meaning new swan castle, so named because of the swans in the two lakes and because the swan was the family sigil. Anyway, poor Mad King Ludwig never even got to enjoy his fantastic masterpiece of a castle because he died very soon after it was finished and six weeks later it was opened up to the paying public to see the how luxurious the king had designed everything to be. The next day we went to the black forest and hiked up to a waterfall. The black forest is sorta known for its cuckoo clocks, so I picked out one for my mother in law. We then headed back to Heidelberg and had dinner with my mentor teacher and her husband. It was a great weekend and so good to see family during my time away. Anyway, here are the pictures from my dad and stepmom's time with me!
The region of Germany where we were is Bavaria. It's all Sound of Music-y and very green and lush. The Alps just rise up all majestically... Anyway, Germany is a beautiful country all around, but being near the Alps is just something else all together!
Cheers!
-Allison
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