Family Vacation: Part 2~ Hohenschwangau Castle, Bavaria, Germany

Hohenschwangau Castle

 On our way to Garmisch, we stopped off for the day to tour the area of Schwangau, Germany.  I have fallen in love with the Bavarian area of Germany.  The architecture, desserts, Christmas goodies, history, china and history.  The mountains are huge giants!  I have always wanted to see the castle that Walt Disney used as guide for The Sleeping Beauty Castle at Disneyland.  When we got there, we were all starving so we ate lunch first.  Great food!  Funny story: while I was eating, a Japanese lady to our table, leaned over all of us to put her finger just inches from my food to show the waitress what she wanted to eat.  She kept walking up and down the aisle, staring at people's food, pointing and leaning into their food to show what she wanted.  First time that's happened to me.  Anyway, after lunch, we headed off to get our tickets to the castle.  We had missed the last English speaking tour and didn't want to wait a few hours for the next one, so we decided to go see the other castle, Hohenschwangau Castle.  The ticket guy said it was the prettier castle in the inside, just not as famous.  We loved it!  The lady who was our tour guide did a great job sharing the history of the castle.  It actually was a medieval fortress that finally ended up in the Crowned Prince Maximillian's hands.  He was enamored with all this medieval.  The Lichtenstein Castle is his as well.  You can see it our of the window of the Hohenschwangau Castle.  

Landon in front of the view of a lake as we walk up to the castle.  It was so beautiful here.  I LOVE that smile on my boy.  

Here's the Lichtenstein Castle in the background.  The outside is covered because they are painting it.  It will be done next year. 

Side of the castle and small part of the gardens.  

Landon in front of one of the wells/fountains.  This is between the castle entrance and the smaller building that housed the kitchen and also where the children stayed with the servants. 

Landon and Grayson going through the entrance.  I loved the carvings above the door!

View outside the room of the prince.  We weren't allowed to take pictures inside, just the view.  Gorgeous! 

Two knights, coat of arms on the outside wall as we came out of the castle.

I loved this iron work!

Grayson taking a break.  It was very hot that day.  He was grumpy that he didn't get a dagger from Rothenburg.  He wasn't good company until late that evening.  

Les, Grayson and Landon in front of an awesome lion fountain in the castle gardens.

Good luck kiss!

Les and I having a great day at the castle.

We went on a little hike from the castle and found this other lake.  Amazing!

Landon, Les and Grayson.

Les and I.  Being outside and with my sweetheart, having adventures and finding new jewels of nature just makes me so happy!

A beautiful Bavarian hotel and restaurant.  I love this architecture!

Alright, this was the joke of the whole trip.  This means enter.

This means exit.  The boys had to say this word every time we passed it, and that was frequently!  Boys are so gross!

We had a great day exploring this area.  Can't wait to go back and see the other castle.  I picked up an old fashioned Santa for Christmas.  I didn't bring any of our decorations so am having fun finding treasures. 

Next stop: Dachau Concentration Camp