Germany

We arrived in Munich and got on the train towards Fussen. We spent the night in Fussen and the next morning we took the short bus ride to the castles. First we toured Castle Hohenschwangau which is where King Ludwig II grew up as a child. When he became King he started work on Castle Neuschwanstein which was the second castle we visited. Neuschwanstein is the castle that Disney based sleeping beauty's castle on, and was one of our favorites.

We then took the train to the medieval city of Rothenburg ob der Tauber. The original wall still exists around the old city and the streets are medieval sized (very narrow). We spent a couple days here shopping and enjoying the great German food. We bought a black forest cuckoo clock, visited the crime and torture museum, and walked around the city wall.

When we left Rothenburg, we took the train to Bacharach and caught a cruise boat up the Rhine. We spent the afternoon spoting castles around every bend. We got off the boat at St. Goar, and stayed the night there.

The next day we took the train into Bonn and picked up our rental car. It was a brand new 5 series BMW. After some tense moments getting the big car out of the little parking garage, we headed for the country side. Our destination was Feusdorf, a small town that the Neisen family had left for America in the 1860s. After a few wrong turns, we found the town and took some pictures. We looked for any Neisens in the cemetery (we now know we should have looked in Esch because that is where they attended church), but didn't find any. After looking around, we headed back to Bonn on the Autobahn. Pete hit 200 kph (125 mph) following another BWM, and cruised at a steady 180 kph. It was pretty fun to drive that fast legally. We turned in the car, and took the train down to the Mosel River area and got a room in Cochem.

The next morning headed to the town of Moselkern on the train to visit Burg Eltz. This is a castle that has been in the Eltz family for 33 generations. Some of the family still even lives there. It was a very cool tour even though in the off season they only give it in German (we had english translations that told us everything we needed to know). After hiking back to Moselkern, we got on the train and headed for Brussels. We had to be there for a morning chunnel train back to London.

Pete standing at Castle Hohenschwangau with Castle Neuschwanstein in the background.	Castle Hohenschwangau. This is where Ludwig II grew up.	The view from Mary's Bridge above Neuschwanstein.	Misty at Mary's Bridge.	Pete at the main gates of Neuschwanstein.
View from the wall at Rothenburg ob der Tauber.	Pete on the wall in Rothenburg.	Misty walking the wall.	View of the Rothenburg wall from one of the towers.	View from the tower.
Cruising the Rhine checking out he castles.	The little town of Feusdorf. Pete's great great grandfather moved from here to Minnesota in the late 1800s.	Pete at the entrance to town.	Some old buildings in Feusdorf that Pete's family might have walked past everyday.	The German countryside around Feusdorf.
Pete at the Burg Eltz; a castle on the Mosel River.	Misty on the hike back from Burg Eltz.	In the woods along the trail to Burg Eltz.